Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) & (B)

The purpose of the case is to illustrate how multinational corporations (MNCs) and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) can set aside historical suspicions and collaborate in a mutually beneficial way around a major socioeconomic issue of strategic importance to both parties.

This case is divided in two parts – A and B:

• Part A presents Unilever’s and Oxfam’s evolution in a changing global context, from an adversarial world of anti-globalization activism in the 1990s through the collaborative frameworks in 2000 of the UN MDGs and the UN Global Compact. In particular, it analyzes the different perspectives of Unilever and Oxfam and their fears and expectations of a cooperative relationship. It then moves on to describe the building up of the relationship and the experience and challenges of both organizations working together. This case can be read as particularly revealing as it was the first time that Unilever invited an NGO representative into the company to review confidential documents and to undertake a series of interviews with employees in a structured way.
• Part B describes the latest stage of negotiations of the project and the findings of the final report, presenting the contribution of Unilever Indonesia to the economic development of the country, as well as the main learnings that both organizations gained from this fruitful collaboration.