Procter & Gamble

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1983 - P&G introduced a better feminine protection product named as Always and Whisper.

1986 - The company introduced Luvs Super Baby Pants and Ultra Pampers.

1988 - P&G announced a joint venture to manufacture products in China.

1990 - Edwin L. Artzt was announced to lead P&G.

1992 - The company received the World Environment Center Gold Medal.

1993 - Company sales exceeded $30 billion.

1995 - Durk I. Jager became President and Chief Operating Officer and John E. Pepper becomes P&G’s ninth Chairman and Chief Executive.

1996 - Gillette acquires Duracell, a company making dry cells.

1997 - P&G expanded its womanly safety skills into a new global market and introduced Tambrands.

2000 - A.G. Lafley became the President and Chief Executive. The company launched its initial Internet brand. Reflect.com was the first to offer truly customized beauty care products online.

2002 - A.G. Lafley was elected as the Chairman of the Board. R. Kerry Clark and Bruce Byrnes were elected as the Vice Chairmen of the Board.

2004 - P&G ‘s Children's Safe Drinking Water Program won the World Business Award. The program saved 10,000 humans for more than 80 million days.

The most ethical Decision:

The P&G is now one of the eminent companies known as the proponent for the sustainability of the environment. A number of ingredients used in their products are either extracted from the plants or the animals. The company prefers not the endanger any of the species of plant and animals on the planet. According to the fiscal year report of P&G of 2008, the company committed to augmenting the revenues up to 10.6 billion pounds by 2012 with a reduced environmental impact. The company is still working on the same ethical principles. The principle, vision and policies paper (PVP) of P&G also mentions the same things. In the upcoming five years, the company is intended to suppress its environmental footprints for its operation (Brown, Bruce, and Scott, p. 66). The emission of carbon number, disposition of waste and water consumption is some of the major concerns. The company is now also intended to improve the daily lives of the employees outside the company. Another ethical goal of the P&G was the Learn & Thrive program. The program was intended to improve the lives of more than 250 million children on the planet. The company also started it Children’s Safe Drinking Water program. In this program, the company intends to deliver more than two million liters of safe water to the world that will save 10,000 humans for more than 80 million days.

The most unethical Decision:

Palm oil is a frequent ingredient found in P&G’s line of household and beauty care products. BW plantation was one of the major suppliers of the palm oil. The company operates in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The company is known for its unethical practice of deforestation that affects the sustainability and the ecosystem. The practice was said to be making the species of Tiger and Sumatran Orangutan be endangered. The Green Pace, a friendly organization reported this particular issue. It also reported that only 400 tigers were said to be left in the jungle and only 6500 Sumatran Orangutan were left. The P&G bypassed the environmental concerns and let their consumer contribute in this unethical practice (Byron, p.p 19). The consumer was undoubtedly involved in the deforestation process.

The company preferred to consider the prior consent of the stakeholders, but most of them were not quite aware of such wrongdoings. The only purpose here was to augment the sales and increasing the revenues. Neither the intentions nor the consequences of the practice was promising. Analyzing the issue in the context of theories like Utilitarianism, Kantian ethics/ Deontology, Individualism and Virtue theory show that the practice was extremely unethical and should have been avoided.

Marketing and distribution strategies:

A SWOT analysis of P&G shows the strengths of the company to be Research and Development, Global Operation, Diversified brand portfolio and Strong Distribution Network. These strengths ensure an edge of P&G over the competitors. The marketing strategy of P&G can be divided into three different areas of product, pricing and place. In the category of products, P&G changes the product portfolio, develops separate products for various markets and acquires new products on the acquisition. It keeps on modifying and improving its products. The company drops the marginal products (Cooper, Robert, and Mike, p.p 11). As far as the pricing is concerned, it keeps on changing the price in accordance with the prices of the competitors. P&G always keeps a 10% low market price than its competitors. The company is always ready to reduce the profit and always waits for the breakeven point. The discount policy has also proved to be effective in this context. P&G offers a discount on the large sales. The company always starts new advertisings for the promotion of the products.

The distribution strategy of the company includes three types of approaches known as the intensive distribution which mean selling through as many outlets as possible, an extensive distribution which means utilizing multiple delivery channels and finally the specialty distribution which mean distribution in several specific regions due to some reasons.

Effect of current recession:

The profit of the Procter & Gamble fell up to 18% because of the recent recession. To overcome the problem, the company raised the prices of the popular brands. This counterbalancing would offset the foreign exchange losses and the commodity costs. The revenues of the company fell from $19.4 to $18.8 billion. P&G expects net sales, which also are being damaged by the foreign exchange because of a stronger U.S. dollar, to be down 7% to 10% for the quarter (Bohlen et al., 20). According to the 2009 fiscal year report, the P&G face the toughest macroeconomic environment in decades. According to the reporting of the ABC news, the sales are now fell up to $79 billion.

Income Statement:

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