One of the famous multinational companies is Unilever. Unilever possesses about four hundred brands that are used one hundred and ninety countries. It is estimated that two billion people worldwide use one or more product made by Unilever daily. Unilever is a device company that deals with products of personal care, beverages, cleaning agents, beverages, and water. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the perception that a company has a role to fulfill to its shareholders and also in the society. The plans that a business makes to achieve these are referred to as CSR strategies (Crane et al., 2013). Unilever Company has some CSR strategies.
Unilever gives the consumers the highest priority. The company produces high-quality products to satisfy the needs of the consumers. The prices of these goods are fair to enhance accessibility by users. Customers are the core determinants of the profits that Unilever gets. Another strategy by Unilever is addressing the interests of its employees. It considers its employees as essential stakeholders. Unilever allows its employees to work anywhere they want during ant time as long as they keep their responsibilities and job description (Crane et al., 2013). The safety of the employees at the workplace is also taken care off.
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The company also provides human resource policies for balance between life and work of the employees. Another strategy is based on the investors. The company has ensured that it generates a lot of revenue and profits thus increased the confidence that the investors have in the business. To the community, the company's strategy is to ensure that the environment is protected and there is development (Crane et al., 2013). Unilever funds programmes in the community including nutrition and sanitation. Another CSR strategy that the company has is collaborating with the suppliers to satisfy both the interests of the company and the suppliers.
Tools Unilever Uses to Maintain Ethics
A tool that the company uses to be ethical is the code of business principles. This code has various sections. The standard of conduct section ensures that the company conduct is built on respect, honesty, openness, and integrity and it takes into account the interests of the employees. Another part named obeying the law ensures that the employees and the company follow the rules in the particular country in which they are based. The code of business principles also talks about employees and what is expected of them. The code demands that employees respect the human rights. It also depicts that the promotion of employees is based on abilities and qualifications (Flammer, 2015). It insists on maintenance of the health and safety of the employees. It also provides opportunities for the employees to raise concerns and it is against the use of forced labor.
The code of business principles ensures that the products intended for the consumer are good quality and fair prices. This code insists on the company conducting its operations in accordance with the principles that are accepted worldwide of good governance of corporations. The code insists on the involvement of the company in activities of development in the society. Another way that the company uses to maintain ethics is by having annual reports, reviewing them, presenting them to the public and working to improve on the outcomes of the report through carrying out its activities in an ethical manner while dealing with the shareholders and the society.
Reports about Corporate Social Responsibility
Unilever Company publishes CSR reports. An example of such a publication was the annual Unilever report for 2015. This report illustrated that the CEO was responsible for the implementation of the codes of business principles. The global code and ethics committee ensured that the codes and principles were applied. This committee reviewed various cases of non-compliance with the various codes in the company. The CSR committee reviewed scorecards which analyzed the safety processes in the company annually (Adams, 2015). This committee imposed a ban on the use of electronic devices and mobile phones while driving due to an increase in the number of accidents. This ban was introduced in July 2015.
The report showed the role of Unilever introduced the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) which ensured that the company continued to grow while it protected the environment and increased its impact on the society (Adams, 2015). The reports showed that the greenhouse gases level from the companies owned by Unilever decreased in the year 2015. The use of water in the manufacturing process also decreased in that year. Unilever mostly used packaging materials that were recycled thus reducing the impact of wastes in the environment. With regard to human rights, the company implemented the guiding principles of human rights and businesses as stipulated by the United Nations. The company also improved the working conditions and health of the employees.
Recommendations for the Future
Recommendations for the next three years include incorporation of small-scale retailers and farmers, empowering women by increasing business opportunities for them, and sustainable sourcing of raw materials. Through the incorporation of small-scale farmers and retailers, the company will be able to increase their income and also increase the participation of the young entrepreneurs. This will increase the confidence of the community in the company and also help in marketing the company. By empowering various women to enhance their skills, the company will be able to increase its income through the businesses carried out by them. The women will also be able to make a living and improve their lives. This will also expand the opportunities for Unilever services and products (Adams, 2015). The company through sourcing for raw materials naturally from the agricultural sector will enhance the production of these raw materials by farmers hence leading to developments in various communities. This will also ensure that the raw materials for Unilever will always be available for use, therefore, increasing the production and even leading to an increase in the revenue of the company through the sale of products that the company produces.
References
Adams, C.A., 2015. The international integrated reporting council: a call to action. Critical Perspectives on Accounting , 27 , pp.23-28.
Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L.J., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in a global context.
Flammer, C., 2015. Does corporate social responsibility lead to superior financial performance? A regression discontinuity approach. Management Science , 61 (11), pp.2549-2568.
