The Lonely Quest of Unilever's CEO Paul Polman

The Great Battle or The Lonely Quest of Unilever''s CEO Paul Polman describes the origins of Unilever and the role former CEO Paul Polman (2009-2019) played in Unilever’s quest for acting responsibly in a world that is being threatened by climate change, lack of biodiversity, pollution and growing tensions between rich and poor. In The Lonely Quest of Unilever''s CEO Paul Polman Smit reconstructs the lessons we can learn from a courageous pioneer who was also ahead of his time.

When Paul Polman became the CEO of the multinational Unilever in 2009, he set out on a quest to convince his colleagues, his board, and the outside world that companies do not have the right to exist if their only purpose is making money. More importantly, he set out to prove that a company could in fact be both profitable and sustainable. The Great Battle or The Lonely Quest of Unilever''s CEO Paul Polman investigates how Polman navigated between making money and doing the right thing. Smit convincingly argues that Polman was too far ahead of his time, but that his ideas about responsible capitalism are the very thing we need to turn the tide.