Final Daft SIP

SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (F&IB) of Christ University By Asiad Manjur Reg. No. 1523511 Under the guidance of Prof. Anju. K.J School of Business Studies and Social Sciences Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus, Bengaluru June 2017 GUIDE CERTIFICATE This is to certify that this summer internship project report with Unilever Bangladesh Ltd., submitted to Christ University in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (F&IB) is a record of the original and independent work carried out by Asiad Manjur (Reg. no.1523511) under my guidance and supervision. This has not previously formed the basis of the award of any degree, diploma or other similar title of recognition. Place: Bangalore. Date: 6th June 2017 Prof. Anju KJ Company Certificate DECLARATION I declare that this summer internship project report with Unilever Bangladesh Ltd., is a record of bonafide research carried out by me under the supervision of Prof. Anju K. J, School of Business Studies and Social Sciences, Christ University, Bengaluru. I further declare that this has not previously formed the basis of the award of any degree, diploma or other similar title of recognition. Place: Bangalore Date: 6th June 2017 Asiad Manjur Reg No: 1523511 ACNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my profound gratitude to all those who have been instrumental in the preparation of this project report. I wish to place on records, my deep gratitude to my project guide Prof. Anju K J, a highly esteemed and distinguished guide for her expert advice and help. I would like to thank Dr (Fr) Thomas C. Mathew, Vice-Chancellor and Dr. Jyothi Kumar, Associate Dean for their support. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Shafayat Yousuf, Unilever Bangladesh Ltd., Dhaka, for the co-operation extended by his team for me to help complete this project, and give me valuable experience. Lastly, I would like to thank God, my Parents and Friends for their constant help and support. Asiad Manjur Reg No. 1523511 List of Diagrams Fig No. Figure Name Page No. 3.1 Unilever Logo 15 4.1 Organizational Structure 28 6.1 Product Categorization 37 6.2 Distribution House Organizational Structure 46 6.3 Distribution Process and Strategies 48 List of Tables Tab No. Table Name Page No. 3.1 Financial Growth for the year 2015 16 6.1 Pricing Model 39 Table of Contents Serial No. Chapter Page No. 1 Introduction 8 2 Objectives of Studying the Organization 9 3 Overview of the Organization 10 3.1 Brief History 10 3.2 Nature of the Organization 13 3.3 Business Volume 16 3.4 Product Lines 20 4 Organizational Structure 28 4.1 Organizational Structure of the Company 28 4.2 Marketing Operations 30 4.3 Main Offices 32 5 Structure of the Marketing Department 34 6 Functions of the Marketing Department 36 6.1 Marketing Strategies 36 6.2 Product Planning, Development and Management 37 6.3 Pricing Strategies 39 6.4 Distribution Strategies 42 6.5 Promotional Strategies 49 7 Theoretical Concepts Relating to Practical Experiences 52 8 Weaknesses of the Marketing Department 53 9 Conclusion 54 10 References 55 11 Annexures 56 1. Introduction The Summer Internship is mandatory to be undertaken after the completion of the 4th semester, by BBA students of Christ University. The idea behind this, is to give students first-hand experience about working in a business organization. This allows students to get a clear picture about how a business organization operates, and how the various departments function. It allows the students to immerse themselves in the organizational culture, and to absorb and learn the essential knowledge and values, such as technical knowledge, various soft skills and hard skills, and values like punctuality, proper work place ethics and grooming, integrity, teamwork, and many more. It also tests the students’ skills of applying their theoretical knowledge from the classrooms, into real life work environment, as they must work and carry out the jobs assigned by their company supervisor, or guide, based their learnings. The networking skills of the students are tested as well, as they must use their communication skills and contacts to get in touch with various companies, and secure a position, as an intern. At the end of the summer vacations and after the completion of six weeks (or 45 days) of internship the students must write a report titled the Summer Internship Project, which is the written collective records of their learnings in the company. The report has sections which consider the company history, its organizational structure and its business and operational model, where the student must give his understandings of them. Also, throughout the tenure of the internship, the students must maintain a journal, or “blue book”, in which they must record their daily activities on the job. They must make weekly reports, based on their “blue book” entries, and send them the faculty guide via email. The SIP report, the “blue book”, and a print out of the emails must be presented to the faculty panel, at the time of the viva, which is held once the college reopens after the summer vacations. 2. Objectives of Studying the Organization Unilever is one of the oldest multinational companies in the world and operates in over a hundred and fifty countries. It is also one of the largest FMCG companies in the world, with its products available in almost every store, and use in almost every household. The objectives of interning in such a large and globally successful company is to gain valuable experience and knowledge, and learn how a company functions on a worldwide scale. The following were the learning objectives: Learn about the company’s products and to sell the company’s products. Learn the various processes and systems within the company or at the area of work. Learn the work and discipline culture of the organization. Learn to relate to the company’s vision. Learn to network with the staff. Learn about people management. Learn to be punctual at the work place. Unilever was chosen for the Summer Internship Project because it is one of the companies which will fulfil the above-mentioned learning objectives. 3.Overview of the Organization 3.1 Brief history William Hesketh Lever founded Lever Brothers in 1885. Lever established soap factories around the world. In 1917, he began to diversify into foods, acquiring fish, ice cream and canned foods businesses. In the Thirties, Unilever introduced improved technology to the business. The business grew and new ventures were launched in Latin America. The entrepreneurial spirit of the founders and their caring approach to their employees and their communities remain at the heart of Unilever's business today. Unilever was formed in 1930 when the Dutch margarine company Margarine Unie merged with British soap maker Lever Brothers. Companies were competing for the same raw materials, both were involved in large-scale marketing of household products and both used similar distribution channels. Between them, they had operations in over 40 countries. Margarine Unie grew through mergers with other margarine companies in the 1920s. In a history that now crosses three centuries, Unilever's success has been influenced by the major events of the day economic boom, depression, world wars, changing consumer lifestyles and advances in technology. And throughout they've created products that help people get more out of life – cutting the time spent on household chores, improving nutrition, enabling people to enjoy food and take care of their homes, their clothes and themselves. Through the company’s timeline, we see how Unilever’s brand portfolio has evolved. At the beginning of the 21st century, path to Growth strategy focused us on global high-potential brands and Vitality mission is taking us into a new phase of development. More than ever, how brands are helping people 'feel good, look good and get more out of life' – a sentiment close to Lord Leverhulme's heart over a hundred years ago. The history of Unilever can be tracked through this timeline: 19th century: Although Unilever was not formed until 1930, the companies that joined forces to create the business we know today were well established before the start of century. 1900s: Unilever's founding companies’ products consisted of oils and fats, and margarine. At the beginning of century their expansion nearly outstrips supply of raw materials. 1910s: Tough economic conditions and World War make trading difficult for many businesses, who form trade association to protect their shared interests. 1920s: With businesses expanding, companies set up negotiations intending to stop others from producing the same types of products instead they agree to merge - and so Unilever is created. 1930s: Unilever's first decade is no easy ride: it starts with the Great Depression and ends with the Second World War. But while the business rationalizes operations, it also continues to diversify. 1940s: Unilever's operations around the world begin to fragment, but the business continues to expand further into the foods market and increase investment in research and development. 1950s: Business booms as new technology and the European Economic Community lead to rising standards of living in the West, while new markets open in emerging economies around the globe. 1960s: As the world economy expands so does Unilever and it sets about developing new products, entering new markets and running a highly ambitious acquisition program. 1970s: Hard economic conditions and high inflation make the 70s a tough time for everyone, but things are particularly difficult in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector as the big retailers start to flex their muscles. 1980s: The business expands into Central and Eastern Europe and further sharpens its focus on fewer product categories, leading to the sale or withdrawal of two-thirds of its brands. 1990s: The business expands into Central and Eastern Europe and further sharpens its focus on fewer product categories, leading to the sale or withdrawal of two thirds of its brands. The 21st Centuries: The decade starts with the launch of Path to Growth, a five-year strategic plan, and in 2004 further sharpens its focus on the needs of 21st Century consumers with its Vitality mission. Unilever Bangladesh Limited, formerly known as Lever Brothers Bangladesh Limited until 2004, was founded in 1964 and is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Unilever Bangladesh Limited operates as a subsidiary of Unilever Public Limited Company. It is a Joint Venture of the Government of Bangladesh and Unilever. Unilever holds 60.4 per cent and Government of Bangladesh holds 39.6 of the share. Unilever Bangladesh is a company that has its own history intrinsically built with the development of the nation and its culture. It has been part of the Bangladeshi household since the 19th century with the same intention of bringing cleanliness and convenience to households as it does today. Back then, Sunlight soap was marketed through Lever Brothers India limited throughout the undivided India. Later, Lever Brothers Pakistan limited started its operation in Bangladesh on a larger scale. In 1964, its soap manufacturing facility was setup in Kalurghat, Chittagong. With time, it gradually evolved and diversified into manufacturing personal products like skin care creams, toothpastes, shampoos, detergent powders, and so on. Accumulating manufacturing experience over 40 years, it has a legacy of leading the market with international brands offered at affordable prices. Today, with 13 different brands in 8 different categories, Unilever Bangladesh stands as one of the most progressive partner in development for the Government of Bangladesh. 3.2 Nature of the organization Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company co-headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and London, United Kingdom. Its products include food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. It is the world's third-largest consumer goods company measured by 2012 revenue, after Procter & Gamble and Nestlé. Unilever is the world's largest producer of food spreads, such as margarine. One of the oldest multinational companies; its products are available in around 190 countries. Unilever owns over 400 brands, but focuses on 14 brands with sales of over 1 billion euros: Axe/Lynx, Dove, Omo, Becel/Flora, Heart brand ice creams, Hellmann's, Knorr, Lipton, Lux, Magnum, Rama, Rexona, Sunsilk and Surf. It is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever N.V., based in Rotterdam, and Unilever plc, based in London. The two companies operate as a single business, with a board of directors. Unilever is organised into four main divisions - Foods, Refreshment (beverages and ice cream), Home Care, and Personal Care. It has research and development facilities in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, India and the United States. Unilever N.V. has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam and is a constituent of the AEX index. Unilever plc has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company is also a lux of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. These days the brands of Unilever Bangladesh Limited, are in fierce competition with that of other multinational FMCGs’ that are currently established in Bangladesh- for instance Glaxo Smith Kline, Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle, Novartis and so on. To stand out from the competition and hold more credibility, Unilever Bangladesh must ensure that their brands are certified and recommended by top dermatologists and dentists as public highly depend on the advice provided by these specialists. Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet every day needs for nutrition; hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Its vision is to make cleanliness a commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, in order that life may be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use the products. Unilever is making a positive contribution to society through their brands, the commercial operations and relationships, their voluntary contributions to the community and through their wider engagement with the Bangladeshi society. 72% of the company’s value addition is distributed to the Government of Bangladesh. UBL operations provide employment to over 10,000 people. The company’s goals are as follows: To manufacture high-standard products. Promoting products to the highest extent. Producing large volume to achieve production cost economies. Enabling quality products to be sold out at obtainable prices. In 2005, Unilever decided to change their logo to represent their new theme of vitality. The new log was also planned to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the company. The new logo tells the story of Unilever and vitality. It brings together 25 different icons representing Unilever and its brands, the idea of vitality and the benefits Unilever brings to consumers. The icons are represented below. Sun: The primary natural resource of all life begins with the sun- the ultimate symbol of vitality. It evokes Unilever’s origin in a port of sunlight & can represent several Unilever brands. DNA: The double helix. The genetic blueprint of life and a symbol of bioscience, a key to healthy life. The sun is the biggest ingredient of life and DNA is the smallest. Bee: Represents creation, pollination, hard works and bio diversity. Bees symbolize both environmental challenges and opportunities. Hand: A symbol of sensitivity, care and need, represents both skin and touch Flower: Represent fragrance, when seen with the hand, it represents moisturizing cream. Hair: A symbol of beauty and looking good, placed next to the flower, it evokes cleanliness and fragrances; placed beneath the hand it suggests softness. Palm tree: A natural resource, it produces palm oil as well as many fruits. Spoon: A symbol of nutrition, tasting and cooking. Bowl: A bowl of delicious smelling food. It can also represent a ready meal, or soup. Spice & Flavours: Represent chili or fresh ingredients. Fish: Represent food, sea or fresh water. Sparkle: Clean, healthy and sparking with energy. Bird: A symbol of freedom, it suggests relief from daily chores and getting more out of life. Recycle: Part of commitment to sustainability. Lips: Represent looking good, beauty, and taste. Tea: Symbol of plant, or extract of a plant, as a symbol of growing and farming. Container: Symbolizes packaging. Clothes: Represent fresh laundry and looking good. Heart: A symbol of love care and health. Sauce or Spread: It represents mixing or stirring, blending of flavours. Fig.3.1 Unilever Logo. 3.3 Business volume Unilever’s large global business volume has grown more over the past years. More than hundreds of thousands of units of products are produced per day. They increase their efficiency through exploiting economies of scale and learning effects. For example, 808,720 bars of soaps, 1,023,810 packets of detergent powders, 154, 430 toothpaste tubes and sachets,329, 530 bottles and sachets of shampoo, 156, 910 tubes, jars, bottles and sachets of creams and lotions, and 35, 000 packets of tea are produced in one day in Bangladesh by Unilever Bangladesh Limited. This is just one country, and from this we can get an idea of just how massive their production and business volume must be globally. Their global business volume growth reports are published in the company website quarterly, and these quarterly reports are compiled to publish the annual growth report. The summary of financial and sales growth, for the year 2015 is given below. Tab.3.1 Financial Growth for the year 2015. Despite a challenging year with slower global economic growth, intensifying geopolitical instability, and high currency and commodity volatility the company had again grown ahead of its markets, driven by their innovations and increased support behind its brands. The 2015 results further demonstrate the progress it had made in transforming, itself into a more resilient business, capable of consistently delivering competitive underlying sales growth, margin expansion and strong cash flow. This consistency of performance shows that its focus to build itself for the long term is paying off. It is starting to see the results from sharpened category strategies that guide increased investment in its brands, its infrastructure and its people as well as extensions into attractive new markets. In 2015, underlying sales growth improved to 4.1% driven by a step-up in volume growth. All categories delivered progress against their strategic priorities: Personal Care and Foods achieved improved growth while maintaining strong profitability and cash flow. Home Care and Refreshment improved margin and cash flow while continuing to grow competitively. Emerging markets grew by 7.1% with an increased contribution from volume. Developed markets were flat with good volume growth in Europe being offset by continued price deflation. Gross margin improved by 80bps to 42.2% driven by margin-accretive innovation, pricing and continued delivery from its savings programmes, which more than offset currency-related cost increases in emerging markets. Brand and marketing investment was up 20bps. Overheads increased by 30bps as adverse currency translation impact and the lapping of gains in the prior year more than offset continued savings delivery. Core operating margin improved by 30bps to 14.8%. Core operating profit was up by €0.9 billion at €7.9 billion. Growth in Personal Care, while still below historical run rates, improved from the slower growth of the previous year (2014). This was driven by innovations that grow the core of its brands and extend into more premium segments. Deodorants benefited from the continued success of the dry spray launch in North America and the compressed formats launched into Latin America. In hair, growth was driven by the Dove Advanced Hair Series roll-out and the successful launch of Lux Luminique in Japan. The improved Dove body wash formulation, delivering superior care and better sensorial experience, performed well in skin and is now present in over 30 countries. In oral care, we have extended the premium toothpaste Zendium to nine markets. We established our Prestige business with the acquisitions of Dermalogica, Murad, Kate Somerville and REN. Core operating margin improved by 20bps driven by margin-accretive innovation. Core operating profit increased by €0.5 billion to €3.8 billion. Foods and Beverages showed good volume-driven growth led by cooking products in emerging markets and by innovations around naturalness and health such as Knorr Meal-makers with 100% natural ingredients in Europe and fortified stock cubes which help address iron deficiency in Africa. In dressings, Hellmann’s demonstrated good growth driven by a strong performance in Latin America and by the success of new squeezy packs in Europe and North America. The Baking, Cooking & Spreads unit is repositioning the business to more attractive segments which helped to gain market share in margarine, however sales in spreads continued to decline as the company was not able to stem the sustained market contraction in developed countries. Core operating margin was down 40bps due to increased costs including higher brand and marketing investment. Core operating profit was up by €0.1 billion at €2.4 billion. Home Care delivered another year of broad-based growth driven by innovations in higher margin segments, market development and the roll out of the new Omo with enhanced formulation and improved cleaning technology. Omo pre-treaters and stain removers have built further market share in Brazil. Fabric conditioners benefited from the success of Comfort intense with double-encapsulated fragrance technology that delivers long-lasting freshness. In household care, we continued to scale up by rolling out improved formulations like Cif’s improved “Power and Shine” sprays for kitchens and bathroom across Europe. In line with our strategy, core operating margin increased by 130bps drive by improved mix, cost savings and simplification programmes. Core operating profit improved by €0.2 billion to €0.8 billion. In Refreshments, ice cream delivered strong growth driven by margin-accretive innovations behind premium brands, such as Magnum Pink and Black variants, the Ben & Jerry’s Cores range and new flavours of Breyer’s Gelato. The company continues to build its presence in premium gelato with the recently acquired Talenti which grew more than 40% and with Grom which we acquired in October. In leaf tea, it reinvigorated the Lipton brand with an improved mix and new packaging but growth was below our markets. It extended Lipton and PG Tips further into fruit, herbal and speciality teas where it is still under-represented. We are building our presence in the premium segment by opening more T2 stores which we leverage with online sales and by launching machine-compatible tea capsules in Europe. Core operating margin was up 60bps driven by improved mix and savings in ice cream. Core operating profit increased by €0.1 billion to €0.9 billion. In line with the company’s strategy, the cash delivery of its ice cream business stepped up. In the Asia Pacific region, growth was mixed across countries with varying contributions from volume and price. Turkey and the Philippines delivered broad-based double-digit growth. India demonstrated solid volume-driven growth with lower pricing as commodity costs eased. Volumes were down in Russia as high inflation put pressure on consumer demand but growth improved throughout the year. China recovered from the prior year trade de-stocking and Japan grew again, helped by a strong performance in haircare. Core operating margin was up 20bps with improved gross margins, partially offset by higher overheads that lapped prior year gains on property sales in India. In the Americas, Latin America delivered double-digit underlying sales growth driven by strong pricing to recover higher input costs but also modest volume growth despite challenging macro-economic conditions and with consumer incomes squeezed by higher cost of living. The company’s businesses demonstrated its resilience with stable volumes in Brazil and strong volume growth in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. In North America, it grew slightly and gained share helped by good momentum behind dry spray deodorants and strong innovations in premium ice cream, which strengthened its competitive proposition in both categories, but spreads continued to decline. Core operating margin was down 10bps due to increased brand and marketing investment. Europe returned to growth in 2015 as good volume growth more than offset price deflation across the markets. Home care and ice cream grew strongly ahead of the markets, but the contraction of the margarine market weighed on the company’s foods performance, particularly in the United Kingdom and Germany. France and Spain grew for another year while it restored growth in the Netherlands, Central and Eastern Europe and Italy. Europe continued to be a strong contributor to Unilever’s margin accretion. Core operating margin was up 90bps despite higher brand and marketing investment. This was driven by improved gross margins and lower overheads that benefited from project Half savings and pension plan changes in the Netherlands. These figures have grown more in the current year, showing Unilever’s success in the global FMCG market, as well as the Bangladeshi market. However, it is important to keep in mind that the market also has other company’s competing with Unilever. As Unilever’s volumes and grow, so does the volumes of its competitors. Therefore, for the company to retain its position as a big market player, it must not only target growth, but aim for long-term sustainable growth. 3.4 Product lines Unilever, being a huge multinational company, and one of the largest FMCG producers in the world, has a very long list of products and brands, globally. The list of Unilever brands, present globally are given below. Food and Beverages: Alsa – desserts and syrups Amino – dehydrated soup (Poland) Amora – French mayonnaise and dressings Annapurna – salt and wheat flour (India) Aromat – Seasoning (South Africa) Becel – also known as Flora/Promise; health-aware: margarine, spreads, cooking oil, milk, fermented milk Ben & Jerry's – ice cream Best Foods – mayonnaise, sandwich spreads, peanut butter and salad dressings Blue Band – family-aware: margarine, bread, cream alternatives Bovril – beef extract Breyers – ice cream Brooke Bond – tea Bru – instant coffee (India) Brummel & Brown – margarine Buavita – fruit juice, ice cream (Indonesia, acquired from Ultrajaya) Bushell's – tea (Australia, New Zealand) Calvé – sauces, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, peanut butter Chicken Tonight – wet sauces range (excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland) Choysa – tea, marketed mainly in Australia and New Zealand Colman's – mustard, condiments, packet sauces, OK Fruity Sauce Conimex – Asian spices (Netherlands) Continental – side dishes Country Crock – margarine Darko (Дарко) – ice cream (Bulgaria) Delma – margarine (Poland) Du Darfst – (Germany) Elmlea – pourable artificial cream available in different varieties (UK) Fanacoa – mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup (Argentina and for export to Latin America) Flora – margarine, light butter, jams Fruco – ketchup, mayonnaise and condiments Fudgsicle Grom – gelato (Italy) Heartbrand – ice cream (umbrella logo) Hellmann's – mayonnaise I Can't Believe It's Not Butter – margarine spread Imperial Margarine – margarine Jif – lemon and lime Juice Joko – Tea (South Africa) Kasia – margarine (Poland) Kecap Bango – soya sauce in Indonesia Kissan – Ketchups Squashes and Jams (India and Pakistan) Klondike – ice cream sandwiches Knorr (Knorr-Suiza in Argentina) – sauces, stock cubes, ready-meals, meal kits, ready-soups, frozen food range Lady's Choice – mayonnaise, peanut butter and sandwich spreads (Philippines, Malaysia) Lan-Choo – tea (Australia/New Zealand) Lao Cai – seasoning Lipton – tea Lipton Ice Tea – ready-to-drink tea (partnership with PepsiCo) Lizano Sauce (Salsa Lizano) – Costa Rican condiment Lyons – tea (Ireland) Maille – French mustard Maizena – corn starch Marmite – yeast extract spread (except in Australia and New Zealand, called Our Mate) McCollins – tea (Peru) Mrs. Filbert's – margarine (United States) Paddle pop – ice cream (Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia [incorporated with Wall’s] discontinued in the Philippines) Pfanni – Bavarian potato mixes PG Tips – tea (UK / USA / Canada) Phase – cooking oil Planta – margarine Popsicle – frozen treats Pot Noodle – cup noodles Promise – Becel/Flora Rama – margarine Rani – fruit juice (Middle East, acquired from Aujan Industries) Red Rose Tea – tea (Canada) Robertsons – spices/seasoning (South Africa) Royco – stock cubes, non-MSG stock (only in Indonesia) Saga – tea (Poland) Sana – margarine (Turkey) Sariwangi – tea (Indonesia) Scottish Blend – tea Sealtest – milk products Slotts – mustard (Sweden) Stork margarine Streets – ice cream (Australia/New Zealand) Sunce (Sun) – mayonnaise (Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro), brand now discontinued, Sunce factory now produces Unilever brand Knor mayonnaise T2 – premium Australian tea Talenti – gelato Telma – breakfast cereal (Israel) Tortex – ketchup (Poland) Tulipan – margarine (Spain) Turun sinappi – mustard (Finland/Sweden) Unilever Food Solutions – professional markets (food service) Unox – soups, smoked sausages Vaqueiro – cooking margarine, cooking oil Home and Personal Care: All – laundry detergent (except the United States) Ala – laundry detergent (Argentina and North/Northeast Brazil) Andrelon Atlantik - soap (Germany, now discontinued) Aviance Cosmetics Axe – deodorant, shower gel, body spray (Lynx in the UK, Ireland and Australasia) Ayush (India) Baba (East Europe) Badedas – shower gels Biotex – laundry detergent Block & White – whitening lotion, soap and deodorant (Philippines, acquired from Sara Lee Philippines in 2010) Breeze – laundry detergent (Philippines, Thailand) Brilhante – laundry detergent (Brazil) Brisk – hair-styling products for men (Southeast Asia, North America) Brylcreem – hair-styling products for men Caress – soap Cif – cleaning products Citra – women's hand and body lotion, beauty soap, and scrubs (Indonesia, Thailand and the Middle East) Clear – anti-dandruff, scalp care shampoo and conditioner (China, Southeast Asia, Australia, Romania, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Hungary, United States, Canada, Latin America) Clinic – dandruff shampoo Close-Up – toothpaste Coccolino – softener (Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania) Comfort Cream Silk – conditioner (Philippines) Degree – deodorant (United States and Canada) DERO (Romania and Vietnam) Dimension (Indonesia and Malaysia) Dollar Shave Club – razors and other personal grooming products direct to consumer by mail (United States)[6] Domestos – bleach (Australia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom) (Vim in Vietnam) (Domex in the Philippines) Dove – skin care, hair care, and deodorant Dove Spa Dusch Das – shower gels and deodorants (Germany) Elidor – hair care (Turkey) Eskinol – women's facial care (Philippines, acquired from Sara Lee in 2010) Fair & Lovely – skin lightening product (available in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Timor Leste) FDS – skin care range Gessy (Brazil) – soap Glorix (Netherlands) Good Morning – soap (Egypt) Impulse – deodorant and body spray Ioma – premium skin care range Lakmé – cosmetics Lever 2000 – soap Lifebuoy – soap (discontinued in the Philippines in 2008) Linic – dandruff shampoo (Portugal) Lux – women's soap, shower gel, and lotions (Caress in the United States) Lynx – men's deodorant Lysoform – home care (Italy) Master – men's facial care (Philippines, acquired from Sara Lee in 2010) Matey – children's bubble bath Minerva – laundry and dishwasher detergents (Brazil) Mist – soap (Egypt) Neutral – laundry detergent Noxzema – skin care range Omo (South Africa, Norway, Brazil and Chile) – laundry detergent Organics – shampoo and conditioner Pears Transparent Soap Pepsodent – dental (outside of the United States) (P/S in Vietnam) Persil (Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, New Zealand) (OMO in Vietnam) Pond's Prodent – toothpaste Quix – dishwashing liquid (Chile) Q-Tips – cotton swabs Radox – shower gels and bubble bath Rexona – deodorant (Latin America, Europe [except UK and Ireland], Asia [except India and Japan], Australia and New Zealand; known in Japan as Rexena) Rinso (except the United States) Robijn – softener Sedal – shampoo and conditioner (Spanish-speaking Latin American countries; known in Brazil as Seda) Shield – deodorant (South Africa) Signal – toothpaste Simple– skin and body care range Skip – laundry detergent SR – toothpaste St Ives – hand and body care Suave Sun – dishwasher detergent Sunlight Sunsilk (Sedal in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, Seda in Brazil) – shampoo and conditioner Sure  deodorant (United Kingdom, Ireland and India) Surf – laundry detergent Swan Soap (defunct) Thermasilk – shampoo and conditioner Tholl – skin care TIGI – shampoo and conditioner for hair salons Timotei – shampoo and conditioner Toni & Guy – hair care range TRESemmé – hair care range (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States) Ultrex – dandruff shampoo (Greece) Vaseline – body lotion, shower gel, deodorant (Vasenol in Portugal, Brazil, Italy, Spain and Mexico) Vibrance – shampoo and conditioner Vim (Bangladesh, Canada, India, Pakistan) Vinólia – soap (Brazil) Viso – laundry detergent (Vietnam and Indonesia) Wheel (India) White Beauty – skin lightening cream Williams – men's care VO5 – hair care/styling (except the United States) Xedex zendium – toothpaste Zhonghua – toothpaste Zwitsal – baby care range (Netherlands and Indonesia) Unilever Professional – professional markets (home and personal care) 4. Organizational structure 4.1. Organizational Structure of the Company. In terms of Unilever, they have two chairmen leading the company worldwide. They have seven top directors leading seven different departments. They have divided their worldwide business into different region and have different business groups to manage them. Unilever Bangladesh limited falls under the Southeast Asian region. On a more micro scale, Unilever Bangladesh ltd is monitored by Hindustan lever Ltd. which oversees operation in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The chairman of Unilever Bangladesh Limited is known as the managing director. The management staff of the company consists of six layers, starting from junior manager (who are local managers) to manager grade 5 (who are Unilever managers). Apart from this the company also hires many non-management staff as well as operatives to work in the factories. Unilever Bangladesh Limited has five departments to carry out all the organizational functions. Respective director’s head are head of all departments. These departments are: Customer Development Department Headed by Customer Development Director (CDD) Brands & Development Department headed by the Brands and Development Director (B&DD) Supply Chain Department headed by the Supply Chain Director (SCD) Finance Department headed by Finance Director (FD) Human Resources Department headed by the Human Resources Director (HRD) Fig.4.1 Organizational Structure. The operations of the Human Resources Department and Finance department will be considered briefly. Human Resources Department: The Human Resources Director (HRD) currently heads this department. The major functions of this department are: Factory Personnel functions or Industrial Relations Recruitment, Training and developments, labour welfare Personnel Services and Security. All these major personnel functions are integrated in the best possible way in Unilever Bangladesh Limited which results in its higher productivity. Industrial relations or the factory personnel functions are looked after by factory personnel manager, training and development activities are supervised by Manager Human Resource Development, Employee Welfare, activities are monitored by Assistant Manager labour welfare, personnel services are looked after by the FPM along with the office services manager and finally security officer is responsible for all the security services At present, the total number of personnel in Unilever Bangladesh Limited are 720 which includes 159 in management & 543 unionized permanent workers. Finance (and IT) Department: The Finance and IT departments are jointly headed by one Director. The main objectives of this department are to serve all the division and departments of the companies, to secure and safeguard company assets and interest, to ensure proper internal control within the company and above all, to be cost effective to get optimum benefit for the company while operating. At present the major sub departments are: Business system Finance Legal. The rest of the departments will be looked at under Marketing Operations. 4.2. Marketing Operations. The marketing operations are divided among and looked over by three departments. They are as follows. Brands and Development Department: The Brands Team has been expanded to Brands and Development, thus providing opportunity of increased coordination between the Marketing and Development Team. Insight into consumer needs and aspirations is critical if new market opportunities are to be identified. New market opportunities must be identified if they are looking for sustainable profitable growth, keeping them miles ahead of their competitors. However, it is also crucial to exploit technology and developments to translate the found insight into tangible products catering to the needs and aspirations of the consumers with speed. A deep understanding of both consumers and technologies provide an essential foundation for successful innovation. To ensure a successful innovation process at Unilever, Brands and Development have been bought together. This will help their development team to have closer contact with the consumer world, following the leads and cues of their aspirations and thus innovating products tailored accordingly at a faster pace. Brands and Development Department is further divided into six major areas. They include: Home care Personal care Dental Service Food Tea export Marketing research Supply Chain Department: The Supply Chain Director (SCD) who oversees planning, buying, manufacturing and distributing heads Supply Chain Department. The supply chain process constitutes a series of important activities ensuring smooth delivery to the consumers. Supply chain process led to joining planning and buying with manufacturing. Joining distribution to the chain, thus integrating both backward and forward linkages, further extends this chain. An integrated supply chain will give them the advantage of acting with speed, enabling them to keep up with pace of the ever-changing business scenario. At present, it is divided into the following functions: Manufacturing Engineering Company Buying Distribution Quality Assurance Planning Customer Development Department: Managing customers i.e. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, is becoming critical day by day. With the evolution of modern trade and aggressive local and international competition, role of Customer Management has also been gradually shifting from traditional “Sales: to “Trade Marketing”. Category Management, Space Management and In-store merchandising are becoming more and more important. Exploring and developing new channels are becoming critical to drive their business forward. With more and more sophistication, the role of Customer Management will evolve further and the whole game will be turned into “Relationship Marketing”. The customer management director (CMD) heads the Customer Management Department. Reporting to him are the Sales Operation Manager, Regional Sales Managers and Area Sales Managers. Company organized media is under the Sales Operation Manager. Assistant Area managers’ report to the Regional Sales Managers. Territory Managers report to the Assistant Area sales managers, Area Sales Managers and Regional Sales Managers, which differ in different sales areas. The Customer Management Department, early called ‘Sales Department’, is responsible for all company goods and maintains the following customer management strategy: Strong distribution network Widest distribution with seasonal operation in cost effectives areas Effective and focused company sales force Major thrust in rural market 4.3. Main Offices. Following is the list of countries where Unilever operates and has their main offices. Africa:  Algeria Angola Burundi Egypt Ghana Kenya Libya Malawi Morocco Mozambique Nigeria Rwanda South Africa Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Americas: Argentina Bolivia Brazil Canada (English) Canada (Francais) Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tobago Uruguay USA Venezuela Asia Pacific: Australia Bangladesh China India Indonesia Indonesia (English) Japan Korea Malaysia New Zealand Pakistan Philippines Russia Singapore Sri Lanka Thailand Turkey Taiwan Vietnam Europe: Austria Belgium (Nederland’s) Belgium (Français) Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Russia Slovak Republic Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom Middle East: Bahrain Egypt Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria UAE Yemen 5.Structure of the Marketing Department The marketing department of Unilever is structured such that, it is divided into three branches, which perform their own functions but are interrelated. They are as follows. Brands and Development Department: The Brands Team has been expanded to Brands and Development, thus providing opportunity of increased coordination between the Marketing and Development Team. Insight into consumer needs and aspirations is critical if new market opportunities are to be identified. New market opportunities must be identified if they are looking for sustainable profitable growth, keeping them miles ahead of their competitors. However, it is also crucial to exploit technology and developments to translate the found insight into tangible products catering to the needs and aspirations of the consumers with speed. A deep understanding of both consumers and technologies provide an essential foundation for successful innovation. To ensure a successful innovation process at Unilever, Brands and Development have been bought together. This will help their development team to have closer contact with the consumer world, following the leads and cues of their aspirations and thus innovating products tailored accordingly at a faster pace. Brands and Development Department is further divided into six major areas. They include: Home care Personal care Dental Service Food Tea export Marketing research Supply Chain Department: The Supply Chain Director (SCD) who oversees planning, buying, manufacturing and distributing heads Supply Chain Department. The supply chain process constitutes a series of important activities ensuring smooth delivery to the consumers. Supply chain process led to joining planning and buying with manufacturing. Joining distribution to the chain, thus integrating both backward and forward linkages, further extends this chain. An integrated supply chain will give them the advantage of acting with speed, enabling them to keep up with pace of the ever-changing business scenario. At present, it is divided into the following functions: Manufacturing Engineering Company Buying Distribution Quality Assurance Planning Customer Development Department: Managing customers i.e. retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, is becoming critical day by day. With the evolution of modern trade and aggressive local and international competition, role of Customer Management has also been gradually shifting from traditional “Sales: to “Trade Marketing”. Category Management, Space Management and In-store merchandising are becoming more and more important. Exploring and developing new channels are becoming critical to drive their business forward. With more and more sophistication, the role of Customer Management will evolve further and the whole game will be turned into “Relationship Marketing”. The customer management director (CMD) heads the Customer Management Department. Reporting to him are the Sales Operation Manager, Regional Sales Managers and Area Sales Managers. Company organized media is under the Sales Operation Manager. Assistant Area managers’ report to the Regional Sales Managers. Territory Managers report to the Assistant Area sales managers, Area Sales Managers and Regional Sales Managers, which differ in different sales areas. The Customer Management Department, early called ‘Sales Department’, is responsible for all company goods and maintains the following customer management strategy: Strong distribution network Widest distribution with seasonal operation in cost effectives areas Effective and focused company sales force 6. Functions of The Marketing Department 6.1 Marketing Strategy. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. is registered under Unilever. As a part of a global company it follows some generalized strategies and principals of Unilever. However, they also modify different strategies based on the national conditions. The different strategies that they follow in the global environment are stated below: As a worldwide famous company and comprising internationally renowned brands gives them unique strengths that allow a company to achieve superior efficiency, quality, innovation, or customer responsiveness. The different policies and strategies Unilever follows and their experience is transferred to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. The company follows a geocentric strategy. The company imports the raw materials from the places where it is less costly, thus achieve location economy. UBL, and all international branches of the company, does not domestically manufacture products which contribute very low percentage to the revenue, because of which they are not feasible. For example, UBL does not domestically produce Axe deodorant, but imports the product because its per unit sale is low, making a very low contribution to the revenue. Whereas, the company manufactures Lux soap domestically, because its per unit sale is very high, making a high contribution to the company revenue. They are locally responsive. They are always ready to improve and modify their products to meet the needs of the local customers. This allows them to cater to the need of a highly-diversified consumer base and target more market segments. UBL follows a multi domestic strategy where the company extensively customizes both its product offering and marketing strategy to different national conditions. This allows the company to reach out to various types of market. For example, it segments the market into Urban market and Rural market, then modifies and adopts strategies and its products differently for each segment. Unilever is also a pioneer in branding. Unilever has a portfolio of about 400 brands globally. However, many of these are local that can only be found in certain countries, e.g. Fair & Lovely. In Bangladesh, the number of UBL’s existing brands is 18 which are categorized in different sections. 6.2 Product Planning, Development and Management. Unilever manufactures and sells Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). These are products which move quickly through the marketing process, i.e., from production to consumption. These products are sold at a relatively low cost. The company develops its products according to specific needs of the consumers, and are categorised accordingly. The products are categorised by the company to make planning, developing and managing them easier. The products are categorised into three Broad Categories, which are Home Care, Personal Care, and Food and Refreshments. These are then classified further into Functional Categories. The functional categories are again further divided into Sub Categories, which are basically differentiated products and their brands. For example, Personal Care is a broad category, under which Hair Care is a functional category. Under this functional category, products such as shampoo and conditioners, and the brands, such as Sunsilk and Dove are sub categories. All product categories may not be present in all the countries, in which the company operates. Currently, in Bangladesh, all the broad categories of products are present, but not all functional and sub categories. This categorization can be diagrammatically presented as follows. It is important to note that the diagram does not contain all the categories, and is used only as a tool for understanding and clarification. Fig.6.1 Product Categorization. The following are some of the product planning, developing and managing strategies followed by Unilever. The company adopts flexible manufacturing technologies, upgrades the skills of employees through training and performs research and development function to design products that are easy to manufacture. The company has higher consumer responsiveness rate. It carries out extensive research to innovate new products and modify the existing products to better satisfy the consumers. The company continuously innovates products, promotional activities, packaging and distribution. This way, it can respond quickly to customer demands and needs. Unilever products, due to their need-specific and highly differentiated nature, appeal to a lot of consumers. This demand combined with efficient pricing, distribution and promotional strategies, is what has led to it being one of the largest companies in the FMCG market all over the world. 6.3 Pricing Strategy. Unilever operates in a highly competitive market. In economic terms, we can say that the market the company operates in is a perfectly competitive market. The demand for goods and services in this market is very price sensitive. It is a market where, prices are determined by market forces of demand and supply, and consumers are very much aware of the price set by all the producers and sellers. The implication of this is that, if Unilever sets its prices high above its competitors for profit maximization, consumers will switch to purchasing products from its competitors, and if the price is below its competitors, the company will suffer loses, also consumers will doubt the quality of the products. In such a complicated and sensitive market structure, the company must be very careful while selecting and applying its pricing strategies. Before looking at the strategies, it is important to look at the process by which prices are set for the Unilever’s customers and the consumers (the differences between customers, shoppers and consumers are discussed under distribution strategies). In other words, this is the process by which the company sets the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for its products. The process is summarized in the accounting calculation below. Tab.6.1 Pricing Model The above table shows how Unilever arrives at the MRP of a product. To describe this process, let us take the example of a bottle of Axe deodorant. The first step is to take the Trade Revenue that the company earns from selling that bottle. To this we add the Local Indirect Costs, which are the indirect costs incurred locally on transportation, etc. and the Allocated Charges, which are basically financial costs. After which we arrive at Profit Before Indirects. Then we add Allocated Charges incurred at this level, and Local Advertising and Promotion Costs. On doing this we arrive at the Gross Profit. To this we add Supply Chain costs and costs of Raw Materials and Packaging, to arrive at the Turnover of the company. Then we add Trade-terms Structure to get the Gross Sales Value. To this we add the direct costs incurred during Sales, or Sales Direct Costs, and the Value-Added Tax. Doing so, we arrive at the List Price, i.e., the price at which Unilever sells to the distributors. On this we add the profit the distributor makes selling the products, which is the Distributor’s Margin. Then we get the Trade Price, which is the price at which the distributor sells the products to traders or retailers and wholesalers. We then add the profit made by them, which is the Retailer’s Margin to finally arrive at the MRP. After looking at pricing process, it is now time to look at the pricing strategies adopted by Unilever. It is important to remember, as mentioned earlier, Unilever operates under a perfectly competitive market, and hence it can fluctuate its price only up to a minimum degree. The strategies are as follows. Penetration Pricing: In this method, the company sets a low price for a product, and then gradually increases the price as the demand goes up. This is done mainly to introduce a new product in the market, and capturing the market share. For example, if the Unilever wants to introduce Sunsilk shampoo in a new market, it well set a bare minimum price, then gradually as the demand increases and the product has captured a certain percentage of the market the company will start increasing the price slowly. This strategy is followed by almost every company that operates in a perfectly competitive market. Product Line Pricing: In this method, the company sets different prices for different brands or categories of the same product. For example, Unilever sells shampoo under various brands such as Dove, Sunsilk, etc. and each of these brands are priced differently. This method separates a product into cost categories, to create various quality levels in the minds of consumers. Effective product line pricing by a company will usually involve putting sufficient price gaps between categories or categories to inform prospective buyers of quality differentials. Cost Plus Pricing: In this method, the company adds up all the direct and indirect costs and the profit margin it wants to make, and arrives at the price. The pricing process mentioned before is an example of this method. This method makes it quite easy to derive the product price. However, this strategy is not fully suitable for a perfectly competitive market, and must be applied with some adjustments, such as factoring in the price set by the market forces, and at what price the competitors are selling. Competitive Pricing: In this method, the company sets the prices of its products looking at the prices set by its competitors. This pricing strategy is very apt for the FMCG market, since all the companies are selling the same product. For example, Unilever sells Surf and P&G sells Tide, both are which detergent powders. Now both these companies will observe each other’s pricing activities very carefully, and if one company brings down the price to increase sales and market share, the other will take counter-measures. Distribution Pricing: In this method, the company sells its products to a distributer, at a lower price than the MRP, allowing the distributor to earn a profit margin of his own on selling the products. As mentioned in the calculation of the MRP, that is used by Unilever, the distributors margin is the profit that he earns on selling the products. Unilever uses these pricing strategies by adjusting them to market needs, and according to what works best for the company. Also, they sometimes combine two or more of these strategies, to come up with a new strategy that gives the company an edge over its competitors, and helps to become sustainable, to serve its customers better. 6.4 Distribution Strategies. Unilever products are used almost in every household worldwide, and can be found stocked up in almost every store, this is also the case for Bangladesh. This is because of the company’s strong and efficient distribution network which makes the product available to the masses. Before we commence looking deeper into how this network functions, and the strategies adopted by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd., there are certain basic things which a person must know. This will help form a much clearer picture about the distribution process. Unilever’s direct customers are the traders who, or the outlets which sell their products. Shoppers are the people who purchase these products from the outlets. Consumers are the people who ultimately use the products, they are the end-users. Shoppers may or may not be the consumers, and consumers may not be the shoppers. For example, Clyde buys a pack of Surf detergent for Bonnie, from Acme shop, which purchases products directly, and in bulk, from Unilever. In this case, Acme shop is Unilever’s customer, Clyde is the shopper, and Bonnie is the consumer. However, if Bonnie had directly purchased the pack of detergent, and used it, she would become the shopper as well as the consumer. Same goes for Clyde, if he had purchased the pack for himself. It is important to keep in mind these differences, to better understand the distribution process and strategies. Unilever classifies its customers, i.e., the outlets under various categories using its characteristics. In this classification, the customer outlets are referred to as channels. The following are the types of channels as classified by Unilever. Urban: Urban Neighbourhood Grocer (UNG) Urban General Store (UGS) Premium Urban General Stores (PUGS) Urban Wet Market Grocer (UWMG) Urban HPC Tong (UHPCT) Urban Cosmetics Channel/Shopping Centre (UCC/SC) Rural: Rural Neighbourhood Grocer (RNG) Rural Wet Market Grocer (RWMG) Rural Cosmetics Channel (RCC) Others: Drug Stores (DS) Self-service Shops or Modern Trade (MT) E-commerce Each shop can be identified and put under one of the above-mentioned categories, by certain characteristics. They are as follows. Location Structure Physical Construct Type of Consumers Purchase Frequency Type of Products This classification is done so that it becomes easier for the company to identify and group the channels, or outlets, and apply strategies for promotion and distribution, and collect data. Who is the distributor? In simple terms, the distributor is basically a business partner, as well as a customer. He provides the capital, both human and physical. He owns the distribution office and the warehouse buildings. He provides all the necessary funding, and purchases necessary items such as furniture, the technology required, and the logistics for transport of goods. He also hires the required people to run the distribution house. It is important to remember, they are the distributor’s employees and not Unilever’s. In other words, he owns the place, and it is his business. Who is the Territory Manager (TM)? The TM is the representative of Unilever in the distribution house, and the general manager, of that house. The designation is called Territory Manager, because a distribution house caters to the needs of customers in an area, or territory, and it is up to the TM to take care of these customers, and attract new ones (increase market share) in that area. He manages day to day operations of the house and acts as a consultant to the distributor. He enforces targets and guidelines set by Unilever, in a professional manner, and ensures that the distributor, and his employees, comply with them. It is his responsibility to make sure that the required amount of stock is maintained in the warehouse, the warehouse is maintained according to company standards, and the orders are taken, and deliveries are made on time, and damaged and expired products are sorted and sent back to the factories. He also helps in the training of new Sales Officers (SO) and Field Sales Executives (FSE). He makes market visits, where, along with training and evaluating new SOs and FSEs, he provides on-field information to the company, about the performance of its products in the market, and information about competitors. He also ensures that the SOs and FSEs are doing their job and reaching their targets, and corrects them if they are slacking. Thus, the TM serves as a link between Unilever and the distributor, and ensures profitability and business sustainability for both parties. The distributor, and the TM, have two major roles. They must ensure product availability and visibility in their customer outlets. Availability means whether the products are being made available in the outlets, for purchase by shoppers. For example, if an outlet is stocking less of Unilever products, they are not available for the shoppers to purchase. In this case it is the distributors, and TM’s, job to find out why the outlet is doing so, and influence or push the outlets to keep Unilever products. Visibility is making sure that the products are visible to the shoppers, so that they know they are available in the outlets. Visibility will be discussed more in detail, under Promotional Strategies. These functions or roles are carried out by the SOs and FSEs, on behalf of the distributor, and by the TM on his market visits. Apart from these, the distributor and TM must also service trade. This means that they must regularly check on their customers and provide after sales services. Who are the Distribution Field Force (DFF)? The DFF are the team of people who work on-field, i.e., directly in the market. It comprises of two types of personnel. First are the FSE. They oversee supervising the SOs. Each FSE has a fixed number of SOs to supervise. They are responsible for evaluating the performance of the SOs and making sure that they meet their targets. They also train new SOs. Daily morning briefings are conducted by the FSE, where they read out the daily sales target for the SOs, and read out the stock rations, i.e., how much of quantity of a product, a SO can sell to a customer. For example, if the FSE says that an SO can sell twenty 250ml bottles of Dove shampoo to each customer outlet that he visits, the SO can sell a maximum of twenty bottes to each outlet. It is very important for the FSEs to stick to this type of rationing, to make sure that products are made available to every customer, and avoiding over and under stocking by outlets. The rationing is done according to the quantity of products available in the distributor’s warehouse. The FSEs must accompany their SOs in the market, and must act as their direct point of contact and reporting authority. Second are the SO’s. They are responsible for directly interacting with the customers, taking and delivering orders. The same SO does not take orders and deliver products on the same day. Also, a SO has a fixed set of customers he visits, for a period. Apart from taking orders and delivering products, SO’s also push sales. Orders are taken digitally, through a hand-held device, such as a tablet, and then uploaded in the data management system (DMS) through the internet. The tablets also contain information about the customer, such as which product sells well in this outlet, or area, and which product does not. According to this information, the SO tries to convince the customer to purchase products which has high selling potential, but sold by the customer outlet. The SO also must manually check if the customer outlets are maintaining adequate stock of Unilever products (check availability). Their sales timings and amount and quantity of sales is recorded in the DMS, and is checked by TM regularly. Therefore, we can see that the SOs are basically salesmen. Apart from the TM and DFF, there are also other people present in the organization structure of the distribution house. They are, the Operations Manager (OM), the Administrative staff, Accountant and Cashiers (Accounts Department), Information Technology staff (IT Department), Human Resources Consultant (HRC), Warehouse management staff, and Maintenance staff. The OM looks after the daily operations of the distribution house, along with the TM. It is important to remember that the OM is an employee of the distributor, and hence, unlike the TM, will be more involved with operations of the house, and report to the TM. The administrative staff take care of the administrative functions, such as filing and maintaining records, and taking care of compensation. The accounts department looks after the payments and receipts, and flow of funds. The IT department maintain the technology in used in the distribution house, and are responsible for uploading and downloading information in the DMS and tablets used by SOs. The HRC is responsible for hiring people, and fulfilling HR needs of the house, as well as making sure that the house follows the labour laws set by the government. He may be employed directly by the distributor, or this designation may be outsourced to an employee of a third-party organization (i.e. an HR firm). The warehouse staff oversees maintaining the warehouse and checking inflow and outflow of goods. Unilever provides a checklist to the TM, according to standards set by it. The TM must ensure that the warehouse staff is maintaining the warehouse according the checklist. The maintenance staff takes care of the cleaning and kitchen duties. The organizational structure is same in all distribution houses; however, it may vary in the number of employees based on its size and the size of the territory it serves. It can be diagrammatically presented as below. Fig.6.2. Distribution House Organizational Structure An SO follows a Permanent Journey Plan (PJP) on his routine sales calls. Every SO has his own PJP, which assigns him with a route to follow, and tells him which customer outlets to visit. One SO may sell a group of SKUs on various routes, or sell various groups of SKUs on a route. This depends on the product knowledge, area knowledge and skills of the SO. Various categories of selling units are called Stock Keeping Units (SKU). For example, Dove shampoo has sachets and bottles of various sizes. Each bottle size or sachet is a SKU. So, if there are five 250ml bottles of Dove shampoo, ten 80gms packs of Surf detergent, and twenty 120gms tubes of Pepsodent tooth-paste in the warehouse, it can be said that there are thirty-five SKUs, in total, in the warehouse. Routes in the PJP are drawn up based on the customer outlets in the area. Each route has a range of twenty to thirty outlets. The frequency of visiting and servicing these outlets are based on the number of SKUs the distribution house can transport. Often, the distributor cannot transport all types SKUs to the market. Therefore, he divides the number of SKUs he has, and one division to the market on a day, and others on other days. A distributor could also send all types SKUs he has, but in limited quantities, to a limited number of customer outlets on a day. This is not done because the outlets which are left out may face shortage, and may source the products from somewhere else. The PJP is updated and maintained through the DMS. A SO does not follow the same PJP throughout his career, but on a rotational basis. This assignment is also done by the DMS, using permutation and combination. The distribution process starts when the distributor purchases the products from Unilever, and then sells it to the outlets, through the distribution houses daily operations. The daily operations starts with the morning briefing by the FSEs to the SOs, after which they head out to the market to visit customer outlets. The SO’s take the orders on their tablets from various customer outlets throughout the day. These orders automatically get registered in the DMS, and a memo is generated. At the end of the day, the SOs hand the tablet to the IT department where uploading and downloading of information happens. The warehouse staff then prepare the goods for dispatch overnight. The next day, the goods are dispatched and delivered to the customer outlets, and payments are collected, by the SOs. The SOs must then hand over the payments to the accounts department, who after deducting the distributor’s margin, make a DD (demand draft) in Unilever’s name, with the remaining cash. The distributors margin is the difference between the price at which he sells the products to his customers (Trade Price), and the price at which he purchases the products from Unilever (List Price), in other words, it is the distributor’s profit. After purchasing the products from the distributer, the customer outlets sell it to the shoppers. This is basically how Unilever’s distribution process takes place. Unilever mainly adopts three distribution strategies: Direct distribution. Under this strategy, the distribution house directly supplies the customer outlets with products. There is no use of middlemen, such as wholesalers. This strategy allows Unilever to directly interact with retailers, and decreases the company’s distance from the shoppers. This direct interaction with retailers makes it easy for the company to service them, and run promotional programs. This strategy can also be referred to as door-to-door sales. Controlled Distribution. Under this strategy, the distribution house makes use of middlemen like wholesalers. It is called controlled distribution, because Unilever controls the quantity of products sold to the middlemen, so that they do not interfere in the company’s direct distribution strategies. The company also makes use of “pallyduts”. Pallyduts are mainly people who transport goods to areas that are not feasible for the company to reach, for example, remote rural areas, some of which maybe inaccessible by roads or conventional forms of transport. The middlemen also get additional benefits, apart from their profits, such as commissions. Controlled direct coverage. This strategy combines the first two strategies. Some SOs in the distribution house are assigned to especially deal with middlemen. In this strategy, the company sells to retailers and middlemen as well, but exert control in the quantity sold and the availability of goods in the market. Unilever The distribution process and strategies can be diagrammatically represented as below. Middlemen Distributor Outlets Shopper Fig.6.3. Distribution process and strategies. In the above diagram, the arrows indicate the flow of goods. The black arrows show the direct distribution, and the orange arrows show the controlled distribution and controlled direct coverage. 6.5 Promotional Strategies. Unilever is one of the leading producer and seller of FMCGs, in the world and in Bangladesh. It has a large market share in almost all categories of FMCGs, which also means that it is prone to be targeted by competitors. This is quite natural, because, since the company has gained more market share, it has more to lose to its competitors. For example, let us say the market is a cake and Unilever has the biggest piece of the cake. Its friend, P&G, has a smaller piece. Now, when its other friends, like Colgate Palmolive, also want a piece of the cake, they will not ask P&G, but ask Unilever since he has the biggest piece. Thus, it is very important for a company like Unilever to maintain its market share, to ensure long-term sustainability. Therefore, it adopts strategies and undertakes various promotional activities, to push sales and retain, and increase its market share. As mentioned earlier, Unilever’s direct customers are the outlets, or shops, which stock and sell its products. Hence, it is important for the company to encourage outlets to purchase their products, and sell it to the shoppers. The shoppers are the company’s indirect customers. Thus, promotion takes place at two levels, i.e., at traders or customer outlet level, known as Trade Promotion (TP), and at shopper level, known as Consumer Promotion (CP). TP strategies are solely targeted at the customer outlets. These strategies aim at encouraging the outlets to purchase and sell more Unilever products. Providing incentives and discounts to traders are part of TP strategies. For example, the company may give a discount of 10% on purchase of twenty 150ml bottles of Sunsilk conditioners, or give one pack of Surf detergent free on purchase of twelve packs. Another example could be, the company gives items, like a free lunch-box on the purchase of one carton of Knorr soup, or a free bag on purchase of twelve bottles of any shampoo assortments produced by the company. CP strategies are visibility oriented. Visibility means whether the shopper can see the product, in the outlet. The company undertakes various visibility drives to make the shoppers aware of its products and to let them know that it is available in the outlet they are shopping in. This is done through various promotion merchandise, or Point of Sale Merchandising (POSM). The most important POSM, according to Unilever is the product itself. Following this principle, the company makes sure that its products are placed in a position which can be easily seen by the shoppers and easily accessed. Other POSM include posters, danglers, signs, billboards, etc. Recently, riding the trend of modernization, the company has started using digital screens and televisions for promotions. However, this is feasible only in outlets, or channels such as Modern Trade and Premium General Stores (Hypermarkets, etc.), since these outlets have the infrastructure and finance to support these digital POSM, and are frequented by shoppers who will be attracted by these. The responsibility of ensuring visibility of the product falls on the distributors and TMs, who carry it out through the DFF. On their market sales calls, the DFF encourage the customer outlets to display the POSM and products, in key places where it easily falls on the shoppers’ line of sight. The logic behind visibility oriented strategies is very simple, if the shoppers see the product, they will buy it. For example, if John goes to a store to buy a bar of Lifebuoy soap, and does not see any of it in the store, he will buy some other soap, which he sees first. Also, if John is an impulsive shopper, and goes to the store with no specific brand in mind, he can be persuaded to buy Lifebuoy, if he sees the POSM, and the product stacked up neatly and attractively. Apart from visibility oriented strategies, Unilever also uses offers and discounts to promote its products. These strategies are much like TP strategies but are applied at shopper level, and does not necessarily require the shopper to purchase in bulk. For example, a plastic jar free with 1kg of Surf detergent, or 5% discount on every tube of Close-Up toothpaste. The company also advertises its products its products in the media, such as television, or online. The “Perfect Store” strategy combines both TP strategies and CP strategies. This comes under Unilever’s “Perfect City” plan, which aims at capturing the opportunities presented by the growth seen in urbanization and development of cities. When a store is enrolled to become a perfect store, Unilever provides it with various POSM and tells it where to place the products and how to display them, for the shoppers. If the outlets follow the guidelines on point, and help in pushing sales, the company gives the cash benefits. Unilever sends people to check on these stores periodically and take photographs of the product displays and POSM. If these people come across a store that is not up to the standards, it loses its cash benefits for that period. This strategy works on two levels, because, the company is promoting its products to its customer outlets by giving incentives and its promoting its products to the shoppers by creating visibility. Perfect stores are selected based on their contribution to sales revenue. Stores which sell the most of a SKU is eligible to become a perfect store for that SKU. Also, a store can become a perfect store for more than one SKU, depending on its sales. Basically, a perfect store is a store where the company has, sort of rented out a space. For example, if a person visits a perfect store, he will see that there may be a shelf which stocks Close-Up toothpaste. The shelf will have stickers or banners (POSM) promoting the product, around it. This space will be exclusively dedicated for Close-Up. If the store-owner maintains this shelf well and boosts sales, he will earn a cash benefit. Unilever’s promotional strategies have proven to be effective, as shoppers continue to purchase its products, which makes the consumer outlets sell them more. These strategies are also effective in helping the company penetrate new markets, and re-launch many of its products. 7. Theoretical Concepts Relating to Practical Experiences Marketing is a very broad subject, and everyone is exposed to it knowingly, or unknowingly every day. This subject is also a part of my curriculum at Christ University. All the concepts and theories learnt during my course were well suited for my internship at Unilever. I could apply and practice these in my every day work. I worked for six weeks in the Customers Development Department, under the Channel Development Manager, Mr. Shafayat Yousuf. This department, is a part of the marketing operations for Unilever. Throughout the internship, I was assigned to study the functioning of the distributers, study the various types of channels, and conduct surveys, study consumer behaviour and do research based on secondary data. All my work was to contribute to Unilever’s “Perfect City” project. This project is a means through which Unilever is going to capture opportunities created through the trend of mass urbanization. Our marketing curriculum at Christ University covered the topics of distribution channels. These concepts were the most useful to me, given the nature of the work I had to do. Apart from that, various other concepts, such as pricing and promotional strategies were very helpful as well. Apart from marketing, I could apply concepts learnt from other subjects, such as, research methodology, economics, finance and human resources. Using concepts from these subjects, I could carry out the surveys and secondary research, understand the market in which the company operates, and understand the management and functioning of various distribution houses and departments. Apart from books and theoretical knowledge, I was also able to apply the values and ethics developed at Christ University, such as values of punctuality, hard work, personal grooming and presentation, politeness and clarity in communication and many more. I learnt that, apart from the knowledge gained from books, this knowledge is important as well. This internship helped me practice the concepts learnt in the university, and develop a new perspective, giving me an idea about the back end of the marketing process. It is said that, experience is the best teacher. My experiences at Unilever have taught me how to use the knowledge I already possessed, and added to it, and increased it. 8. Weaknesses of the Marketing Department Unilever had a very dedicated and talented marketing force, in all their global branches. However, even the most talented marketing minds do face problems and have drawbacks. There are a few drawbacks, or weaknesses of the marketing department of Unilever Bangladesh Limited. As mentioned before, the customers of Unilever are the retail stores and outlets. These customers often complain that Unilever does not often provide the required after sales services, such as collecting back the damaged or expired products. There are a few policy adjustments that must be made regarding this and other after sales services. Customers also have stated that Unilever products yield low profit margins, as they are priced higher than the competitors’ products. This is however made up through the sales volume and quality. Unilever maintains optimum quality in its products and its brands are recognized everywhere. This drives growth in sales, which means more sales from the customer outlets to the shoppers, leading to profits for the outlet. The company takes in constant feedbacks and conducts researches of its own to overcome its weaknesses effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the company remains a top player in the FMCG market, and its brands are household names globally. 9.Conclusion This summer internship was my first taste of professional life and exposure to a working environment, and having done it in a truly global and geocentric company like Unilever made the experience that much more valuable. The first few weeks in a working environment are crucial in establishing lifelong attitudes and skills. The first few weeks of my internship had been invaluable in terms of being exposed to the highest level of professionalism. As an intern at Unilever, I encountered an open, helpful and structured working environment, with systems in place to make it highly conductive to learning and productivity. The attitude of my guide, Mr. Shafayat, and other seniors in the company was very positive and helpful. They gave me enough time, attention and resources, that helped me understand the job and perform it well. The work that was being given to me was very substantial and interesting, which motivated me to do well, and contribute to the company. This was an excellent opportunity to grow and develop as an individual, and apply what had been taught to me in the classrooms. I am very grateful for having had the chance to work and network with amazing professionals, who shared their knowledge with me, taught me new things, and helped me grow and develop. 10. References This report is based on my personal experiences and learnings at Unilever. I have also taken data from secondary resources, which are mentioned below. Parvin, A. (2017, January 29). BUSINESS STRATEGY AND MARKETING MANAGEMENT OF A MULTINATIONAL ORGANIZATION: UNILEVER. International Journal of Information Technology and Business Management, 56(1). Unilever . (2015). Consistent Profitable Growth in Volatile Markets. 11.Annexures Weekly Reports WEEK NO. DAY AND DATE ACTIVITIES DONE 1 16th April 2017, Sunday. (Day 1) Today was the joining day for my summer internship at Unilever Bangladesh. Mrs. Tasmia Nova, Leadership Development Manager, gave me an orientation session and a safety and security briefing. I also had to sign an agreement stating that I would abide by the company’s code of business principles. I was then introduced to my guide, Mr. Md Shafayat Yousuf, Channel Development Manager, who briefed me about project “Perfect City”, on which I will be working with them. 1 17th April 2017, Monday. (Day 2) Today I got a chance to sit in on a meeting between Mr. Shadman, of Customer Development, and the members of the “Perfect City” team. The team presented data and analytics which would be used to make key decisions in the project. I was also given a booklet, which had detailed briefing about the project, which I was asked to go through thoroughly. Mr. Shafayat also shared with me a presentation on Distribution Channels. He gave me an assignment to visit various Unilever distribution channels, and identifying their unique characteristics, which I will be doing over the next two days. 1 18th April 2017, Tuesday. (Day 3) Today I visited a Unilever warehouse, from where the products are dispatched to various types of distribution channels, and had a talk with the operations manager there, who explained how the channels worked. Then I went around the city, with a junior manager, to various stores and made observations on their characteristics, and classified them under various types, as given by Unilever. This was part of the assignment given to me yesterday. 1 19th April 2017, Wednesday. (Day 4) Today I continued my assignment of visiting various types of channels, observing them, noting down their characteristics, and classifying them. Same as yesterday, I visited many shops and classified them based on my observations. I also learned that Unilever gives rewards to shop-keepers for displaying their products well, promoting their brands, and increasing sales, under the “Perfect Shop” plan. 1 20th April 2017, Thursday. (Day 5) Today I had to sit and compile all the data I had collected through my observations in the last two days. I had to make a report, listing out characteristics of each shop and stating how I classified them. I had to then make a presentation based on the report, which I must show Mr. Shafayat on Sunday. I also had to go through the “Perfect City” booklet again to get better understanding of the project. 1 21st April 2017, Friday. (Day 6) Weekend. 1 22nd April 2017, Saturday. (Day 7) Weekend. 2 23rd April 2017, Sunday. (Day 8) Today Mr. Shafayat gave me notes on Project Darwin and Project Fusion. These are two project which are part of Unilever’s “Perfect City” plan. I had to sit and go through these notes thoroughly. I also had to sit with Mr. Raifaqat, who briefed me on how Unilever categorises its brands and products. Then, Mr. Shafayat gave me more study material, which I must read and prepare for my next assignment. He also said that he will see my presentation on my previous assignment tomorrow. 2 24th April 2017, Monday. (Day 9) Today Mr. Shafayat came late to the office, as there was a thunderstorm. While waiting for him, I went through all the study material again. After he arrived, he taught me about Trade Marketing, and the “Perfect Store” plans of Unilever. We also had an in-depth discussion about distribution channels, and how the company reaches channels in remote areas. To get a better understanding of how the distribution process works, he assigned me to work under Mr. Shajib, at the distribution office, for the rest of this week. 2 25th April 2017, Tuesday. (Day 10) Today was my first day working at the distribution house, under Mr. Shajib. He took me through the daily operations of the house, and the organizational structure. He then told me about his role and functions as a Territory manager. He and Mr. Shuvo, a trainee, then took me through the Trade Marketing presentation once again. They also told me how they manage stocks and set targets. We then went down to the warehouse to check whether it was maintained according to Unilever guidelines. Then we checked the damaged and expired products, and tallied the quantity and units with the data provided by the head office. 2 26th April 2017, Wednesday. (Day 11) Today was my second day working at the distribution house. I got to sit in with Mr. Shuvo on a morning briefing session. In the session, the Field Sales Executives (FSE), briefed the Sales Officers (SO) about their targets for the day and stock allocation. Later, we accompanied Mr. Shajib on his market visits. We visited each outlet in the area, and saw how the shop-keepers maintained stocks of and displayed Unilever products, and pushed sales. We also saw how delivery of goods were made to these outlets, and judged the competitions position in the market. Mr. Shajib also assisted a FSE with the training of a new SO. We then took note of the complaints of the shop-keepers regarding Unilever products, and ensured them that their problems would be solved quickly and efficiently. 2 27th April 2017, Thursday. (Day 12) Today was my third and last day working under Mr. Shajib at the distribution house. I attended the usual morning briefings and then helped Mr. Shajib and Mr. Shuvo with stock checks. We then went on another market visit. Later, they showed me a presentation on the relationship between the distributor and territory manager, and their roles. They also showed me how the distributor earns his profit margin. 2 28th April 2017, Friday. (Day 13) Weekend. 2 29th April 2107, Saturday. (Day 14) Weekend. 3 30th April 2017, Sunday. (Day 15) Today I had to report back to Mr. Shafayat at the head office. I had to debrief him about my three days in the distribution house. After that I had to sit and write a detailed report about my observations and learnings. 3 1st May 2017, Monday. (Day 16) Office closed due to May Day. 3 2nd May 2017, Tuesday. (Day 17) Today Mr. Shafayat was busy with meetings the entire day. So, I got time to sit in the office and work on my SIP. 3 3rd May 2017, Wednesday. (Day 18) Today I got time to sit and work on my SIP in the morning. In the afternoon, Mr. Shafayat asked me to tell him about everything I had learnt up to now, and show him all the reports and presentations I had made. 3 4th May 2017, Thursday. (Day 19) Today Mr. Shafayat did not come to the office so I had the whole day to sit and work on my SIP. 3 5th May 2017, Friday. (Day 20) Weekend. 3 6th May 2017, Saturday. (Day 21) Weekend. 4 7th May 2017, Sunday. (Day 22) Today again I had got time to sit and work on my SIP. Everyone in the office is busy with the prep wok of the “Perfect City” project, which is planned to be lunched to be launched in a few days. After its launch, Mr. Shafayat told me that I would have to go and do surveys. 4 8th May 2017, Monday. (Day 23) Today everyone was busy as well, so I had more time to work on my SIP. Later, during lunch, I had a brief talk with Mr. Shadman, about what I had learnt and how my work was going on. 4 9th May 2017, Tuesday. (Day 24) Today I sat and worked on my SIP. 4 10th May 2017, Wednesday. (Day 25) Office closed because of Buddha Purnima. 4 11th May 2017, Thursday. (Day 26) Today I had a meeting with Mr. Shafayat and Mr. Shadman. They briefed me about the survey I had to conduct on drug stores in the coming week and the literature review on slums in Bangladesh, which I must do. Later I sat and made the questionnaire for the survey. 4 12th May 2017, Friday. (Day 27) Weekend. 4 13th May 2017, Saturday. (Day 28) Weekend. 5 14th May 2017, Sunday. (Day 29) Today I went and visited 20 drug stores, to fill my survey questionnaires. Most of the stores I visited today did not sell FMCG products. I found various reasons for this, which I filled in the questionnaire. 5 15th May 2017, Monday. (Day 30) Today I continued visiting drug stores and filing out questionnaires, to collect data. I also downloaded articles, on slums in Bangladesh, for my literature review. The stores I visited today also did not sell FMCG products, and some of them seemed to be quite annoyed when I asked them why didn’t they do so and did not behave well. 5 16th May 2017, Tuesday. (Day 31) Today I continued visiting drug stores and filling out questionnaires. Some of the stores I visited today did sell FMCG products. They stated their reasons for doing so, and told me why they were different from the ones that didn’t sell FMCG products. 5 17th May 2017, Wednesday. (Day 32) Today I continued visiting drug stores and filling out questionnaires. I focused on an area where most of the stores sold FMCG products, and apart from asking their reasons for doing so, I asked them about their licences and paperwork, and how these differed from stores selling only medicine. 5 18th May 2017, Thursday. (Day 33) Today I went through the downloaded articles on slums in Bangladesh and finished my literature review. I wrote about the reasons why urbanization had led to the increase in the number of slums in the past years, and what problems the slum people faced daily. I structured the review in a way that first it talks about the scenario of slums in Bangladesh in general, and then focuses on only the scenario in Dhaka city. 5 19th May 2017, Friday. (Day 34) Weekend. 5 20th May 2017, Saturday. (Day 35) Weekend. 6 21st May 2017, Sunday. (Day 36) Today I showed Mr. Shafayat all the data I had gathered from the pharmacies, and my literature review. I also told him all my observations during the market visits. He seemed quite pleased with my work. 6 22nd May 2017, Monday. (Day 37) Today I visited the Tejgaon distribution house and met Mr. Zia, who tagged me with one of his SO’s to go on another market visit, where I gathered data on the level of competition in pharmacies. Later, I had to go back to the office and compile all my findings and observations into a presentation. 6 23rd May 2017, Tuesday. (Day 38) Today I went through more articles on slums, and noted down key points. Later, I compiled these points, and made a report and gave it to Mr. Shafayat. He compiled all the presentations and reports I had been giving him, and added them to the presentation on the “Perfect City” project, which he and a few others had been working on. 6 24th May 2017, Wednesday. (Day 39) Today the “Perfect City” meeting got postponed, so I had time to work on my SIP. I went home early because I wasn’t feeling well. 6 25th May 2017, Thursday. (Day 40) Today I worked on my SIP in the morning and later, I had to attend a meeting between the “Perfect City” team and Mr. Shadman. In the meeting, Mr. Shafayat presented the final presentation of the project, and we had a lengthy discussion on various aspects of it. 6 26th May 2017, Friday. (Day 41) Weekend. 6 27th May 2017, Saturday. (Day 42) Weekend. 7 28th May 2017, Sunday. (Day 43) Today I had time to work on my SIP in the morning. Later, I had a feedback session with Mr. Shafayat and he told me about my strengths and areas where I need to improve. 7 29th May 2017, Monday. (Day 44) Today there was another meeting between the “Perfect City” team, and Mr. Shadman. We discussed about activation activities targeting students, and they asked me to give inputs, as I am a student myself. 7 30th May 2017, Tuesday. (Day 45) Today I completed my SIP, and sent a soft copy to Mrs. Nova for reviewing. I also reminded her that tomorrow would be my last day and that I would be needing my certificate. 7 31st May 2017, Wednesday. (Day 46) Today was my last day at the office. After collecting my certificate from Mrs. Nova, I met everyone and said goodbye. 29