GLOBAL IS SRATEGY

Global Information Systems Strategy

'Activity A'

Journal

10th April 2013

Started my research on topic

Better use the internet to get a general overview

15th April 2013

Got a general idea and lots of resources related to the global information system strategies

23rd April 2013

Have collected adequate data to start the final draft

Related Food and beverages data journals found

5th May 2013

Final draft ready

Moving on to formatting

10th May 2013

Work Complete

Review to be done soon

Contents

Introduction3

Business model6

Business Challenge Faced by Unilever7

Analysis of Business Challenge13

Technological Requirements14

Use Appropriate IT tools15

Crowdsourcing - background and recommended strategy16

Combining Crowdsourcing and radical transparency: The Sourcemap17

Crowd sourcing the path to sustainability18

Conclusions19

Key Findings19

Recommended Strategies19

References21

Global Information Systems Strategy

Introduction

The sector of food and beverages (F&B) that includes catering, retail, distribution, food production and farming, was worth about at $5.7 trillion in the year 2008. The F&B has historically experienced consistent growth and is among the major contributors to development of all economies. It is expected by the year 2004 that food and beverage industry is estimated to increase around $7 trillion at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 3.5%. The industry in terms of structure is highly fragmented and has top few market players, including Cargill, Unilever, Kraft Foods and Nestle, which report for less than 5% of the overall worth (Wilkinson, 2002).

In the global food and beverage industry, Europe holds the largest share, and generated about $1.4 trillion during 2007, as well as created job opportunities of about 4 million employees, pursued by United States that contributed approximately $1 trillion. On the other hand, in the Asian region, led by India and China, is now emerging as a key provider of raw material to the food and beverage industry. In 2007-2008, the food and beverage market of India was worth at $182 billion; however, in 2008, the sector of food processing alone was valued $72 billion. The food processing sector of China reported a boost of about 13.6% from $44bn to $50bn USD in 2007 and 2008 respectively (Restuccia, 2010; Gehlhar, 2005).

Unilever is among the leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies of the world. The company offers its customer with a wide range of products across personal care, home care and food. Unilever has its business operations nearly in all countries across the world, and has headquartered in London, UK. Unilever primarily operates in Africa, Asia, US and Europe. Unilever has employed around 171,000 people across the globe till December 31, 2011. Unilever accounted revenues of about $64,700.7 million (E46,467 million) in the FY 2011, with a raise of 5 percent in fiscal year 2010. Unilever's outstanding performance in emerging markets accounted a significant increase in net revenue, especially in the personal care and home care categories. In FY 2011, Unilever reported operating profits of $8,957.3 million (E 6,433 million), which is an increase of about 1.5 percent from the previous year. The net profit accounted an increase of 0.2 percent in fiscal year 2010, which approximately $5,920.5 million (E 4,252 ...