Unilever
Unilever is a leading multinational corporation that has branches in several countries across the length and breadth of the world, of which the branch in Egypt has come to the lime light for its ability to successfully implement what has become known as the colloquial Total Productive Maintenance. In many ways the introduction of this policy has heralded the production, distribution and marketing capacity of the company into new levels of excellence.
In this essay, I will be conducting an explorative and exhaustive analysis of the internal dynamics of Unilever Egypt’s success strategy in relation to how the principle has been applied, how it is still being applied summing into projection into the future outlook of what this can mean to Unilever Egypt and of course the parent corporation.
Unilever made its debut entry into the Egyptian food and beverage industry in 1991 as part of an ambition focused on capturing the commanding heights of the entire market capitalization of Egypt and by extension the entire Middle East. The first few years witnessed a series of mergers with various companies that were already active in the domestic industry, this was part of the transition processes that has made it what it is today1. Among the reasons for its success in the region, though not in direct terms lies in the discerning ability of the corporation to recognize and understand the needs of its consuming clientele and therefore responding accordingly.
Technically speaking the underlining factor that should be credited for catapulting Unilever Egypt to its current position of prominence is anchored in the inside-out approach to Total Productive Maintenance.
Unilever Egypt operates a unified Leadership Team that works to coordinate and oversee its business operations across Maghreb, Mashreq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf states2.
Unilever Operational Framework
With a current workforce in the Middle East reaching a high figure of forty eight thousand, it has become the top cash generating business organization that understands the terrain in the Middle East. Statistically, Unilever Egypt boasts of over four hundred products spanning fourteen categories of home, personal care and food products. Among the most renowned products include the Lipton tea family, Knorr, Omo and Dove.
It is a company that values constant enhancement of its brands with the promise of delivering more intense and rewarding product experiences to its customers. A vital ingredient to this process is a belief in continuous development using consumer research tools in realizing brand development that reflects all aspects of the dynamism in consumer tastes lifestyles and above all expectations. resources worth a billion Euros annually to this purpose