LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Unilever: United States
built 267 days ago
Profits in Unilever's personal products division were down 11 percent in 1991, due to sluggish markets in the United States and only moderate growth in European markets. Unilever's newly purchased Elizabeth Arden and Calvin Klein... posted strong growth, supported by strong retailer relationships and $24 million in advertising expenditures. Such growth occurred despite an overall drop in department store cosmetic sales of nine percent from 1987 to 1992. In 1992, though, Elizabeth Arden profits began slipping, prompting the resignation of Joseph F. Ronchetti, Arden's CEO since 1978. Unilever underwent further restructuring of its personal products division, creating a prestigious subdivision geared toward introducing Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden into overseas markets.
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Unilever's research base was a third strength and source of coherence. The research laboratories in Britain, the Netherlands, the United States, and India were major sources of innovation. From gum health toothpaste to household cleaners, and from insect pollination of oil palms cloning to pregnancy tests, Unilever researchers were responsible for major innovations. The science base was high quality and deep. Research on animal feeds could lead over time into a successful pregnancy test. Unilever's knowledge about edible fats and detergents was second to none in the world.
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Because the primary ingredients of the new detergents were petrochemicals, Unilever now found itself involved in chemical technology. In the synthetic detergent market, each geographic area required a different kind of product depending on the way consumers washed their clothes and the type of water available to them. The new detergents gave rise to new problems...: the foam that detergents left in sewage systems and rivers had become a major issue by the late 1950s. As a result, by 1965 Unilever had introduced biodegradable products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Germany.
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Unilever's longevity as an inward investor provides an opportunity to explore in depth a puzzle about inward FDI in the United States. For a number of reasons, including its size, resources, free-market economy, and proclivity toward trade protectionism, the United States has always been a major host economy for foreign firms. It has certainly been the world's largest host since the 1970s, and probably was before 1914 .... 6 Given that most theories of the multinational enterprise suggest that foreign firms possess an "advantage" when they invest in a foreign market, it might be expected that they would earn higher returns than their domestic competitors. 7 This seems to be the general case, but perhaps not for the United States. Considerable anecdotal evidence exists that many foreign firms have experienced significant and sustained problems in the United States, though it is also possible to counter such reports with case studies of sustained success.
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Throughout the postwar era, Unilever continued to invest in research and research facilities. One of its major establishments--the Port Sunlight facility in Cheshire that William Lever had founded in the 1920s--researched detergents, chemicals, and timber. In Bedfordshire, the Colworth House facility continued research efforts in food preservation, animal nutrition, and health problems associated with toothpaste, shampoo, and other personal products. By 1965 the company had 11 major research establishments throughout the world, including laboratories in Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and India.
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Unilever is the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, with an annual turnover of €5 billion[10]. Except for Breyers and Ben & Jerry's, all its ice cream business is done under the "Heartbrand" brand umbrella, so called because of its heart-shaped logo. Unilever currently operates eleven ice cream factories in Europe; the biggest include factories at Heppenheim in Germany, Caivano in Italy, St. Dizier in France and Gloucester in the United Kingdom.
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