Free Critical Thinking On Critical Discussion And Strategies Of Procter And Gamble:

Business level strategy: Procter and gamble (Strategies and recommendations)

<Course name and number>
<Instructor’s Name>

Executive Summary

William Procter and James Gamble founded Procter and Gamble in the year of 1837, and started working as a candle and soap maker. It is a consumer goods manufacturing company whose slogan is improving lives and moving towards betterment with time. Unique Selling Preposition of Procter & Gamble is “our one product is equal to one vaccine towards the betterment of consumers”. It markets its products in more than 180 countries around the globe. The product being offered by Procter & Gamble are health care, grooming, beauty, home care and fabric, family and baby care, pet care and snacks. Some of the company’s items earned a profit of $1 billion each year and some around $50 million annually. Procter & Gamble is on maturity stage and potential competitors are Unilever, L’Oreal. It operates in countries like China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Indonesia etc. The strategies of Procter & Gamble in order to sustain its goodwill and profitability in the market are: ensuring availability of its products, concentration on growing opportunities, evolving better products, concentrating on the most strong and profitable markets, devoting and dedication towards research and development etc. products being offered by the company are Ariel, Tide, Vicks, Crest Tooth Paste, Gillette products, Head & Shoulder shampoo, Olay, Oral-B, Pantene, Always, Bounce, Herbal Essence, Ivory soap, Gain, Whisper, Mr. Clean, Puffs tissues, Safeguard soaps etc.

OVERVIEW OF OFFERINGS AND CUSTOMER SEGMENTS OF PROCTER AND GAMBLE

Procter and Gamble founded in 1837 is an American company, known as P&G mostly, is one of the largest and leading multinational consumer goods and manufacturing company which operates all over the world and offering jobs to the thousands of people globally . Procter & Gamble was founded and named on William Procter and James Gamble. It deals with multiple natures of products such as hair care products, personal care products including cosmetics , tissues, odor control products, home care products such as detergent and much more . The company motto says “We are in the business of making life better every day, our each packet is equal to each vaccine towards the betterment and enhancement” and it is working firmly on that. Millions of customers use P&G’s product which satisfies their needs and demand .
Multiple brands are associated with this company whose profitability touches more than $1 billion each year . Some of those star brands are Ariel, Tide, Vicks, Crest Tooth Paste, Gillette products, Head & Shoulder shampoo, Olay, Oral-B, Pantene, Always, Bounce, Herbal Essence Ivory soap, Gain, Whisper, Mr. Clean, Puffs tissues, Safeguard soaps which earns net profit of Billions of US Dollars every twelve months .
Procter and Gamble serves more than 180 countries and 6.5 million customers across the globe . It operates in Asia (Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Bangladesh etc) , Latin America, North America and Western Europe. It has its headquarters in Singapore for Asian region .

One of the most important and say efficient strategy of Procter & Gamble is availability of its products . Products manufactured by this company are highly available worldwide and are being offered and sold in convenience stores, super markets, hotels, motels, retailers, wholesalers, drug stores and intermediaries . The product availability of the company gives it an edge and makes it far superior that its competitors like Unilever etc. Consumers get products easily and effortlessly when they are in need of a vaccine to make their life better . The availability and accessibility of the specific products makes it brand brawny and hefty . This in turns makes customer loyalty towards the brand much tough and muscular with time and targeted customers start trusting the brand, and same is the case with Procter & Gamble . Supply chain of the brand is as strong as it needs to be in order to result in a successful chain management .
Likewise many other competitors of the brand, P&G a further strategy is Research and Development . Brands devote approximately $2 billion each year on R&D projects. The R&D department employs 8000 employees around the world . In spite of having 8000 employees in its R&D department, the company was somehow failed to bring about major breakthroughs in innovation . Dr.Charles Fine in his article “your next supply chain” points out that P&G decided to change its perspective on innovation from a centralized R&D department to an evolved global mechanism of innovations and new products. . This change in perspective resulted in multiplying the innovation success rate three times.
Another significant strategy being applied by Procter & Gamble as an efficient and effective tool is change management . The company observes and on the blink of an eye takes action to bring up the change and exploit the opportunity to meet consumer’s expectation on the very first place . As competition grows by the day, very next moment involves business bodies in the shock of sudden and significant change . Company takes change management as one of the most crucial value .
Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care, said by Theodore Roosevelt . Famous saying that is being followed by P&G as it focuses and devotes more of its attention and care to the brands who work as stars in portfolio and help sustain such large scale operations, the US market for example is one of the strongest market being targeted by P&G and they are continuously treating it as focal point with jam-packed devotion and dedication in order to make it strongest . Before finishing the strategy, one more point to be mentioned is Procter & Gamble’s strategy is concentrating on improving operations, at least better than competitors. This is one of the rich ways to win customers trust and loyalty towards the brand .
When introducing to one more line of attack of Procter & Gamble, it is essential to say that to uphold and retain its brand image; it is all about captivating trust and confidence from the targeted segment of market . At the end of the day, all the steps, strategies, planning, developing and designing starting from a scratch is followed by a reason of winning trust and loyalty from customers because when nothing else seems to be helpful, this tactic does and it is not a piece of cake to get one’s trust. It takes abundant of efforts and plentiful of care, since one slip can destroy the whole.
One more strategy being introduced recently by Procter & Gamble is “Connect+Develop”. In this age of advancement, where the whole of the universe has become a global village, the connection is necessary for any company to float up in the lively market with its loyal consumers. However, in this social age, in which each and every individual is socializing has made us little more aware about our surroundings and circumstances taking place in this village .
Bruce Brown, Chief Technology Officer said “this strategy has helped us to deliver a number of successful and leading innovations which has accelerated the growth of Procter & Gamble critically”. The company is by hook or by crook managing to uphold this strategy and maintain its prospering innovation rate.
Laura Becker, General Manager said that they wanted develop and connect themselves in order to deliver products that has a greater level of innovation such as Swiffer Dusters which has broken down the innovations for market place manipulation. Moreover, she also stated that a category of products will be made that changes marketplace, and attracts customers which claim that they require the company’s products as they fulfill their requirement as per their wishes .

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to maintain its position in the market, Procter & Gamble should keep an eye on its most profitable brands and products to even polish them so that not any competitor would have been able to eradicate the demand of leading products. For example, Swiffer Dusters-a product introduced by P&G which changed the direction of market trend so seriously.
As market conditions and market trends are changing so drastically these days, Procter & Gamble should have a close look than its competitors to innovate and exploit opportunity from the changing trends of market. If brand to be a brand get successful innovations, it could have touch top position in the markets as well as in the sights of consumers, investors, shareholders, stockholders and regulating bodies.
Creating a recommendation culture could aid to Procter & Gamble for being more victorious and unbeaten company in the market. Motivating and encouraging culture could be proved as back bone behind the success of the brand.
Managing change as soon as possible could also be proved as a strong tool behind the success. Since incorporating change in this unpredictable competing environment cold give support to the accomplishment of goals, reaching to the vision and creating win-win situation at the end of both, consumers and company.
Better growth opportunities to the employees will in return adds to employee’s sincerity and dedication towards work. Employees, who are the core bodies of any organization, will work dedicatedly and devotedly for their organizations, this will result in better quality works and services to the organization.

Quality assurance and image building could also prove to be helpful to capture the minds of targeted consumers.

CONCLUSION
Procter & Gamble was founded by William Procter and James Gamble. It deals with multiple products such as hair care products, personal care products including cosmetics. Millions and billions of customers uses P&G’s products which satisfy their needs and demand. Procter and Gamble serves more than 180 countries and 6.5 million customers across the globe. One of the most important and efficient strategy of Procter & Gamble was found to be its item’s availability. Consumers get products easily and effortlessly when they are in need of a vaccine. The availability and accessibility of the specific products makes it brand brawny and hefty. This in turns makes customer loyalty towards the brand much tough and muscular with time and targeted customers start trusting the brand, and same is the case with Procter & Gamble. Supply chain of the brand is as strong as it needs to be in order to result in a successful chain management. The company observes and takes action to bring up change and exploit the opportunity to meet consumer’s expectation at instant. Company takes change management as its one of the most crucial and unavoidable manner.

Bibliography

Favaro, K., 2013. Does P&G Need Product Innovation or Strategic Innovation?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Does-PG-Need-Product-Innovation-or-Strategic-Innovation?gko=b27ca [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Favaro, K., 2013. Does P&G Need Product Innovation or Strategic Innovation?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/boozandcompany/2013/07/12/does-pg-need-product-innovation-or-strategic-innovation/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Forbes, 2012. The Perfect Marketing Strategy for Soap, Soda, and Startups. [Online] Available
at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brianclark/2012/04/24/entreproducer/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Forbes, 2014. Procter & Gamble. [Online] Available at:
http://www.forbes.com/companies/procter-gamble/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
GCI, 2014. The Strategy Behind P&G’s Divestments. [Online] Available at:
http://www.gcimagazine.com/business/marketers/positioning/The-Strategy-Behind-PGs-Divestments-270370711.html [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Global-Operations, n.d.. Where We Operate. [Online] Available at:
https://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/media/Fact_Sheets_Operate.pdf [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Khosla, S. & Sawhney, M., 2014. The wisdom of less: How Procter & Gamble can grow by
shrinking. [Online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2014/08/07/why-pg-can-grow-by-shrinking/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Lafley, A., 2008. P&G’s Innovation Culture. Innovation, Volume 52, pp. 1-8.
Lafley, A., 2014. The wisdom of less: How Procter & Gamble can grow by shrinking. [Online]
Available at: http://fortune.com/2014/08/07/why-pg-can-grow-by-shrinking/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
MIT, 2015. Bringing process innovation and creativity into operations. [Online] Available at:
http://executive.mit.edu/blog/bringing-process-innovation-and-creativity-into-operations#.VNxMLfmUeI9 [Accessed 12 February 2015].
MODE, 2015. Care Quotes. [Online] Available at:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/care.html [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Neff, J., 2014. As P&G Looks to Cut More Than Half Its Brands, Which Should Go?. [Online]
Available at: http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/p-g-s-big-questions/294443/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Ng, A., 2015. P&G: Company Strategies and Challenges. [Online] Available at:
http://www.academia.edu/5826081/P_and_G_Company_Strategies_and_Challenges [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Nguyen, L., 2013. Copy of P&G STRATEGIC ANALYSIS. [Online] Available at:
https://prezi.com/r79dnp1uyg_d/copy-of-pg-strategic-analysis/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Nisen, M., 2013. P&G's Ex-CEO Used A 5-Step Formula To Make Billion Dollar Decisions.
[Online] Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-5-step-strategy-prcoess-2013-2 [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2012. P&G Names New C+D Leader, Aims Acceleration of Open Innovation Work.
[Online] Available at: http://news.pg.com/press-release/pg-corporate-announcements/pg-names-new-cd-leader-aims-acceleration-open-innovation-wo [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. Committed to responsible operations. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_US/sustainability/policies_practices/index.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. Committed to responsible operations. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_US/sustainability/policies_practices/index.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. Leadership Brands. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_US/brands/index.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. P&G EVERYDAY. [Online] Available at: http://www.pg.com/en_US/ [Accessed 12
February 2015].
P&G, 2014. P&G Sets Four New Sustainability Goals: Revises Existing Goals. [Online]
Available at: http://www.pg.com/en_US/sustainability/index.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. P&G Story of Innovation. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_US/company/heritage.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. Strength in Structure. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_US/company/global_structure_operations/corporate_structure. shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2014. The Power of Purpose. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_US/company/purpose_people/ [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2015. Always #LikeAGirl Sparks Social Movement During Super Bowl XLIX and Beyond.
[Online] Available at: http://news.pg.com/blog/likeagirl/SB49 [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2015. Company Strategy. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pginvestor.com/GenPage.aspx?IID=4004124&GKP=208821 [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2015. Company Strategy. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pginvestor.com/GenPage.aspx?IID=4004124&GKP=208821 [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2015. P&G Moments. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_balkans/company/heritage.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2015. P&G Views: Company Strategy. [Online] Available at:
http://news.pg.com/pg_views_company_strategy [Accessed 12 February 2015].
P&G, 2015. The Power of Purpose. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pg.com/en_balkans/company/purpose_people/index.shtml [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Pakistan-Business-Journal, 2015. Procter & Gamble Pakistan (pvt) Ltd.. [Online] Available at:
http://www.pakistanbusinessjournal.com/b2b-directory/procter-gamble-pakistan-pvt-ltd_28081.html [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Ranker, 2015. All Procter & Gamble Brands. [Online] Available at:
http://www.ranker.com/list/all-procter-and-gamble-brands/werner-brandes [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Riley, J., 2014. Marketing Strategy - P&G Takes the Axe to its Brand Portfolio. [Online]
Available at: http://beta.tutor2u.net/business/blog/marketing-strategy-pg-takes-the-axe-to-its-brand-portfolio [Accessed 12 February 2015].
Tode, C., 2014. How P&G’s mobile social strategy helps build its brands. [Online] Available at:
http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/social-networks/17242.html [Accessed 12 February 2015].