Case Study: Hindustan Lever Limited and marketing to the poorest of the poor

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Volumn 4, Issue 5, 2004, Pages 495-511

  Ahmad, Pia Sabharwal ^a   Gorman, Michael E ^a   Werhane, Patricia H ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA   (United States)

Author keywords

enterprise; India; poverty

Indexed keywords

EID: 38749084037     PISSN: 1368275X     EISSN: 17415098     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2004.005757     Document Type: Article

References (19)

1. Butler, C. (2000) ‘Hindustan Lever Limited: Levers For Change, Case registered at London Business School, pp.40, 41, 43–49, 54, 55, 57.
2. Hindustan Lever: role model for multinationals (1997) Financial Times, August 1.
3. Hamish M. (1994) ‘Cleaning up’, Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 157, No. 1, December 30, 1993 – January 6, 1994.
4. ‘Karsanbhai Patel – A Clean Sweep’, June 27 (2002) Seen at. http://www.indiaprofile.com/people/Patelpatel.htm.
5. ‘One Man Show Rivals Multi Nationals’ (2000) Responsive Database Services, Inc., Business and Industry, Rodman Publishing Corp., Happi-Household & Personal Products Industry, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp.26.
6. Prahalad, C.K. and Hammond, A. (2002) ‘ Serving the world’s poor, profitably’, Harvard Business Review, September, pp.48–57.
7. Prahalad, C.K. and Stuart, H. (1999) Strategies for the Bottom of the Pyramid, Seen at http://www.wri.org/meb/wrisummit/pdfs/hart.pdf.
8. Rekha, B. (2001) Strategic Innovation: Hindustan Level Ltd, Fast Company, Vol. 47, June 2001, pp.120, 123.
9. See Appendix 1 for Map of India.
10. Population statistics taken from the following sites http://www.undp.org.in/report/IDF97/idftab.htm, http://mohfw.nic.in/popindi.htm,http://www.library.uu.nl/wesp/populstat/Asia/indiac.htm, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/india/indiach1.htm, http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/india.html#Populations%20in%20the%20Subcontinent.
11. Seen at http://pacific.commerce.ubc.ca/xr/CADpages.pdf.
12. “Octroi is a tax levied on the entry of goods into a municipality or any other specified jurisdiction for use, consumption or sale. Octroi is levied at the time when the goods enter the municipal limits where the goods are to be ultimately sold, used or consumed.” Definition taken from http://www.ahmedabad.com/business/taxation/indirecttax.htm#octr.
13. This system involved the setting up of redistribution stockists (those who stock HLL goods and then re-distribute them) who were responsible for warehousing, distribution as well as demand stimulation activities on behalf of the company. The redistribution stockist dealt directly with wholesalers and large retailers. In time this system was further modified to ensure that the stockist was continuously re-stocked. This led to the establishment of the company depot system that helped transshipment (movement from one wholesale buyer to the next), bulk breaking, and minimised stock-outs at the redistribution stockist level. The system was constantly being improved upon to maximise efficiency and reach.
14. Seen at www.hll.com.
15. In the past edible oil was used in the manufacture of soap that made them less effective. With the introduction of NSD the oil ratio in detergent decreased, making it more effective.
16. Background information about O&M in this section are taken from Venkatesh Raghavan, O&M: The Big Surge, Seen at http://www.business-leaders.com/2002april/feat02.htm.
17. Interview with Dalveer Singh – VP, Ogilvy Outreach. Seen at http://www.indiainfoline.com/isc/mdms01.html.
18. Sub-stockists may be explained as smaller warehouses that supply to the outlying rural regions where transportation is problematic.
19. Seen at www.hll.com/hll/knowus/ourheritage.html.