CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Organization will be interested in transacting business in an environment filled with fragility and unfriendliness.
Also, no firm will appreciate, if they took time to ignite business light, only to lose them to other firms that will develop and maintain the light.
The more an organization creates, develop and maintain good customer relationship, the more benefit and easy going their business operations become. Hence, an organization that creates and develop more and also maintain stands a better chance of survival, growth, and profitability.
These gave birth to this very interesting topic “the significance of need for creation, development, and maintenance of good buyer supplier relationship which could either beneficial or detrimental to an organization. Hence, the need for creation, development and maintenance of good buyer-supplier relationship is as old as creation. There has been traces of this relationship as a stimulating and basic factor for better performance in all human activities.
In the Nigeria context, one notices that friendliness among buyers and suppliers goes a long way to create good business transaction.
This features promently in companies with low productivity in which Unilever brother Plc is not an exception.
With regards to the requirement by any company to keep production planning, there is the need for the buyer to maintain a relationship with his supplier, by using motivated aids to achieve his aim.
This type of approach will help to create an awareness on the part of the supplier and importance that is required of the buyer’s company.
According to Baily and Farmer (1983) buyer and supplies of commodities finds themselves exposed to serious risk of loss (as well as of wind fall profit) because of impracticable changes in buying procedures as earlier stated, it becomes evident that an existing relationship can sustain the buyer, when the supplier gets information about production stoppages an increase or change in price and which makes it unable for the buyer to purchase the materials.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This research is based on Unilever Brother’s Nigeria Plc Aba, which outfit is in Nigeria. It was formally know as the best Africa soap company limited in 1923 until it’s name was changed to liver Brothers Nigeria Plc and finally to Unilever Brothers Nigeria Plc, in 1995.
It first started with importing cold water detergent into the country which was white in colour, with some blue greenish sparkles in 1947. The company introduced the omo blue detergent which competed with the cold water surf with increase in demand and changes to taste. The company started diversifying it’s manufacturing plants which lead to the establishment of the branch in Aba in 1949.
Initially, their manufacturing scope is based on local palm oil. Unilever Brother strengthened to foot hold and progressed to drink business by merging with Lipton Nigeria limited in July in 1985 and also merged with the chesebrough product industries limited in December 1988 to become the giant in personal production process.
In accordance with the Nigeria enterprise promotion decree of 1972 and 1977, 60 percent of the companys exact is held by Nigeria citizens and institution while the remaining 40 percent is held by Unilever oversea holding limited, Lipton tea company limited. Today Unilever Brother’s Nigeria Aba is a leading company in the industrial sector, engaged in the manufacture and marketing of a wide range of household product for fabries, washing, household clearing, personal washing, skin cares, dental cares industrial clearing and foods ranging from seasonings and table margarines.
Through efficient and shapely focused management, the manufacturing sites have been nationalized for five weations some years ago to the current three, leading to significant savings and cost effectiveness, first “Apapa” the premier and site, producers of soaps as sunlight, key, oxbar, lux breez, astral and personal product close up, pepsodent, Vaseline or pomos’.
The second plant is devoted in the production of non-soaping detergents power, and bars. Here the company at industry Road Aba, behind Nigeria Breweries Plc Aba makes such popular brands as Omo, rim and use powder. The third and the newest of all the plants was commissioned in 1983 as the ultra-modern food factor in Agbara, where the company produces Roy co, Blue-Band, planter , tree top and breaden.
Unilever Nigeria Plc’s range of quality product is distributed and sold at uniform price all over the country through an established and tested distribution network using appointed distribution, supervised and well trained sales force. The company has direct staff strength of 2.224 employees in it’s three factors and various distributions points throughout the country out this number, only six are expatriate. This is the extent which the company has gone at training and development local management resources, the objective is to bring in expatriates to give the business an international flavor and in exchange for it’s own managers going oversea to work and obtain foreign experience rather than as a matter of necessity. The company also provides employment for over 6000 suppliers and distributors who in turn employ thousand of people.
Unilever Nigeria Plc has been dedicated to the production of top quality brand for Nigeria for over 70 years, with over 30 strength in Aba plant with these, their super brand remain a must in every home.