Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • August 2023
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (B)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:15
ShareBar

Abstract

In April 2023, as the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, prepared to hand over the firm’s reins to his successor, he proudly reflected on the last decade. His quest to digitally transform HUL into an intelligent enterprise that used data and technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness across the value chain had started yielding results. Many of HUL’s independent directors felt that HUL “looked more like a tech company which also sold FMCG goods.” While Mehta believed HUL “was still far away from that,” he was confident of handing over a “fertile business that his successor could keep growing.”

Keywords

Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Marketing; Performance; Competition; E-commerce; Consumer Behavior; Transformation; Distribution; Decisions; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

Citation

Gupta, Sunil, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 524-022, August 2023.

About The Author

Sunil Gupta

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • May 2025
    • Faculty Research

    stc Group: DARE to Transform

    By: Sunil Gupta and Sadika El Hariri
    • April 2025 (Revised May 2025)
    • Faculty Research

    Adobe: GenAI Opportunity or Threat?

    By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Allison Ciechanover
    • March 27, 2025
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base

    By: Sunil Gupta and Frank V. Cespedes
More from the Authors
  • stc Group: DARE to Transform By: Sunil Gupta and Sadika El Hariri
  • Adobe: GenAI Opportunity or Threat? By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Allison Ciechanover
  • How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base By: Sunil Gupta and Frank V. Cespedes
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.