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Consumer durables major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) will focus on three megatrends -- digitisation, the imperative for sustainability and a changing world economic order -- going forward.
Speaking at the company’s 83rd Annual General Meeting held at Mumbai, HUL Chairman Harish Manwani said that these three trends will be pertinent for the company's growth in the coming years and help shape up the new world economic order.
In the speech titled ‘Building a Global Enterprise’, Manwani said that India stands at a defining moment in the world economic order and it is an opportunity for Indian businesses to expand their footprint globally and build truly world-class enterprises.
“A close examination of the characteristics that help global organisations such as Unilever and others to thrive, presents important learnings on how to build global enterprises which are successful and relevant," he said.
Manwani spoke about how Indian businesses have built a formidable presence domestically and urged that they must now strengthen their footprint globally to build truly world-class enterprises that are capable of competing with the best.
He emphasised the need for businesses at present to combine global capabilities and research & development (R&D) expertise with local consumer insights.
Citing Unilever's example, he said the company understands the needs and preferences of local consumers and leverages its global R&D expertise to customise solutions that best fit the local market.
He also cautioned against the tendency of companies to become either ‘mindlessly global’ or ‘hopelessly local’ in the process of becoming a big brand.
He elaborated that while managing multi-country operations, businesses should strike the right balance between seeking international leverage in terms of innovation and R&D with local relevance for meeting consumer needs and aspirations.
On digitisation, Manwani spoke about how digitisation is changing dramatically what consumers watch and where consumers buy. “The ability of global organisations to leverage new digital capabilities and roll them out rapidly across markets is an important aspect of winning in this new digital world,” he said.
On HUL's business initiatives, he said that “Unilever has been investing in building world-class organisational capabilities to ensure that its brand portfolio enjoys a fair share in this emerging channel. A global network of teams has been created to test and rapidly roll out different models of servicing the e-commerce channel in a variety of markets including India."
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