Unilever Philippines: Making the Philippines Great Again

The case tells the story of the turnaround of Unilever Philippines (ULP) between 2013 and 2016. The Philippines Leadership Team (PhLT) set a vision to rediscover the greatness of the Philippines by achieving a growth rate of at least 10% a year, becoming a disciplined execution machine so that it could generate consistent results, and connecting with the hearts and minds of the Filipino consumer. The case discusses the key factors that led to the success of the turnaround including the cohesiveness of the PhLT, empowering the extended leadership team, and focusing on the core. ULP crossed the billion euro revenue threshold in 2015 after two years of double digit growth. The case ends with Rohit Jawa, the Managing Director, reflecting on two key questions. First, what needed to change to sustain the growth of the company since “what got the company here may not get it there”? Second, how could he ensure that the positive changes made would outlast the current PhLT?

This case was prepared for use in MBA and executive development classes on Leadership, Change Management, General Management or Organizational Behaviour. The case can be used to discuss the following issues: • The challenges in leading change in an organization. • The core roles of a leader as strategist, architect and mobilizer. • What is required to build a high performance team. • Building a collaborative culture where politics and silo thinking are minimized. • What it takes to empower middle management and the benefits from this. • How an organization can make sustainability initiatives work.