
Servant Leadership
There's more to leadership than driving a team to profit. In fact, there's a word for looking beyond self-interest to prioritize individual growth: servant leadership. Try this course for a quick breakdown of what that is, how it works, and how it can lead to organizational success.
Strategy: Creating Value Inside Your Company
Have you ever wondered why certain companies are more successful than others? The answer is strategy: internal processes that control costs, allocate resources, and create value. This course from GLOBIS Unlimited can give you the tools you need for that strategic edge.
Strategy: Understanding the External Environment
To plan strategy on any level, you need to understand your company's external environment. In fact, your level of understanding can impact hiring, budgeting, marketing, or nearly any other part of the business world. Want to learn how to do all that? This course from GLOBIS Unlimited is the perfect first step!
Using Japanese Values to Thrive in Global Business
Japanese companies have unique cultural, communication, and operational challenges. But they also have values that have led to remarkable longevity. Check out this seminar to hear how these values help earn trust from overseas head offices and develop employees.
Marketing: Reaching Your Target
Every company works hard to get its products into the hands of customers. Are you doing everything you can to compete? In this course, you’ll find a winning formula to turn a product idea into real sales. Follow along through the fundamentals of the marketing mix and see how companies successfully bring products to market.
Basic Accounting: Financial Analysis
Want to compare your performance vs. a competitor? Or evaluate a potential vendor? Then you'll need to conduct a financial analysis. This course will teach you how to use three financial statements and evaluate financial performance in terms of profitability, efficiency, soundness, growth, and overall strength.
Career Anchors
What drives you to be good at your job?
Career anchors are based on your values, desires, motivations, and abilities. They are the immovable parts of your professional self-image that guide you throughout your career journey.
Try this short GLOBIS Unlimited course to identify which of the eight career anchors is yours!
Leadership with Passion through Kokorozashi
The key ingredient to success? Passion.
Finding your kokorozashi will unify your passions and skills to create positive change in society. This GLOBIS Unlimited course will help you develop the values and lifelong goals you need to become a strong, passion-driven leader.
How does a company based in the West adapt to emerging markets halfway around the world? How can it overcome fundamental differences in lifestyles and social challenges?
Unilever, a multinational company based in the Netherlands and the UK, faced this challenge as it worked to tailor its wares to South Asian markets. Sandeep Kohli, Vice President of South East Asia and Australasia Marketing Operations for Unilever, shares his insights.
Next Article
Braving Conflict Abroad to Support Emerging Markets for a Better Future
3 Ways to Globalize Your Career Impact from Anywhere
Steps to Emerging Market Adaptation: Unilever’s 4 Ps
Insights: What is the first step to adapting to emerging markets?
Kohli: It almost goes without saying that the first step is social awareness. Unilever aims to embody the creative capitalism that Bill Gates presented at the 2008 World Economic Forum. That is, improving the lives of people around the world through collaboration with innovators, companies, and governments.
Societal evaluation is a key element of Unilever’s corporate objectives—CSR is, in itself, our business model. Some of the questions we asked as we moved into South Asia included, “How can we lower the bacterial infection mortality rate of children in Myanmar?” and “How has the mortality rate of children under five decreased?”
Insights: So what comes after social awareness?
Kohli: That would be motivated resources. The more unstable the market, the more crucial it is to have capable organizers in charge. The key is to think beyond the company and instead approach the whole country as a project.
Doing business in emerging countries can actually be like creating societies. As you might expect, partners in such places are often limited. The decision to assign skilled resources from home or rely on a local presence could itself determine success or failure.
Then there’s the balance of skill and motivation to consider—this is extremely important. For example, with the Japanese market shrinking, many skilled people are eager to seek out work in the growing Asian market. However, the desire to simply find work will inevitably prove insufficient to succeed under the challenges of an emerging market.
Insights: We understand that 50% of Unilever’s revenue comes from emerging economies. What’s your secret?
Kohli: We approach emerging countries as emerging countries. Meaning, the way we operate at home (in the Netherlands and the UK) simply doesn’t apply to undeveloped markets. Having said that, Unilever has its own methodology for these emerging markets, which we call the four Ps:
- People: consumers in the target country. Naturally, we want to understand their lives.
- Partnership: vendors and distribution networks. We are constantly aiming to support our partners’ human resource development and system investment for mutual benefit.
- Purpose: In my opinion, this is particularly important in emerging countries. How many companies can clearly outline what they’re doing in Myanmar, and for what purpose? In order to create a successful new market and involve people, you must establish your objectives and achieve empathy.
- People: our employees. We have high standards for our employees in all locations and are committed to human resource investment. Whether we’re in Myanmar, the UK, or somewhere else, we want the best talent globally.
Putting Purpose Front and Center
Insights: So you think the third P—purpose—is really key. Can you tell us why?
Kohli: Sure. Take children’s health. In emerging countries, the mortality rate of children under the age of five is in the tens of millions, all because of unsanitary conditions and lack of public health. Therefore, when we started selling soap, our goal wasn’t really to sell soap, but to improve hygiene by educating children and their parents about how to wash their hands.
These kinds of things aren’t business activities or CSR—they’re business itself. Showing that we have these values at Unilever is an important part of our DNA, and we are very proud that students in Indonesia, Brazil, and other places rank us as the most desirable place to work.
This is all because we face consumers and communities with love and respect.
Insights: Some emerging markets have to be more challenging than others. How do you approach the tougher ones?
Kohli: Once you have chosen a market, commit to it completely and really show that commitment. The president of Unilever actually visits Myanmar several times a year. This is a top executive whose company offers products to two billion people every day across 180 countries. Why do it? Because it’s important for the people at the top to see.
And remember, an emerging market may be small, but sending inexperienced or young people is a clear mistake that many companies make. To communicate and organize best practices requires a lot of effort and skill. Emerging countries should benefit from the best talent available.
Insights: What is important for you, personally, when you work in in emerging countries?
Kohli: Most of what I do is to prepare the heart for the work involved. In many cases, it’s easy to make mistakes based on perceived common sense. Sometimes, it’s better to just forget what you think you know and sympathize with people when you talk to them. When you rely only on your head to make decisions, you tend to rule things out too quickly, which prevents you from seeing the market with fresh eyes.
Relying on your heart to make decisions, you can break down existing perceptions and find new ideas. I practice mindfulness to increase my sympathy. This not only helps me accept new environments and ways of thinking, but also promotes creativity in emerging markets.
Note: The above was adapted from two articles (1, 2) published on GLOBIS Chikenroku, written in Japanese by Toru Takahashi.