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Csr Policy. Unilever

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Submitted By dagama
Words 4336
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Unilever

Corporate and Managerial Responsibility

Contents
Executive summary 3
1. Introduction 4
2. Stakeholder analysis 4
3. CSR at Unilever 6
4. CSR issues – The palm oil and tea production case 9
5. Strengths and weaknesses of the current CSR policy 10
6. Conclusion 11

Executive summary

In this paper, the approach of Unilever, a British-Dutch major player in the FMCG sector, towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development (SD) will be discussed. In Unilever’s day to day business CSR and SD are key. This makes it a core business activity within the company at all levels.

First, it will be investigated who Unilever’s stakeholders are and how Unilever is managing its relationships with them in order to do business in a corporate responsible and sustainable way. Further, some of Unilever’s sustainability initiatives like for example the Sustainable Living Plan and Unilever’s contribution to certificate systems for palm oil and soy oil will be discussed to illustrate its current CSR and SD policy. Despite these efforts, Unilever also faced quite some critique from political, environmental and human rights angle regarding some less legitimate activities. As an illustration two major cases concerning controversial palm oil and tea production will be discussed. At last, the strengths and weaknesses of the current CSR policy will be critically discussed.

As a conclusion it can be stated that during the last years Unilever has been transitioning towards a corporate responsible and sustainable company. Although the company had its controversies and problems on the way, today it seems to have turned the tide by launching some ambitious programs and goals that will certainly contribute to a more positive company image. However, again questions arise, this time concerning the financial and practical

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