• Wall Street Journal, Friday, August 7, 2009 11:30 AM

Paul Polman, who reversed the strategy of his predecessor and opted to drive volume with lower prices and aggressive marketing spending when he took over as Unilever's CEO in January, was rewarded with second-quarter results that surpassed analysts' expectations, Aaron O. Patrick reports. Sales volume rose 2% over the previous year, although profits were trimmed.

Polman wants to increase the speed of decision-making in the sprawling company, which is known for its cautious culture. "Thirty-Day Action Plans" introduced under his reign, for example, are designed to make executives act quickly to fix problems with individual products.

But it could take years to change the Unilever culture. "I believe [Polman] is the right man to do so but I am not so optimistic it will go through quickly," Claudia Lenz, an analyst at Bank Vontobel in Switzerland, tells Patrick.

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