The company CEO of Unilever Paul Polman adds that “excepting the commitment for the UN Sustainable Development Goals in September and the prospect of a global climate agreement in Paris at the end of the year, it is a fitting time to open an honest discussion about human rights”.
Unilever, as the the very first company published Human Rights Report adopting the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, carves a position as not only sustainable but also humane conglomerate company. They dedicate to promote human rights, for instance, empowering women, fighting against sexual harassment and addressing health and safety issues across the supply chain. As the UN Framework and Guiding Principle goes, “Protect, Respect and Remedy” is their norm for every department and every corner of its organization.
Though the commitment is easy to address not easy to keep. Facing the high expenses and investment need to make to accomplish its goals in those areas, the company is playing a positive role in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Dove, a popular brand under Unilever, has a vision of “a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety”. For all these years, Dove makes efforts to let every single girl realize that their full potential of become true beauty from their body to inside world. It launched the Dove Self-Esteem Project to assist with discovering tools and sources to reach full-amazing potential. The progress they mobilize in the human rights satisfied its products value proposition and make customers believe the value of the company from the bottom of their hearts. In this way, the company establishes a strong relationship with consumers and promotes the consumers loyalty to the brand.
In another hand, products quality and credibility are the main issues among the public. Unilever who produces mostly daily health products and food products should concentrate more on the safety of its supply chains (mentioned in the agreement) in order to keep and attract customers to choose Unilever produced goods over that of the other brands.
Sources:
http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Business-Financial/Unilever-publishes-inaugural-Human-Rights-report-and-says-there-s-still-a-long-way-to-go?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright
http://www.dove.ca/en/Our-Mission/default.aspx
http://o.canada.com/life/doves-real-beauty-is-bogus
http://business-humanrights.org/en/un-secretary-generals-special-representative-on-business-human-rights/un-protect-respect-and-remedy-framework-and-guiding-principles
