Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a fast-moving consumer products company. It is a provider of food, home care, personal care, and refreshment goods with 50+ brands under its portfolio. The one method HUL used to become a worldwide success was- adopting an intrapreneurship culture in the workspace.
Embracing Intrapreneurship culture:
Due to the global financial crisis, HUL’s performance stagnated and its share price dropped in 2009. Despite the hard times, the employees of HUL were full of hope and commitment.
This is when Nitin Paranjpe, CEO of the company, chose to launch the first experiment that aided the organization’s intrapreneurship culture.
He initiated adding 5 lakh points of sale every year while expanding the company’s network to include mom-and-pop shops in remote areas of the country.
He also initiated other relevant programs such as reverse mentoring where young coworkers mentored older coworkers on social media and helped them become more tech-savvy.
Results:
Nitin Paranjpe demonstrated his ability to connect with evolving Indian consumers.
He and his team’s intrapreneurship mindset prompted the company to form a strategic collaboration with Tata Docomo to distribute Tata Docomo’s sim cards in the rural areas of the country along with lowering the company’s expenses.
This intrapreneurship culture had a positive impact on HUL overall, both in terms of culture and revenue. Organizations like HUL are plenty, whose CXOs were quick to build a culture of innovation and the businesses benefitted immensely from them.
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