Wilmar International Limited – Managing Multiple Stakeholders in a Global Palm Oil Agribusiness Group Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

Created in 1991, Wilmar grew quickly to become one of the largest palm oil firms in Southeast Asia, with earnings and net profits of US$23.9 billion and US$1.88 billion respectively for the year ended March 2009. It ran in the entire value chain of the sector, from plantations to transportation, merchandising, processing and supply. As the third-largest listed plantation company in the world, 300 processing plants were ran by it and had an extensive international supply network. Its commodities are sold in more than 50 countries, together with India and China. As the worldwide demand for palm oil grew, environmental groups were concerned regarding the effect of palm oil sector on the natural and social ecosystem, including loss of environmental damage forest ecosystems, land degradation, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

They were pressuring palm oil companies, including Wilmar, to take actions to deal with these issues. It was poised to get Sucrogen, Australia's biggest sugar company with operations in sugar milling and refining, bioethanol production and generation of renewable electricity. It was also expanding into sub Saharan Africa, where many authorities were keen to support the development of commercially managed large-scale oil palm projects. Nevertheless, as in Asia, palm oil companies and governments could expect to encounter pressure from environmental groups regarding potential unfavorable consequences. The predicament was to manage these initiative and the environmentalists' demands for the more sustainable operation.

PUBLICATION DATE: December 21, 2010 PRODUCT #: NTU019-PDF-ENG

This is just an excerpt. This case is about STRATEGY & EXECUTION

Wilmar International Limited Managing Multiple Stakeholders in a Global Palm Oil Agribusiness Group Case Solution

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