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UNILEVER BRAZIL: A STORY OF ORGANISATIONAL AND

PERSONAL RENEWAL

Rob Mallick & Marcelo Williams

12 This is a case study of the renewal of Unilever’s business in Brazil. It is the story of a leadership team’s journey when faced with the need to reignite the growth of a proud company whose performance had disappointed in recent years while it focused on a very complex reorganisation to merge five different divisions.

The issue from a talent management perspective was less one of enhancing or importing best practices, because Unilever Brazil was already a mature business that had benefited from being part of a prestigious fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporate. It was more about renewal, both personal and organisational. It was more about igniting existing talent and using the brand and an exciting story of corporate growth and renewal to attract high performers from outside the company. All of this, on a battleground for the emerging middle-class consumers in a huge market for FMCGs.

This is a personal account of the journey from the Vice President (VP) of Human Resources (HR) (Marcelo) and the Organisation Development (OD) Consultant (Rob) who assisted Unilever Brazil. It includes the inspirations for their actions, the interventions they undertook, as well as sharing the Voices of others who participated in the journey.

Introduction

Unilever Brazil is the Brazilian operation of the Unilever Global FMCG business. It is the second-largest company of Unilever worldwide and the number one in developing and emerging countries. In 2007, it was a €2.9 billion operation, covering Personal Care (eg deodorants and shampoo), Home Care (eg detergents), Ice Cream and Foods (eg packet soups and fruit juices).

Between 2001 and 2007, Unilever’s businesses in Brazil underwent a series of consolidations. Between 2001 and 2005, a Home and Personal Care business (HPC) was created with the integration of the Home Care and Personal Care businesses with the National Management function. At the same time, the Foods business was busy integrating its recent acquisition of the Best Foods business, while the Ice Cream business continued to run as a separate business, isolated from the rest of the organisation. Throughout this period, growth rates continued to be strong, particularly in the HPC business. The years 2005 to 2007 saw the next phase of the

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integration with the objective of creating a ONE Unilever Organisation, and this period saw the integration of the three different businesses (HPC, Foods and Ice Cream) into a single business.

From a talent management perspective, there was much to be proud of. For example, Unilever’s companies had consistently been among the most admired companies and desired places to work. In 2003, the Brazilian business magazine, Exame, deemed Unilever Brazil “one of the three best companies in Brazil for a graduating student to start their career”. According to Cia de Talentos and Lab SSJ pesquisa 2002 to 2007, Unilever Brazil was described for five years in a row as one of the top three companies where a student would want to work.

Furthermore, Unilever Brazil’s management trainee programme was attracting an increasing number of applications from young talent. For example, between 2001 and 2007, applications doubled. And it was difficult to get in, with an acceptance rate of only 0.1%! Unilever Brazil was also regarded within Unilever plc as a source of talent for its global operations. In 2008, for example, 90 Brazilians held senior positions outside of Brazil, 50% in the Americas, 40% in Europe and 10% in Asia.

And what of the macrotalent situation in Brazil? Over the last five years or so, Brazil has become one of the most competitive markets for FMCGs in the world, if not the most competitive. The market has been growing consistently and the dynamic of the business world has accelerated, with new players coming to the market and Brazilian companies becoming multinational or at least expanding horizons beyond the Brazilian frontier.

Many multinational companies are coming to Brazil without deep knowledge of the Brazilian market. Many Brazilian companies were beginning to do business abroad without talented people with multicultural experiences.

In this competitive environment, competitors looking to attract executive talent were targeting companies like Unilever Brazil that had a strong reputation for developing talent. By 2009, Brazil was becoming a battleground for executive talent. It was clear that, in this emerging reality, Unilever Brazil was both a strong player and one that was also vulnerable.

This challenging situation confronting Unilever Brazil coincided with a difficult time for the Unilever Brazil business. Notwithstanding the track record of growth and demonstrated strengths in talent management, the period between 2005 and 2007 was difficult for the business. After many years of strong growth in most of its categories, growth slowed and, in late 2007, a new Chairperson (Chief Executive Officer [CEO]), Kees Kruythoff, was appointed.

Framing and Diagnosing the Talent Management Issue

Kees’s brief was simple – Reignite Growth! Kees immediately saw the need for a strategic review to provide greater clarity of direction and a much-needed, long-term perspective. But he sensed that this would not be sufficient. He felt intuitively that

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energy levels were low and that the culture was not supportive of an effort to grow the business.

The first step was to explore the leadership and cultural reality of Unilever Brazil. Upon exploration, including the use of a values assessment tool that we describe below, it became clear that Kees’s intuition was correct. Illustrated below (see figure 1), and using a systems dynamics approach, it was clear that the exertion in integrating the businesses had kicked off a train of events that had created significant dysfunction in the organisation that would surely undermine efforts to grow the company.

Business and Culture Dynamic

One Unilever reorganisation

Poor results

Reduced market share

Reduced customer

service/poor execution

Lower-quality innovation

Need to protect (defend, survival)

• Empire building

• Internal competition

• Image

Increased complxity

Short-term focus

Job losses

Stretched leadership

Poor results

Loss of confidence (self-

esteem) of a proud company

• Bureaucracy • Control • Caution

Figure 1: Business and Culture Dynamic

Faced with this reality, the Unilever Brazil leadership team concluded that this was not something that could be fixed in a technical manner. From a talent management perspective, for example, as we saw above, there was a strong tradition in attracting and developing talent, and Unilever Brazil already had good systems in place. For instance, it already had in place Performance Assessments Systems, Competency Models, Formal Succession Plan Discussions, Personal Development Plans and strong Leadership Development Programmes. There were some improvements that could, and would, be made, but it was clear that process enhancements would not generate the magnitude of improvements sought. The issue was more fundamental

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than that. The real leverage was in the more subtle domains of the energy, culture, confidence and spirit of the place.

What was required was a fundamental transformation that got to the heart of the contraction in the business and helped unleash the talent that was going to waste in the business. In thinking about talent in Unilever Brazil, we found inspiration in the Prophet’s evocative account of parenting children (Gibran 1980:20-23):

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies, but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, Which you cannot visit even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you, For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, And He bends you with his might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, So He loves also the bow that is stable.

The challenge to reignite growth in Unilever Brazil was not so much about improved talent management, but about unleashing the creative potential in talented people who had somehow lost their way.

In 2012, our sense is that Unilever Brazil is not alone in this, certainly among divisions of global companies operating in emerging markets. General Electric (GE) is acknowledged globally as the frontrunner with regard to talent management. Susan Peters (2012:1), GE’s VP of Executive Development and Chief Learning Officer, reported recently on the outcomes of GE’s recent reflection on ways to attract, develop and retain talent in the future. She says:

We named the effort ‘Global New Directions’ and we knew we’d picked the right people (to lead the review) almost immediately when they told us that they didn’t want to retain employees, they wanted to inspire them. The generation entering the workforce today is uniquely connected digitally and socially attuned to the forces of change and common purpose. But what is the best way to unleash their potential?

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What Has Been Achieved So Far?

So, in early 2008, Unilever Brazil launched what was called UB2012: Let’s Build a Company That Is Greater Than Great. Led by Kees, his HR VP, Marcelo Williams, and the Board of Vice Presidents, the programme was marked by investment and unrelenting focus on both strategic clarity and a revitalisation of a culture that was feeling tired and beaten after the massive integration efforts along with low rates of growth.

What has been achieved? By the end of 2011, a very significant transformation was evident, both in terms of business performance and the quality of the leadership and culture. Growth, both revenue and margin, had returned to the business and customer service had improved significantly. For instance, in the 2010 Advantage study, Unilever Brazil went from sixth to second, with customer development number one in all measures except one.

Quantitative evidence also pointed to the emergence of a genuine performance culture. For example, from the survey tool discussed below, the levels of dysfunction in the organisation had fallen by over 35% and the alignment between the current and desired culture had improved significantly Also, in late 2011, the respected AON Top Companies for Leaders1 gave special recognition to Unilever Brazil for the first time, ahead of its major competitors.

From a talent management perspective, Unilever Brazil had also regained much of its strength and lustre.

• As never before, Unilever Brazil executives are taking over key positions around the world. More than 70 Brazilian executives are working abroad, and many of them in very senior positions having great strategic impact in the business.

• Unilever Brazil’s gender approach has started to show significant signs of success. Around 50% of Unilever Brazil’s managers are women, and more than 40% are in Director and Vice President positions.

• In spite of the fierce war for talent in the Brazilian market, Unilever Brazil has succeeded in keeping attrition rates below the average of the market.

• Unilever Brazil has introduced an Agile Working approach, and the Flexible Work and Home Office policies are creating a better Employee Value Proposition for Women and the ‘Y’ generation.

Just as important, the spirit has also returned to the business, with talented young executives feeling energised, challenged and fulfilled – as their stories below demonstrate:

1 Cited in 2011 Top Companies for Leaders: Winners and Special Recognition http://www.aon.com/

human-capital-consulting/thought-leadership/leadership/reports-pub-topcompanies-2011-winners.

jsp.

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Robert Hein Schermers, a Dutch national, is in his late 30s and is Director of the Ice Cream Division:

I joined Unilever The Netherlands in 1995 as a trainee, and I have worked in numerous roles in marketing, sales and category management. The last 8 years I have been working in various director roles in The Netherlands, Germany, South Africa and Brazil, in regional brand development and local management roles in various categories.

What struck me in my early interactions with my colleagues was the frightening silence I felt during the plenary sessions, when Kees asked for feelings, thoughts, and ideas when we were all together. Nobody was responding and people looked away, which led to eerie silences and an awkward feeling. The team was far more hierarchical than I expected it to be and people were apparently afraid to say something wrong in front of bosses and peers. This was a reflection as well – I discovered later – of the way of working in the business at the time: avoiding risks, not speaking up and, for sure, not saying something which was not in line with the boss’s opinion.

This changed, fortunately. I feel that we have made a giant jump from a top-down led organization, with little initiative from the teams below the board, to an organization in which the board takes a facilitating role, responding to the expressed needs to deliver the agreed plans by the teams below. We have, for sure, made the step from individuals with totally socialized minds to more independent minds, taking ownership and responsibility, driving our teams to work in the same way.

I am convinced that we have learned to see the benefits of speaking up, of expressing our confidence and/or doubts about the plans and challenges we face. I am convinced that we have – as an extended leadership team – learned from working closer, sharing experiences and best practices and that this has made Unilever Brazil a far stronger organization, responding quicker to the challenges we face, deciding with more courage and willing to take risk. And I am convinced that within certain teams, the DNA of the team has changed fundamentally and has evolved from socialized behavior to really acting on what the business and team need, realizing that this demands real ownership and courage.

Personally, the journey has given me the great luxury to step back, look and learn on where I am at, with the help of great colleagues in fantastic settings in this impressive country. Personally I have grown a lot!

Bruno Francisco, a Brazilian national, is in his mid-40s and is Director for Deodorants:

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I rejoined Unilever 3 years ago after a long period in other FMCG companies. I am passionate about what I do and completely sure I made the right

decision to rejoin Unilever culture, which I found quite different from the previous times: more results oriented without losing the passion for developing people, always respecting their characteristics and opinions.

I rejoined the company at the beginning of the Journey and I felt people were adapting to the new moment. There was a lot of excitement to get things done but also a question like ‘Are they really true about the change?’ Coming from other companies, which are very down to earth, I could not believe the opportunity the company was giving us to be authentic and to make the personal growth the true driver of professional growth. I was so passionate about this moment that sometimes I even got feedback from people that I believed too much.

I was experiencing some dynamics I never had the chance to experience in other companies. The feeling was of participating in one process that other companies would take years to have the same dynamic. It was also interesting to see that when you just have one professional experience, you tend to get very skeptical and critical about what you have in your hands. I felt at that time there was a lot of understanding of the issues but we needed the energy to flow to criticize and also solve the issue at the same time.

The journey we have been on has been based around very candid discussions and also making the link between your personal characteristics and the way you behave professionally. These conversations have been an immense source of growth. People were open to discuss dreams, issues, opportunities, building visions as a team and creating a passion to deliver results.

We have been able to drive this energy through the entire organization, never linked to one person or leader but to yourself as a leader and how you create the environment for people to behave as true leaders, authentic and delivering results.

The growth comes from all interactions, from debates, difficulties, from working in teams. The very positive side is that it gives you the opportunity to get where you want and do not depend on somebody else. I believe the biggest risk in a company is when you only get highly dependent on one charismatic leader.

I can feel the value of the cultural change every week. We had a change of president in the company, with lots of changes happening but we have the same energy to accept questions and also make sure that we keep doing the right stuff that we developed in the last few years.

This is coming from all levels of the organization, stepping up as a team to accept the constant need to evolve as an organization, avoiding defensive and denial style. I feel we are ready to really get the positive moment and accelerate growth.

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Every week I try to work with my team and also with functional areas to develop new ideas, talents and face the facts with a solving issue mindset, with ability to accept others opinion but also with a results and drive orientation to get things done.

From my side, I am also getting a much higher understanding of the constant need I have to develop myself, creating instant links to situations and my behavior related to that, and how do I learn and change to a personal growth. I am doing that mainly for me, as a person and delivering results are just the consequence. Important to say that in doing that I am enjoying the moment, different from older times when I tended to get highly self-critical. Really a great moment.

Jessica Hollaender, an HR Director in her mid-30s:

I’m a Psychologist, with an MBA in Business Management. I have 11 years working in Unilever. I joined as an intern and one year after my internship I was hired as a Trainee. I experienced a variety of jobs within this period in Unilever in the most diverse context: Regional scope, Local scope, an international experience, Organization Development area, different projects, etc.

When we started the Journey, I felt we had a culture with some strength but also with some qualities that were holding us back. Our strengths included high ethical standards, informality and an openness to teach and to learn. On the other hand, I felt we had a consensus culture, were overly concerned with our internal image and how good our PowerPoint presentations were. We were too disposed to intellectual argument and debate and too little to action and taking intelligent risks.

One of the most important lessons for me has been about linking personal and professional growth. I believe that we started our turnaround in the cultural transformation when we embraced this statement. We were explicit in linking leadership and culture with our business strategy. I have never seen, in these 11 years of Unilever, such a strong people agenda as part of the business agenda. This has been a highlight.

I think we have taken great steps in a short period of time. One thing I really learned was that ‘God doesn’t play dice’, so where we put our full attention was where we had a significant change. And for me that was the journey itself. Unilever is much better in some aspects; the ones we wanted to eliminate because they were bad in our current culture (consensus, feuds, image, etc.). And also we accelerate other values that really care and would drive us for the success (openness, leadership, stand up to speak your truth, etc.). Of course, there is room to improve some other aspects such as bias for action, performance driven, external focus, etc. But we know that it is a long journey, and it would be unrealistic to believe it would take less time than it has taken.

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From a personal perspective, I started this journey somewhat lost and lacking energy I normally bring to my work. Today I feel enthused and excited and bring these qualities to all that I do. I am grateful for what I have experienced and how I have grown.

How was this journey of renewal and growth undertaken? Let us first introduce ourselves and then share with you the interventions and lessons we have learnt along the way.

Marcelo and Rob

Marcelo’s story: Marcelo is an Argentinian who joined Unilever 20 years ago from another multinational company. He worked for seven years in HR at Unilever River Plate (Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay). After that, he moved to London to be part of the Latin American Business Group, as one of the HR Directors, having projects in different countries in the region. In January 2001, he arrived in Brazil with the main challenge to integrate three Unilever divisions into a single Home, Personal Care and National Management responsibility in HR. He was there in 2005, ready to move to a destination in Europe when Unilever requested him to stay in the country to merge all the divisions in ONE Unilever Organisation. In early 2008, when our story began, he could not imagine that he would be part of what, in his own words, would have to be the most significant experience of cultural transformation that had starred in his 22-year career at that time. He is currently responsible for Unilever Latin America, in addition to his responsibilities at Unilever Brazil. Having a college degree from the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, Marcelo confesses to being professionally fortunate in being able to devote his entire professional life (more than 26 years) to what he loves most, that is, making a positive difference in and through the lives of people.

Rob’s story: In mid-2007, Rob left a prestigious management consulting firm, having chosen to set himself up as a sole practitioner focusing on organisation development work. The last two years with the consulting firm had been spent working in South America, where Rob lived with his young family in Rio de Janeiro.

It was not an auspicious time to be setting up a consulting practice. The world was just entering what became known as the Global Financial Crisis, and organisation development work was surely a nice-to-have as the corporate world imploded. In a moment of stress and vulnerability, Rob found himself on the second floor of The Coop book store in Harvard Square. Seeking inspiration of any sort, he glanced through the recently released Deepak Chopra book, Buddha. There on the second page of the author’s note was just what Rob needed to know: “Whoever sees me, sees the teaching,” said the Buddha, “and whoever sees the teaching, sees me.”

It was a sharp but gentle reminder to stay true to do the work he loved to do, and a promise that clients were out there. And, sure enough, through contacts with his

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former employer, Rob was introduced to Kees in early 2008 and spent the next three years helping Kees, Marcelo and the Unilever Brazil team on their Journey. From a practical perspective, the stakes for Rob were high. With his first major client, it had to work!

The Monks

The Journey started with a short parable about a monastery, four monks and an abbot (sourced from Zander & Zander 2002:52-53).

A monastery had fallen on hard times. It was once part of a great order which, as a result of religious persecution in the 17th and 18th centuries, lost all its branches. It was decimated to the extent that there were only five monks left in the mother house: the abbot and four others, all of whom were over 70. Clearly, it was a dying order.

Deep in the woods surrounding the monastery was a little hut that the rabbi from a nearby town occasionally used for a hermitage. One day, it occurred to the abbot to visit the hermitage to see if the rabbi could offer any advice that might save the monastery. The rabbi welcomed the abbot and commiserated. “I know how it is,” he said. “The spirit has gone out of people. Almost no-one comes to the synagogue anymore.” So the old rabbi and the old abbot wept together, and they read parts of the Torah and spoke quietly of deep things.

The time came when the abbot had to leave. They embraced. “It was wonderful being with you,” said the Abbot, “but I have failed in my purpose for coming. Have you no piece of advice that might save the monastery?”

“No, I’m sorry,” the rabbi responded, “I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you.”

When the other monks heard the rabbi’s words, they wondered what possible significance they might have. “The Messiah is one of us? One of us here, at the monastery? Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Of course – it must be the abbot, who has been our leader for so long. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas, who is certainly a holy man. Or could he have meant Brother Elrod, who is so crotchety? But, then, Elrod is very wise. Surely, he could not have meant Brother Phillip – he is too passive. But, then, magically, he’s always there when you need him. Of course, he didn’t mean me – yet supposing he did? Oh Lord, not me! I couldn’t mean so much to you, could I?”

As they contemplated in this manner, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect, on the off chance that one of them might be the Messiah. And, on the off chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect.

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Because the forest in which it was situated was beautiful, people occasionally came to visit the monastery, to picnic or to wander along the old paths, most of which led to the dilapidated chapel. They sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that surrounded the five old monks, permeating the atmosphere. They began to come more frequently, bringing their friends, and their friends brought friends. Some of the younger men who came to visit began to engage in conversation with the monks. Then another, and another. After a while, one asked if he might join. Then another, and another. Within a few years, the monastery became once again a thriving order, and – thanks to the rabbi’s gift – a vibrant, authentic community of light and love for the whole realm.

Unilever Brazil was not in decline, but something of the spirit had left the place. There was a sense of ‘stuckness’ and not much hope. When we shared the story of the monks with senior leaders in early 2008, they immediately saw the relevance to their own situation.

Deeper down, the story of the monks was the initial source of inspiration to commence the journey of renewal, because it offered people new language, encouraged them to look with new eyes, and invited them to explore new places.

New language: The 19th-century philosopher, Wittgenstein2, said: “You cannot enter a world for which you do not have the language.” Business today has a language, and, if a business is to move and to renew, it needs new language. What is the language of business today? It’s a language that emphasises the measurable, data, process, replication, and scale.

What is needed is language for a new age, what Dan Pink (2005) calls the Conceptual Age. In the Conceptual Age, new capacities will be needed to survive, let alone prosper. These include what Pink calls Story, Symphony and Empathy. Story includes, but goes beyond, providing skilful, fact-based argument. It evokes persuasion, communication and self-understanding, and the ability to fashion a compelling narrative. Symphony is the ability to go beyond analysis and see the big picture, cross boundaries, and combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole. Empathy is the ability to understand what makes others tick, to forge deep relationships, and to care for others.

We see a new language emerge among the monks. We see the language shift in the internal dialogue each monk has with himself, and we see it shift in the language and communication among the monks. It is a language marked by more respect, more compassion, and more possibility than the defeatist language that had preceded it. This is a language that could be deemed touchy-feely and airy-fairy. But it is not this. In the case of Unilever Brazil, a new language was a prerequisite for renewal and growth.

2 As cited in Kenny (1974).

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A little language goes a long way. What is important is that it does not take much to stimulate renewal and growth. Dan Pink reminds us of EM Foster’s observation that a fact is: “The queen died and the king died.” A story is: “The queen died and the king died of a broken heart.” – same facts, and yet very different energies from only a few different words.

New places: For the monks, as for many in Unilever Brazil, they initially looked for the answers from outside when, in fact, so much of the leverage lay inside. As the old indigenous saying puts it: “The faraway stick never killed the snake.”

New places go beyond looking closer to home. As Ralph Waldo Emerson3 said, “What lies ahead of us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” The monks also inspired leaders in Unilever Brazil to explore domains that they had not really grappled with before. This is the domain of the invisible aspects of the organisation – the mind-sets, beliefs and assumptions. The culture of Unilever Brazil is like an iceberg. The behaviours and results – the things we can see, touch and measure – are at the top of the iceberg. But so much lies below that is invisible. And the invisible matters. The Titanic, after all, did not have a problem with the tip of the iceberg.

New eyes: The late psychiatrist, RD Lang, reminds us (as quoted in Zweig & Abrams 1991:xix):

The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice Shapes our thoughts and deeds.

We see in the monks’ story how their awareness expanded – of themselves, of others and of their surrounds. Huge amounts of energy and insight are aroused when one’s attention and awareness are expanded. And, equivalently, energy is wasted when attention is spent on churning through the same issue, over and over again. We can see how new eyes – in the case of the monks, an appreciative and enquiring eye – were crucial for the renewal of the monastery.

It is also important to have new eyes in order to reframe experiences. The foibles of Brother Phillip can be reframed from being a character flaw to something enduring that makes him whole. What was once seen as a problem might in fact be a source of enlargement, of learning. This involves a vulnerability that many are not comfortable

3 Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1883) was a famous American poet, lecturer and essayist.

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within business. It asks us to see as whole what was once separate. To the extent that we do not open our eyes because we are scared of what we might find, it asks us to be courageous.

So, the monks were the initial inspiration for the cultural and leadership renewal of Unilever Brazil. What was done of a more practical nature, that is, what was the perspiration to complement the inspiration?

What Was Done?

Over the course of the period 2008 to 2011, we undertook many interventions to facilitate and prompt the cultural and leadership renewal of Unilever Brazil, and, in doing so, attracted, developed and excited talented executives.

Let us first outline how we thought about sequencing the programme, and then outline the framework that held our interventions together in a coherent way. We conclude this section with a summary of a few of the most important interventions we undertook.

Sequencing

We chose not to adopt a particular process map or prescribed sequential set of steps. For those who find this approach helpful, we would recommend the steps outlined in Richard Barrett’s (2006) Building a Values Driven Organization. Instead, an unlikely source – Martin Luther King – inspired the way we sequenced and choreographed the work.

In 1963, Martin Luther King was imprisoned for his early efforts at direct action to ignite the civil rights movement. From prison, he wrote a note in defence of direct action, as a rebuttal to those who said he should pursue civil rights in the courts.

He wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail4:

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.

As illustrated in the chart below (see figure 2), we found these steps to be helpful in very practical ways.

4 Martin Luther King Jr. 1963. Letter from Birmingham Jail.

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Sequencing

• Cultural and business metrics

• Quantitative and qualitative data

• “See, feel” as well as “Analyze, think”

Collection of facts Negotiation

Self purification Direct action

• Dialogue • Reflection • Courageous

conversation

• Accountability • Master, not

victim • Where am I in

this? • Fearless

vulnerability

• Technical and adaptive

• Small enough to matter, big enough to win

• Symbolic actions

Figure 2: Sequencing (Source: MOHAN VEENA Consulting)

It provided us with guidance as to the steps to take and as to what was needed at each step. As in the more widely known Plan, Do, Check, Act, there is a circular sequence to the steps, but, at any point, we found it was important to evoke each step. At any particular point, one of the steps might be most relevant, but it is best undertaken in partnership with all the steps. We found this, time and time again, to be a very helpful discipline.

We also found that the process was not linear. In fact, it was more of a spiral. For example, the period March to December 2008 saw us work through each of the steps and we began to see improvement in the business. For example, growth returned to many parts of the business that had been struggling, customer service began to improve, and the spirit seemed to be returning to the business.

In the early part of 2009, we took the time to check in and hear from people – Step 1. We were shocked to discover that all was not well. The Voices we heard are summarised in the chart below (see figure 3).

Clearly something was amiss and there was a feeling of ‘stuckness’. This entailed some tough conversations and soul-searching. As the senior leadership talked about this (Step 2), we discovered the power of Step 3 – self-purification.

What we discovered was that, while good progress had been made, much of the momentum was ‘out there’ and, to progress further, we had to go ‘in here’, and, in particular, to another level of personal accountability. The antidote to a feeling

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of ‘stuckness’ was to face into the sense of vulnerability and work through it. Up to this point, the ‘easy things’ had been done. Now, tougher things needed to be done, and personal risk-taking was required. This made people feel unsafe, and it required people to reflect on their own very personal leadership challenges.

Voices in early 2009

“We are together on the boat, but we are becalmed” “There are some things I

don’t understand. How is it that everything is still urgent even though we re- vised the MD task list”

“We are stuck in very wet sand wanting to move, but we cannot get out”

“We are a family that has built a house and are in the middle of a storm. We hope that the storm will not take our house away”

“We have made great progress but there is something holding us back. Something I just cannot put my finger on”

“People are beginning to fall off the Carnival bus”

“We are driving an engine at 120 that was built for 80”

“We are like a spaceship that has just taken off… Great ambitions, solid foundations but in need of energy at a critical time. We all know what happened to Challenger”

“We are at the door, wanting to step through but do not have the key”

“We want to move more quickly but we do not know how”

“We are about to go into a paint ball war. Some of us are prepared to expose ourselves, but others will wait behind the tree to see what happens”

Figure 3: Voices in Early 2009 (Source: MOHAN VEENA Consulting)

One such example was a member of the leadership team reflecting positively on how he felt he had been taking many more risks over the last year. When asked to give an example, he said: “Just last week I shared a PowerPoint slide with the Board that I had not seen before.” As soon as he said it, he and everyone else knew that we had a lot of work to do regarding risk-taking! It became clear to many leaders that the most important source of entropy was how they showed up each day. In the words of the cartoon character, Pogo, “We have met the enemy…and he is us!”

From a talent management perspective, we do not think it is a coincidence that it was soon after this period of intense reflection and ‘self-purification’ that we began to attract a new range of talented executives, with some joining Unilever Brazil for the first time, and others drawn back by what they sensed was happening to the business. It was as if we were beginning to attract just the sort of talent that we needed, and that talent was being attracted to us. Jung called this “participation mystique” (Corlett & Pearson 2003:19).

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So, in a sense, we had come full circle. We were back where we started in early 2008, but we were different. It was the same ‘stuff’, but we could see it a bit more clearly. This was an experience we would have many times over the next few years, and we were constantly reminded about the critical role of the self-purification step.

And what of Step 4, direct action?

Framework for Our Interventions Two models inspired our interventions, the first being a simple formula for change from several early organisation development thinkers, and, the second, a framework from the contemporary American philosopher, Ken Wilber.

The formula for change – originally proposed by David Gleicher, published by Dick Beckhard and Reuben Harris, and simplified by Kathie Dannemiller – is simple but quite profound and very helpful (Jacobs 1994:123).

Dissatisfaction (D) *Vision (V) *Interventions (I) > Resistance (R)

When trying to shift an organisation (or an individual for that matter), you need to purposefully increase the sense of dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. This may be straightforward, but it might not be. How often are we in denial? What about various forms of fatalism? How comfortable are we when people express dissatisfaction?

In addition to generating dissatisfaction, one also needs to provide a picture of a better future. This is not controversial today. And, then, one needs to offer practical steps and interventions to help bridge the gap. Because each variable is multiplied, you need to attend to all three variables. It is not enough to focus exclusively on one, your ‘pet’ variable.

The sum of these aspects needs to exceed the resistance to change that is often so significant in individual and organisational change efforts. How many of us know that we are overweight? We don’t like it. We have a picture of what we want to look like, and are inundated with help regarding diets and gym memberships. But why are we unable to lose weight?

Sidney Howard5 once said: “One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.” But what we fear most is loss, and this leads to resistance. For, as JK Galbraith noted, “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof.”

Ken Wilber (2001), the philosopher at the centre of the Integral Movement, has popularised the second model. In many of his publications, including A Theory of Everything, Wilber works with what he calls the Four Quadrant Model. Illustrated

5 The American playwright and screenwriter, Sidney Coe Howard, received a posthumous Academy

Award in 1940 for the screenplay of Gone with the Wind.

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below in figure 4, it proposes that, at any moment, the world (and, in our case, an organisation) can be experienced in all of the four quadrants. The Upper Right (UR) is the domain of individual behaviours (the ‘tip of the iceberg’ to use that metaphor again). The Lower Right (LR) is the domain so familiar in business language today – process, budgets, and strategies. The Upper Left (UL) refers to what lies below the waterline in the individual icebergs of people in an organisation, while the Lower Left (LL) refers to what Edgar Schein (2009) defines as culture – the underlying collective mind-sets and assumptions made in the organisation.

Wilber’s point is that, to shift a system, you need to intervene in all four quadrants. To focus on only your ‘pet’ domain will lead to imbalanced development and you will end up being ‘stuck’ and disappointed with your change efforts. We suspect that the fact that most (70%+) change efforts fail is down to this oversight.

Interior Exterior

Individual

Collective

Thoughts, feelings, mind-sets

Measurable outputs, behaviours, skills

Shared feelings and beliefs

Processes, systems, structures and resources

Figure 4: The Four Quadrants

In figure 5 below, we combine the two frameworks. The horizontal dimension is the four quadrants applied to an organisation. The UL and UR are combined and relate to leadership development, while ‘Infrastructure’ refers to the elements of the LR. We find that teams exist at the centre of the four quadrants, as they combine all four elements simultaneously, while culture sits squarely in the LL.

Our interventions were framed by the intersection of these two models. Essentially, we sought at all times to work across all the domains, purposefully looking to increase D, increase V, provide practical steps and reduce resistance.

Figure 5 summarises the ‘cookbook’. Now, we hasten to add that a cookbook is not about cooking, and that there are lots of recipes that work for different occasions. Practically, this means the transformation journey is not a road map, but a series of

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unfolding interventions. There is an art to knowing what intervention or combinations of interventions are required at any particular time. There are times when the focus of attention might be in a particular domain (eg building a high-performing team), and, at others, in a different domain (eg a strategic review). Some interventions are more focused on a particular variable (eg resistance), while others work on all variables simultaneously. What is important is the discipline to cover all the bases and integrate as much as possible.

Figure 5: The Cookbook (Source: MOHAN VEENA Consulting)

Sample interventions: Let us describe five of the most powerful interventions, and how they worked to renew the effectiveness of talent and the culture of the Unilever

Cookbook

Levers

Domains

Leadership development

Teams Culture Infrastructure

D X

FS v

• Personal insight e.g. - 360 feedback tools

e.g. LVA, Disc, MBTI

- Group feedback e.g. Circle of fire

- Reflective exercises e.g. FLE

• Ladders for growth e.g. - Voice dialogue - Somatics - Personal mastery - Inner game - Mindfulness - Clinical approach - Archetypes - Shadow work - Vision quests - 4 Columns - Meditation/

contemplative practices

- Calling/True North Corporate Athelete

• Support and encourage “deliberate practice” e.g. - Skill building

and training e.g. Conversations Wellness programs

- Holistic personal plans

- 1:1 Coaching - On-line reminders/

prompts - 3+1... because - Field work

• Foster desire e.g. - Barrett - Voices - 4 ways or knowing - mirror galleries - U process - Appreciative

Inquiry - Visioning - Fish bowls - Peak experience

• Get unstuck e.g. - Four player model - Maister trust

equation - 5 Powers of a team - Collective 4

columns

• Embedding e.g. - Team journeys - Team coaching - Meeting

observations - Team charters - Rituals - Reflective

moments

• Surface data e.g. - Schein’s three

levels analysis - Barrett corporate

values assessment - See, feel events - Collective 4

columns - Voices

• Social rituals e.g. - Values jams - Workout and CAP - Whole system

summits - Town halls - Big Journeys - Corporate

University

• Linguistic interventions e.g. - Metaphors - Symbolic actions - Reframing/story

telling - Organizational

“mantras” - Feed forward - Vital/unacceptable

behaviors

• Viral interventions e.g. - Positive Deviants

Champions - Social network

analysis - “Give a Gorilla”

• Strategic and operational alignment e.g. - Meaningful

strategy - Restructuring - Resourcing and

budgets - Measurement of

culture - 3, 3 and 3

• Formal business processes and systems e.g. - RASCI - Delegations - Governance - Planning/

budgeting

• Core HR systems e.g. - Behaviors

embedded in performance management, talent management and recruiting incentives and recognition

- Attention to social aspects

• Artefacts e.g. - Office collateral - Physical layouts - Organization

structures - Meeting agendas

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Brazil organisation. There are both technical and adaptive interventions discussed here.6 Heifitz et al. describes technical interventions as processes and systems enhancements designed to address issues and encourage the desired behaviours. Technical interventions are akin to a heart transplant to address heart disease. These interventions exist ‘outside of the people’, and ‘the experts’ do the work. Adaptive interventions, on the other hand, speak to the underlying behaviours, mind-sets and values of the people in the organisation. Adaptive interventions for the heart patient might include changes to diet and addressing sources of stress. It is the person who does the work, not the experts.

Barrett Values Survey. There is a wide variety of survey tools to help interveners in organisation development work. One of the best we have found is the Barrett Values Survey. This is a tool inspired by the work of Abraham Maslow, and we used this tool as part of the initial diagnostic and then annually to track progress. The tool has a number of strengths.

First, with its focus on values, it addresses the invisible domain below the surface of the iceberg, and so it helps make visible the invisible, and makes tangible the intangible. It is therefore especially helpful in framing adaptive interventions. Secondly, it is a simple online tool that takes only 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Thirdly, it provides a quantitative measure of wasted energy and dysfunctional behaviour in the organisation. Best practice is 5 to 10%, and, in early 2008, Unilever Brazil’s entropy was 37%, confirming the need for fundamental transformation.

Fourthly, it distinguishes between personal values, values in the current culture and values in the desired culture. Dissonance between prominent values in these three domains brings home accountability to where it belongs. If much of what people in the organisation value personally is not showing up in the current culture and/or there are big discrepancies between the values in the current and the desired culture, there is only one place to look and that is the leadership of the organisation. This is because what is valued in an organisation is what is valued at the top. As Robert Frost7 said: “Something we were withholding made us weak. Until we found it was ourselves.”

As you can imagine, the process of reviewing, discussing and making meaning of this sort of data with the leaders of Unilever Brazil was a powerful way to increase dissatisfaction, and the data about the desired culture also stimulated energising conversations about vision and what was possible in Unilever Brazil.

Surfacing and managing behaviours. One of the first and most important initial steps we took in mid-2008 was to move from a focus on values to also attend to behaviours. Behaviours, unlike values, can be observed and hence managed. Using an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process, we surfaced what came to be called Unilever Brazil’s Vital Behaviours. These were the behaviours that people would

6 Heifitz, Grashow & Linsky (2009).

7 Robert Frost (1874-1963) was one of America’s most popular 20th-century poets.

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hold themselves accountable for and would be enablers of the new strategy that was being shaped at the time. We also took the time to face the brutal facts and gave language to what we called the Unacceptable Behaviours, or how it was that high levels of entropy were being experienced in the business.

By mid-2010, we felt that it was time to review the Vital Behaviours. We were seeing growth in the business and entropy levels were now well under 30%, and it felt like the behaviours were vital then but less relevant now. So, we undertook another high-engagement exercise involving some 1 000 senior leaders, and crafted what we called the Winning Behaviours. These felt qualitatively different from the first generation of behaviours – sharper, more externally focused, and more aspirational in keeping with the fact that the darkest days were behind us.

A very important step was to incorporate the Winning Behaviours in Unilever Brazil’s performance management process (a Lower Right [LR] intervention). In the performance conversations that were being had, explicit recognition was given to the extent to which each person was living the Winning Behaviours. We also published print materials throughout premises and factories promoting Winning Behaviours so that there was no doubt about which behaviours were expected. Finally, in another link into the organisational infrastructure of Unilever Brazil, the Winning Behaviours were formally integrated into the annual awards that recognised outstanding achievement in the business.

Developing talent through personal growth. The Barrett survey highlighted the importance of how leaders conducted themselves in creating the culture and the high levels of entropy. The data suggested a big discrepancy between the values that they espoused and those that they actually demonstrated that they cared about. Closing this gap and having leaders live more often into their espoused values needed more than a training intervention. It called for more profound personal growth.

We found the title and book cover of Marshall Goldsmith’s book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (2007), captured this idea perfectly (see figure 6). It invites leaders to reflect on who they have become, on their strengths and weaknesses, as well as on their personal vision and aspirations. Most importantly, it draws attention to the white space between the ladders. At the end of the day, the move to the next ladder involves taking risk, a letting-go, a vulnerability. And this lies at the heart of personal growth.

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Figure 6: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

One tool we found particularly useful in helping leaders attend to their personal growth is the work of Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey (2009). Their Four Columns process is a simple, but profound, tool to help people uncover unconscious sources of resistance and hence tackle head-on the Resistance variable in David Gleicher’s equation (see Jacobs 1994).

The reason why there was a gap between Unilever’s actual and espoused values was that, in addition to the espoused values on the Barrett Values Survey, people held other values or competing commitments. These other values are held unconsciously and typically relate to basic needs and self-preservation. They act as a foot on the brake, no matter how determined one is to press the accelerator and live the higher- order espoused values.

To help lock down the importance of personal growth, each leader took time each year to shape what we called their ‘holistic personal plan’. This was a chance for each person to reflect on the key roles they played in life, not just as a businessperson, but also as a father, a mother, a friend, a soccer coach, et cetera, and to define the goals for each role. The personal plans were a fixture in the discussion in the regular journeys that we discuss below.

Journeys. Another very important intervention was what we called ‘Journeys’. These were off-sites that were held regularly each year, and they formed the backbone around which the cultural shifts were managed. Einstein once said, “God does not play dice.” What he was referring to was the power of attention – in culture, you get the culture that you pay attention to. These Journeys were a discipline to help us maintain attention on the culture we wanted as an enabler of the growth ambitions of the business. They also created safe spaces for courageous conversations and for trust-based relationships to be established that were a precondition for reducing entropy.

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As the work was getting under way in 2008, Kees and his top team would meet every quarter, and this was followed immediately by a working session with the top team and their direct reports. This pattern continued for the next three years, although the frequency of the sessions was reduced as things became more settled. In addition to these Journeys, we held what we called the Big Journey once a year where we invited some 250 of the most senior people in the business. In addition to these Journeys led by Kees and Marcelo, each VP would take time out to meet with his or her team in regular ‘mini Journeys’ (see figure 7 below).

Domains Journey Description Time/frequency Learning

Board journeys • 10 person board

• Offsite locations

• Aim for depth

• 2–3 days

• Quarterly initially

and now twice per

annum

• Don’t claim victory

• The right people

will come and go

ELT journeys • 45–50 directors

• Replicate the

experience of the

preceding board

journey

• 2 days

• Quarterly initially

and now 2–3 hours

after quarterly Town

Halls

• Heavy investment

initially and then

can taper off. Don’t

linger

Big journeys • – 160–180

Managers and key

interfaces

• Once per annum • High engagement

dynamics

• Barrett data for

THEIR direct reports

Mini journeys • Functional teams

down to front line

• 1–2 a year in

third year of

transformation

• VP and HR led

• Vital to widening

and deepening

agenda

Unilever Brazil Journey Design

Figure 7: Unilever Brazil Journey Design (Source: MOHAN VEENA Consulting)

A number of features distinguished the Journeys from more traditional corporate off- sites:

• They were a formal item on the corporate calendar. We knew that the culture shifts we were after needed more than a once-off off-site or team-building intervention. What was needed was disciplined attention, as a senior leadership team would attend to other things it valued. A senior leadership team would not think twice about taking regular time out to review pressing business issues, so why not culture and leadership?

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• Attention to physical spaces. We took great care to ensure that the locations were well chosen and, ideally, involved nature. We were constantly amazed about the impact that the location and the physical spaces had on the quality of conversation and insight. As Churchill8 once said, “We shape our buildings, and, from that moment, our buildings shape us.”

• Semistructured but emergent agendas. In the weeks prior to each Journey, we would take the time to discuss which issues needed to be discussed. At the same time, in each and every Journey, we would always come back to conversations under three headings: Where am I on my personal journey? Where are we as a team on our journey? Where are we as a company on our journey to build a company greater than great?

• Integration across the quadrants. The Journeys were not just about culture. In fact, they were a great opportunity to ensure that we very consciously integrated things across all four quadrants. For example, in addition to regular reviews of personal plans (UL and UR), the Journeys were an opportunity to review major strategic issues (LL).

3+1…because. Like many mature companies operating in emerging markets, Unilever Brazil had the benefit of drawing on the best thinking around performance and talent management processes. One feature of the process was that following the annual planning cycle: all executives would clarify what was called their ‘3+1’. The ‘3’ refers to their three biggest objectives for the year, and the ‘1’ refers to their most important developmental goal, typically something of a leadership nature.

What we realised was that, while this was very good and focused, it was missing a very important aspect – the ‘Why bother?’ We believed that more explicitly integrating personal meaning into the performance and talent management systems would be a source of great energy. As Nietzsche9 said, “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

Many of us had seen an example of the performance impact of a strong ‘why’ in the recently released movie, Blindside, the story of Michael Oher. Adopted into a well-off family from a very impoverished background, he is attending his first American football training session. His imposing physique marks him out as a perfect offensive lineman whose objective is to protect his quarterback from onrushing defensive linemen seeking to sack the quarterback. Only one problem! The X and O’s coaching style was not getting through to Michael, and he was floundering. Up steps Michael’s adopted mother, played by Sandra Bullock. “Watch this,” she says to the coach. She walks up to Michael and points at Michael’s quarterback. “Michael, see him? He is a ‘goodie’. He is like your little brother, SJ. See these guys over there

8 As stated by Sir Winston Churchill in the House of Commons (during a meeting in the House of Lords),

28 October 1943.

9 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher.

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[pointing to the defensive linemen]? They are the ‘baddies’ and they are trying to hurt your brother. Your job is to protect SJ. Got it?” Michael nods and, from that moment, Michael Oher performed exceptionally, and, as the story unfolds, signs as a professional footballer for the NFL team, the Baltimore Ravens.

What Sandra Bullock has done was touch Michael’s ‘Why?’ She recognised what gave him meaning. We wanted to capture the same idea in the way objectives were set in Unilever Brazil.

We settled on a very simple innovation. Each conversation had the 3+1 and a ‘Why?’. Why is it that you want to achieve these objectives? What are you fighting for? Where does your passion lie? If there was not a strong ‘why’, you could be sure that it would be a struggle to achieve the 3+1. So, as a result, much richer conversations occurred, and objectives were set that had much more meaning behind them.

The Next Phase of the Journey “Historic continuity with the past is not a duty, it is only a necessity.” So said Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.10

As we write this chapter, Kees has moved on to a new Unilever business, and a new CEO has been appointed to run Unilever Brazil. We see it as a moment of transition and a never-ending process of inheritance and growth.

In 2007, Kees inherited a business with great strengths and great challenges. His team of VPs and the leaders of Unilever Brazil have made significant improvements and the business is now on a different trajectory. As Kees had received the gift of a divisionalised organisation that had been converted into a fully integrated ONE Unilever organisation, so the new CE inherits a business with great strengths and great challenges. Brazil is one of the fiercest battlegrounds for FMCGs in dynamic, emerging markets, and the business has to continue to renew in order to grow. Unilever Brazil has invested heavily to build capabilities and processes to succeed in the marketplace. Now is the time to put the whole organisation on the street, winning in the marketplace, with all the assets we have accumulated in our handbags in the last few years.

When we reflect on the Journey to date, there is much we are proud of and there are things we would do differently. We achieved many of the goals we set, and failed to meet others. Just as the business enters a new phase, so we do too. And, like the business, we feel enlarged. Not perfect, not the finished item, but more capable and more resourceful having participated in this phase of the Journey.

We conclude with Marcelo’s own Voice in April 2012.

10 Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr (1841-1935) was the longest-serving member (30 years) of the

United States Supreme Court.

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Marcelo Williams:

From the personal side, this was the deepest journey in which I have been involved. I could say that what strikes me most is to see the legacy of a team of leaders with the confidence to write this new chapter in the history of the organization. In the Brazilian day to day, I can see our people delivering extraordinary results and gaining market share and our major competitors are suffering. And I know nothing of that would be possible without our journey. It is like the transformation is inside the individuals and they are paying back all the investment we have made in each other and ourselves.

Being completely honest and perhaps more selfish, I would say that this journey transformed myself as a person and allowed me to find my calling. I discovered the power to transform individuals in a leadership team, confirming that my real calling is to impact positively the lives of people and through them produce significant impact on organizations. The tremendous pleasure is to make a difference through people.

References

Barrett, R. 2006. Building a Values Driven Organization. USA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Corlett, J & Pearson, C. 2003. Mapping the Organizational Psyche. USA: Center for Applications of

Psychological Type.

Gibran, K. 1980. The Prophet. Great Britain: William Heinemann.

Goldsmith, M. 2007. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. USA: Hyperion.

Heifitz, R, Grashow, A & Linsky, M. 2009. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. USA: Harvard Business

Press.

Jacobs, R. 1994. Real Time Strategic Change. USA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Kegan, R & Lahey, L. 2009. Immunity to Change. USA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.

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Peters, S. 2012. How GE Is Attracting, Developing and Retaining Global Talent. Harvard Business Review

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html.

Pink, D. 2005. A Whole New Mind. USA: Riverhead Books.

Schein, E. 2009. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. USA: John Wiley & Sons.

2011 Top Companies for Leaders: Winners and Special Recognition http://www.aon.com/human-capital-

consulting/thought-leadership/leadership/reports-pub-topcompanies-2011-winners.jsp.

Wilber, K. 2001. A Theory for Everything. USA: Shambhala.

Zander, R & Zander, B. 2002. The Art of Possibility. USA: Penguin Books.

Zweig, C & Abrams, J. 1991. Meeting the Shadow. USA: Jeremy P Tarcher/Penguin.

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STANDARD BANK – LEADING THE WAY IN AFRICA

Jennifer Morris & Shirley Zinn

299

13 A Truly African Bank

Standard Bank started life 150 years ago in Port Elizabeth as the brainchild of John Paterson. Funded and supported by a group of local businesspeople, The Standard Bank of British South Africa was officially incorporated and registered in 1862, with capital fixed at one million pounds and with 10 000 shares of £100 apiece.

The Group’s expansion into Africa began just 10 years later when a subsidiary was formed to carry business into South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia). By 1917, Standard Bank was operating in 12 African countries. Standard Bank’s Africa focus was brought to an abrupt halt in 1987 when its parent company, Standard Chartered, sold its controlling interest in Standard Bank and it once again became a purely South African bank. Standard Bank had to start again.

In the late 1980s, a branch was opened in Swaziland. Standard Bank’s Africa growth strategy was further enhanced in 1992 when it acquired ANZ Grindlays Bank, a small bank which had operations in eight African countries: Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria. By the 2000s, Standard Bank had grown its African presence to 17 countries, as well as acquiring a foothold in Russia, Argentina, Turkey and Brazil. In 2008, the world’s largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), acquired a 20% shareholding in Standard Bank for R36.7 billion, which was the biggest-ever Chinese foreign direct investment at the time. Today, the company has total Group assets of more than R1.49 trillion, and more than 50 000 employees across 30 countries. But, as Chairperson, Fred Phaswana, recently stated: “We have chosen to focus on a strategy that recognises and participates in the great opportunity that is unfolding on the African continent. Africa remains at the heart of the Standard Bank Group’s strategy.”

Terry Moodley, Head of Personal and Business Banking in Africa, agrees: “Because we have a long history on the continent, we enjoy the brand equity of trust. Africa is our core business, which sets us apart from our international counterparts.”

This emphasis on long-term relationships and a focus on the continent has seen Standard Bank named as the 2011 Bank of the Year in Africa and the Best Bank in four African countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe – by leading industry journal, The Banker. In early 2012, Standard Bank Group was named as the best investment bank in South Africa and Africa by Global Finance magazine. In a recent Ask Afrika Trust Barometer Survey, Standard Bank was recognised as the most

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$C:\Users\fnb4\Documents\CyberBuild\Website\img\logos\hwu.png$ D30IC

D30IC

Topic

Student Name (Student ID)

Introduction [Heading 1]

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Note that, like in any other scientific work, it is important to make proper references. Please use “(Lastname, Year)” citation formatting. Then, all references go at the end of your document in the section References (see below).

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Cameron D. and Osborne G. (2003), “The best paper of their life”, The best journal where the paper could be published, Volume(Issue), pp 1-10. [Reference]

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Innovation in Production

D30IC – Innovation in Construction Practice

Dr. S R AKOH

Agenda

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)

Automation and Robotics

Agenda

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)

Automation and Robotics

What is NMC? A panelized construction system

https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6u-CDj2HJQ

Class exercise 1 (45mins)

Refer to the vision for details

MMC

Pre-fabrication

MMC

Pre-fabrication

Pre-assembly

Sub-assemblies

Panelised systems

MMC

Pre-fabrication

Pre-assembly

Modularisation

MMC

Advantages?

Challenges?

MMC

Advantages:

Higher quality

Parallel construction (schedule ‘crashing’)

Health & Safety

MMC

“Modern methods of construction offer predictability, value, improved health and safety, speed and greater efficiency in terms on minimising waste”

“The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who regulate construction safety, are encouraging the use of MMC”

BURA (2005), Modern Methods of Construction: Evolution or Revolution?, Report.

UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (2003), Modern Methods of House Building, Postnote.

MMC

2005

Pan, W., Gibb, A. and Dainty, A. (2005), Offsite Modern Methods of Construction in Housebuilding, Report, Loughborough Univ.

MMC

Modern Methods of Construction - Views from the industry

NHBC (2016)

Find it

on Vision

MMC

2016

Experienced benefits appear to now match predicted benefits

MMC

Barriers/Challenges:

MMC

Barriers/Challenges:

MMC

57 storeys in 19 days (China)

Broad, Sustainable Buildings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93HVG3j1phs

MMC

57 storeys in 19 days (China)

10 storeys in 2 days (India)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=344c-FHc-es

MMC

57 storeys in 19 days (China)

10 storeys in 2 days (India)

Sky City One (China)

Broad, Sustainable Buildings

220 storey – 2,750ft (32ft higher than Burj Khalifa)

90 days (24 times quicker than Burj Khalifa)

$700 millions (1/3 of cost of Burj Kalifa)

MMC

57 storeys in 19 days (China)

10 storeys in 2 days (India)

Bridge replaced (UK)

https://youtu.be/R4ca9xVYJqk

MMC

57 storeys in 19 days (China)

10 storeys in 2 days (India)

Bridge replaced (UK)

Bridge replaced in 1 day (China)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz_j_BEkVCQ

MMC

Legal & General Homes

Largest modular home factory in Europe (2016).

http://www.legalandgeneral.com/homes/

MMC

MMC used or considered in the last 3 years	98%
Sub-assemblies (e.g. door sets, timber I-beams, prefabricated chimneys)	65%
Panelised systems (e.g. timber and steel frame) - Scotland: timber frame for 75% of new homes.	42%
Volumetric construction and pods - Mainly apartments in London and South East.	6%

MMC

Agenda

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)

Automation and Robotics

BeamMaster

https://youtu.be/qOZvKkVdJr8

BeamMaster

Advantages:

Works 24/7

Agile

High degree of accuracy and speed

Challenges:

Doosan Avatar

Autonomous Dozer

https://youtu.be/Od7Etg13ezQ

Azdaja (ETH)

http://designreform.net/2009/10/event-pike-loop-a-robot-built-installation-in-nyc

https://youtu.be/7QWtVJJ7VMQ

Azdaja (ETH)

SAM (Semi-automated Mason)

https://youtu.be/bDRCWnsFnC4

SAM / Azdaja (ETH)

Advantages:

Almost unlimited shapes

More variability in the built environment

High degree of accuracy and speed

Challenges:

Localising/Positioning of robot

Transport of pre-fabricated objects

Climbing Robots

http://www.bimplus.co.uk/technology/german-climbing-robot-can-cut-scaffolding-labour-c /

Climbing robots

https://youtu.be/AP9KTw1WmLs

Flying Robots

https:// youtu.be/W5QK7jwRuNM

Class exercise 2

Refer to the vision for details

3D Printing

= Contour Crafting

http://www.youtube.com/v/EfbhdZKPHro

https://youtu.be/JdbJP8Gxqog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQSaM43nNw

3D Printing

https:// youtu.be/EfbhdZKPHro

3D Printing

https:// youtu.be/4rvKP_yfcGM

3D Printing

https:// youtu.be/NWNaddnQBxM

3D Printing

Advantages:

Almost no shape restriction

Easily shaped

Challenges:

Structural performance? How to insert reinforcement?

Embedded services creates problems

3D Printing

NASA 3D prints rocket engine

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2015/piece-by-piece-nasa-team-moves-closer-to-building-a-3-d-printed-rocket-engine.html

3D Printing

Demolition

https:// youtu.be/i-2Y2MYpl2g

Automated Road Marking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlo3t1RIFyk

Automated Road Marking

https://youtu.be/- Z0_Q2SnTZw

Automated Road Marking

Advantages:

Safety

Productivity

Quality

Challenges:

Lane recognition accuracy

Barriers to Robots in Construction

Barriers to Robots in Construction:

Almost unique context on each project and site.

Unstructured, dynamic nature of the construction site, the hazards and difficulties presented by temporary works, weather and, sometimes, the shear scale of activity mitigate against greater automation.

Initial investment.

Exoskeleton

https:// youtu.be/Z_pdZ1LW5iw

Exoskeleton

After you have read about Unilever Brazil in Chapter 12 of the Bluen book, please respond according to the following:

Create a visual that shows five of the most important HRM-related globalization challenges specific to Unilever and rank them in importance to their business success. Your visual can be a chart, flyer, or drawing, as long as it is in a format that is accepted in TLC. The use of color is encouraged for this assignment.

Then discuss in detail the top (#1) and bottom (#5) HRM globalization challenges and explain why you ranked them as you did.

Finally, look up the company/industry in each of the following:

· IBISWorld (under library search box on TLC page, click “Additional Library Resources,” then click IBISWorld and search by company or industry).

· Company’s website

· Locate two high-quality articles related to HRM-related globalization challenges at Unilever (peer-reviewed high-quality references are found in the online library).

Review what you have learned from your research above, especially as it updates the case information in Bluen’s book. Also bring in the other Bluen module readings as needed.

Provide an introduction and a conclusion, cite sources, and include a cover and References page.

Submit your visual to the assignment dropbox as part of your 3- to 4-page paper (not counting the cover and References section) on or before the module due date. When asking for 3-4 pages, we want 4 but are willing to accept at least 3 full pages.

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Topic

Introduction [Heading 1]

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References [Heading 1]

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