America's Best Leaders: Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO

The karaoke-singing chief executive is taking Pepsi in an unlikely direction—toward healthful foods

November 19, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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Indra Nooyi

She played lead guitar in an all-women rock band in her hometown of Madras, India. She was a cricket player in college. She sang karaoke at corporate gatherings. Today, Indra Nooyi presides over 185,000 employees in nearly 200 countries as the chief executive of PepsiCo. And she still performs on stage at company functions.

Nooyi came to the United States in 1978 at age 23 to earn her M.B.A. at Yale, where she worked as a dorm receptionist—opting for the graveyard shift because it paid an extra 50 cents per hour. Her parents had told her she was out of her mind and should have stayed in India and gotten married. "I always had this urge, this desire, this passion," she once explained, to "settle in the United States," where she is now the married mother of two daughters.

When Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994, it was as the company's chief strategist. From the start, she helped executives make some tough decisions. Seeing less future in fast food, she moved the company to shed KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in 1997. Betting instead on beverages and packaged food, she helped engineer a$3 billion acquisition of Tropicana in 1998 and a $14 billion takeover in 2001 of Quaker Oats, maker of Gatorade. The moves proved prescient choices. Company earnings soared, and so, too, did her stature.

By 2006, Nooyi was one of just two finalists to succeed CEO Steven Reinemund as leader of one of the world's best-known brands. After getting the nod, Nooyi flew to visit the other contender. "Tell me whatever I need to do to keep you," she implored. They had worked together for years, both loved music, and Nooyi was persuasive, offering to boost her competitor's compensation to nearly match her own. He agreed to serve as her right-hand man, creating her version of a team of rivals.

A caring CEO. Though raised on cricket, she has become an expert on New York Yankees statistics and Chicago Bulls teamwork. Nooyi is a master of substance, knowing PepsiCo's product lines and financial metrics in depth. But former CEO Reinemund, now the dean of business schools at Wake Forest University, has also noted that she is "a deeply caring person" who "can relate to people from the boardroom to the front line."

As CEO, she has continued to pursue her unusual, and tremendously ambitious, vision for reinventing PepsiCo. She is trying to take the company from snack food to health food, from caffeine colas to fruit juices, and from shareholder value to sustainable enterprise. In doing so, Nooyi is attempting to move beyond the historic trade-off between profits and people. Captured in her artful mantra—"Performance with purpose"—she wants to give Wall Street what it wants but also, the planet what it needs. "It doesn't mean subtracting from the bottom line," she explained in a 2007 speech, but rather "that we bring together what is good for business with what is good for the world."

By 2010, Nooyi has pledged, half of the firm's U.S. revenue will come from healthful products such as low-cal Gatorade and high-fiber oatmeal. The company will eschew fossil fuels in favor of wind and solar. It will campaign against obesity.

This is, clearly, not business as usual. "People these days are bringing their principles to their purchasing," she said in the same speech. "We, in return, are bringing a purpose to our performance." If Nooyi can produce both wholesome foods and dependable profits, PepsiCo's future may be safe.

Yet fresh challenges to Nooyi's leadership abound, including the spiraling costs of commodities like cooking oil that go into the company's products; rising public aversion to bottled water, such as PepsiCo's Aquafina brand; and slowing consumer spending in all categories. The long-simmering cola wars could always flare up again.

But assuming Nooyi continues to combine performance and purpose at PepsiCo—and to offer melodies at company retreats—an even larger personal calling may lie ahead. With annual revenue of $39 billion, the enterprise Nooyi leads is as large as many federal agencies, and moving to run one of those agencies could be her next venture. "After PepsiCo, I do want to go to Washington," she has said. "I want to give back."

Tags:: Pepsi,; executives,; leadership

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Gremy,
Your father should have gotten life insurance or some form of protection. It is no secret that their standard life insurance package is insufficient.
At least they offer something unlike some major corporations.
Don't blame Pepsi for your parents mistakes.
On a separate note, Indra Nooyi is awful!!! The company has gone no where with her. I read this article now and LAUGH.

Lawl of AK 8:13AM January 07, 2012

Pepsi took my father away from me. My family and I have been mistreated by PEPSI and their worker’s. They are very discourteous and impolite towards others.
I have so many superb memories that I have of my father that will last a lifetime, and I will cherish forever. My Daddy:
Born May 31, 1958 - October 17, 2000 Jean Caleb Remy was a shy, caring, generous, independent and loving man throughout the years of his short life. He was not only a brother, son, uncle, cousin or nephew but he was also a father. He was not just a father, but he was my father. My father was taken away from me when I was just 5 years old. It was a traumatic experience for me. I bear in mind the exact day that he died. It seems as though it took place yesterday, when the law enforcement came to the door and told us what happened on that 17th day of October.
My mother picked my brother and I up from school early, because she felt as though something was wrong likewise, so did I. She asked us if we wanted something to eat and I said, “No, I just want to go home now!” I arrived in my residence and I started doing my homework. It was only a matter of time when two Caucasian young men knocked at our door. My brother opened the door. I saw them walking in very leisurely, and my body just froze. In my mind I was wondering what was going on because the law enforcement would not just show up at my house, during the middle of the day.
One of the men said, “Good afternoon ma’am, are you the wife of Jean Caleb Remy”. My mother replied “yes!” He said, “I am very sorry but your husband died today in an accident.” After hearing those words “your husband died,” my heart dropped, my body shook, and my eyes were preparing to burst into tears. My daddy, my father, was dead. No, I couldn’t deem it. I thought I was having a nightmare, so I closed my eyes and thought that in any second I would wake up and my dad would come home curtly hugging me, kissing me, holding me. I thought no, I’m going to wake up now, and he’s going to be right in front of me, “YES HE IS”, I contemplated. I opened my eyes, and he was not present, and I realized that it was not a delusion, it was veracity and my father was dead forever. I knew that I would never see him again. “My life, My love, My best friend, My everything was dead.” He was “DEAD!”
Family, friends, and neighbors arrived to express their commiseration, but it did not matter to me. They could not bring my father back, no one could. The next day my mother went to the morgue to verify that it was his body. Shortly after, she started making funeral arrangements. He was obscured 4 days later, on October 22, 2000. During the funeral service my mother, brother, and I were sitting in the front row. They called us up, and I was walking toward his corpse holding my mother’s hand very tightly. I saw his corpse there, “Lifeless, Hopeless, Dead.” I looked up at my mother and saw all the throbbing she was experiencing. I stared at her face and I saw a particular tear. I followed it’s every trace. I did not take my eyes off of that tear. That tear, that specific tear I analyzed it dripping very slowly. It dripped, and dripped, and dripped, until it fell on the left side of my father’s sheathing. That is a moment that I will never disregard, and remember for a lifetime. There is not one day in my life that I do not think about my father, or sob about him hoping that I will have 1 wish, and that wish would be for everything to be back to usual and for him to be here, but that cannot happen.
I always imagine that instead of him dying immediately, I would have a chance to go to the hospital and see him on the hospital bed. Then, I would go by his side and beg him not to leave me, that I need him, I love him, that he needs to fight for me, and that he can’t give up, for me!” I would hold his hand so tightly and go on my knees and beg God to let my father stay with me, and not ever leave me, that I need him, we need him, “My brother, my mother and I.” I would hope that there could be a miracle and that he could be here forever. I would stay by his side and never leave him. I speculate if I did have that chance, what the outcome would be.
I know that my father would survive for me. He would fight for his life so that he could watch my brother and I grow up, he would survive. If he did not survive, I would know that I had a chance to say my last goodbyes, knowing that he could hear every single word that came out of my mouth. I know that for a fact if he were here, I would not only be “Daddy’s Princess, but also Daddy’s Little Girl.”
The funds that CNA is presenting cannot even pay for a 4 year college that I will be attending shortly in 2012. If my father were here, I know that he would do anything to provide the best education for me and my brother. His number 1 priority was us his children, and nothing came before his children but Jehovah God. He cherished us so much and I know that instead of feeling depressed and worthless, he would want me to move on and accomplish my goals. I know that if he were here, he would be swollen with pride of me… Losing a person is something that no one should experience. Not a baby, a toddler, an adolescent, or even an elderly.
Today I am 15 years of age turning 16, on the 29th day of April. I am lettering on behalf of my father. It is extremely hard not having his presence here next to me everyday. I weep for him everyday. No one will comprehend, you will not comprehend, not even the man that was driving the truck and turned the truck on my father’s side killing him, who never expressed his condolences or sorrowness to me will ever comprehend the hurting that I am going through, but it hurt’s me even more to see in a letter that I am being offered such a small amount of wealth for an important person that I lost, a role model to me. Someone that will not be here when I graduate next year in 2012, someone that will not be here when I go to medical school, someone that will not walk me down the aisle and give me away for someone else to take care of me, someone that will not be there when I have kids, and most of all someone that will not be here to tell me everyday that he loves me. I am not lettering this for someone to feel sorry for me because I do not care who feels remorseful for me, but I am lettering this to tell each and everyone that my father died and PEPSI did not even set a trust fund for my brother and I. The death of my father. My family and I have been mistreated by PEPSI and their worker’s. They are very discourteous and impolite towards others.
I have so many superb memories that I have of my father that will last a lifetime, and I will cherish forever.

GRemy of FL 6:38PM September 14, 2011

Pepsi took my father away from me.The death of my father. My family and I have been mistreated by PEPSI and their worker’s. They are very discourteous and impolite towards others.
I have so many superb memories that I have of my father that will last a lifetime, and I will cherish forever. My Daddy:
Born May 31, 1958 and dead October 17, 2000 Jean Caleb Remy was a shy, caring, generous, independent and loving man throughout the years of his short life. He was not only a brother, son, uncle, cousin or nephew but he was also a father. He was not just a father, but he was my father. My father was taken away from me when I was just 5 years old. It was a traumatic experience for me. I bear in mind the exact day that he died. It seems as though it took place yesterday, when the law enforcement came to the door and told us what happened on that 17th day of October.
My mother picked my brother and I up from school early, because she felt as though something was wrong likewise, so did I. She asked us if we wanted something to eat and I said, “No, I just want to go home now!” I arrived in my residence and I started doing my homework. It was only a matter of time when two Caucasian young men knocked at our door. My brother opened the door. I saw them walking in very leisurely, and my body just froze. In my mind I was wondering what was going on because the law enforcement would not just show up at my house, during the middle of the day.
One of the men said, “Good afternoon ma’am, are you the wife of Jean Caleb Remy”. My mother replied “yes!” He said, “I am very sorry but your husband died today in an accident.” After hearing those words “your husband died,” my heart dropped, my body shook, and my eyes were preparing to burst into tears. My daddy, my father, was dead. No, I couldn’t deem it. I thought I was having a nightmare, so I closed my eyes and thought that in any second I would wake up and my dad would come home curtly hugging me, kissing me, holding me. I thought no, I’m going to wake up now, and he’s going to be right in front of me, “YES HE IS”, I contemplated. I opened my eyes, and he was not present, and I realized that it was not a delusion, it was veracity and my father was dead forever. I knew that I would never see him again. “My life, My love, My best friend, My everything was dead.” He was “DEAD!”
Family, friends, and neighbors arrived to express their commiseration, but it did not matter to me. They could not bring my father back, no one could. The next day my mother went to the morgue to verify that it was his body. Shortly after, she started making funeral arrangements. He was obscured 4 days later, on October 22, 2000. During the funeral service my mother, brother, and I were sitting in the front row. They called us up, and I was walking toward his corpse holding my mother’s hand very tightly. I saw his corpse there, “Lifeless, Hopeless, Dead.” I looked up at my mother and saw all the throbbing she was experiencing. I stared at her face and I saw a particular tear. I followed it’s every trace. I did not take my eyes off of that tear. That tear, that specific tear I analyzed it dripping very slowly. It dripped, and dripped, and dripped, until it fell on the left side of my father’s sheathing. That is a moment that I will never disregard, and remember for a lifetime. There is not one day in my life that I do not think about my father, or sob about him hoping that I will have 1 wish, and that wish would be for everything to be back to usual and for him to be here, but that cannot happen.
I always imagine that instead of him dying immediately, I would have a chance to go to the hospital and see him on the hospital bed. Then, I would go by his side and beg him not to leave me, that I need him, I love him, that he needs to fight for me, and that he can’t give up, for me!” I would hold his hand so tightly and go on my knees and beg God to let my father stay with me, and not ever leave me, that I need him, we need him, “My brother, my mother and I.” I would hope that there could be a miracle and that he could be here forever. I would stay by his side and never leave him. I speculate if I did have that chance, what the outcome would be.
I know that my father would survive for me. He would fight for his life so that he could watch my brother and I grow up, he would survive. If he did not survive, I would know that I had a chance to say my last goodbyes, knowing that he could hear every single word that came out of my mouth. I know that for a fact if he were here, I would not only be “Daddy’s Princess, but also Daddy’s Little Girl.”
The funds that CNA is presenting cannot even pay for a 4 year college that I will be attending shortly in 2012. If my father were here, I know that he would do anything to provide the best education for me and my brother. His number 1 priority was us his children, and nothing came before his children but Jehovah God. He cherished us so much and I know that instead of feeling depressed and worthless, he would want me to move on and accomplish my goals. I know that if he were here, he would be swollen with pride of me… Losing a person is something that no one should experience. Not a baby, a toddler, an adolescent, or even an elderly.
Today I am 15 years of age turning 16, on the 29th day of April. I am lettering on behalf of my father. It is extremely hard not having his presence here next to me everyday. I weep for him everyday. No one will comprehend, you will not comprehend, not even the man that was driving the truck and turned the truck on my father’s side killing him, who never expressed his condolences or sorrowness to me will ever comprehend the hurting that I am going through, but it hurt’s me even more to see in a letter that I am being offered such a small amount of wealth for an important person that I lost, a role model to me. Someone that will not be here when I graduate next year in 2012, someone that will not be here when I go to medical school, someone that will not walk me down the aisle and give me away for someone else to take care of me, someone that will not be there when I have kids, and most of all someone that will not be here to tell me everyday that he loves me. I am not lettering this for someone to feel sorry for me because I do not care who feels remorseful for me, but I am lettering this to tell each and everyone that my father died and PEPSI did not even set a trust fund for my brother and I. The death of my father. My family and I have been mistreated by PEPSI and their worker’s. They are very discourteous and impolite towards others.
I have so many superb memories that I have of my father that will last a lifetime, and I will cherish forever.

GRemy of FL 6:36PM September 14, 2011

America's Best Leaders: Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO

The karaoke-singing chief executive is taking Pepsi in an unlikely direction—toward healthful foods

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