Essay Example on Leadership: Indra Nooyi's Role in PepsiCo's Success

Leadership skills determine the success of a leader and a resilient basis is required to establish a company's vision. Leadership is used to structure the company, form management, team, create vision and culture of the company, and solve problems and conflicts. Pepsi is among the leading company in the international food and beverage industry due to the excellent leadership skills of Indra Nooyi. She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and immediately influenced the firm's strategic direction. Indra Nooyi's creative innovations have led to the success of the Pepsi Company, which have earned her a series of wealth awards. The revenue at PepsiCo increased from 35 billion dollars to over 63 billion dollars in 2006 and 2017, respectively (Gregory, 2017). This essay will discuss the organization structure and best practices used by Indra Nooyi to ensure the success of PepsiCo.

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Indra Nooyi developed the culture of performance with purpose and collaboration. Pepsi implements performance with purpose through three pillars of sustainability that include talent, human, and environment. Her employees are challenged by Nooyi's anticipation of excellence and high productivity standards because she encourages them to focus on excellence in a collaborative manner (Spiridigliozzi, 2018). She persistently encourages the company's workforce to find a solution to challenges that face the company. For instance, Nooyi maintained that the employees must look for a substitute for the expensive palm oil, and she insisted until the employees found an alternate of rice bran oil. Additionally, Indra Nooyi is a caring, people's person, a good negotiator, a perfectionist, and a team player because she always listens to her followers and puts people first. Indra is a good listener, which make employees and other people like and respect her. For instance, she is friends with the former three ex-CEOs of Pepsi Company, and she considers them as informal advisors.

Indra Nooyi introduced the culture of real-world leadership because she took the challenges faced by the company personally as she visited various stores individually to ensure that Pepsi products were sold out. Indra created a growth plan that could ensure that Pepsi products were personal to consumers, and buyers were personal to Pepsi goods. Indra Nooyi ensured the success of the strategy by adopting healthier products by developing Gatorade that had few calories, blending juices, and producing oatmeal with high fiber. Currently, the company has a variety of products, including Tropicana, potato chips, and sugary drinks. She concentrated on producing products that are healthy to modern society by reducing the fat, sugar, and salt content in the core products (Kissinger, 2017). To ensure more performance, Indra motivates employees by acknowledging their hard work, giving them clear roles, and involving them in decision making for them to feel valued. Additionally, Indra encouraged employees to practice collaborative communication and raise their opinions without fear.

Conclusion

Considering the team-building skills, Indra Nooyi coached her employees and team members towards high job productivity. Indra Nooyi's leadership style is classified as relationship-oriented as she recruited the company's executive based on their relationship to the company. Indra appointed the previous CEO to the executive team and a long-time colleague, Mike White, who was her competitor in the CEO position; thereby, indicating good leadership skills. Also, building an executive team with previous workers whom she trusted contributed to the success of PepsiCo. Additionally, PepsiCo offers training programs to help employees grow professionally and improve their skills through the talent sustainability policy (Gregory, 2017).

References

Kissinger, D. (2017, February 6). PepsiCo's Organizational Culture Characteristics: An Analysis. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/pepsico-organizational-culture-characteristics-analysis

Gregory, L. (2017, February 6). PepsiCo's Operations Management, 10 Decisions, Productivity. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/pepsico-operations-management-10-decisions-areas-productivity

Spiridigliozzi, G. (2018, June 3). PSY 532: Foundations of Leadership (Dobbs). Retrieved from https://sites.psu.edu/leaderfoundationsdobbs/2018/06/03/the-leadership-theories-that-lie-behind-indra-nooyis-vision-for-pepsico/