Indra Nooyi †Leadership Style Essay

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, who is a woman comes from India, she is a manager and leader of PepsiCo Incorporated. At her age of 50, she became the CEO. Leader is a role of a team or organization, the ideas he/she thinks about and the strategy he/she decides will play an important role in a group. In addition, being a successful leader generally needs to have more high requirements, such as the managerial knowledge, communicational skill, creative ability and especially his/her leadership style. There is no doubt that Nooyi can be equal to such a great position today because she not only is equipped with these conditions but also she has an excellent leadership style. According to Darling and Leffel’s (2001) framework, this paper will evaluate how Indra Nooyi develops her leadership style of Analyzer and Director and become a successful as well as effective leader. Kreitner and Kinicki (as cited in Darling & Leffel, 2001, p356) state leadership is a process where on individual guide and assist a group to achieve a common goal. Being a successful leader, he/she should have profound knowledge as well as skills. Additionally, Leadership is distinguished form management and this distinction is crucial. Kotterman (2006) explains that to management is that taking responsibility to accomplish and conduct the tasks as well as target. However, he also states that to lead means to direct and influence by an action as well as opinion. Furthermore, Darling and Leffel (2001) point out that leadership styles can be classified into four types which include Analyzer, Connector, Director and Creator, all of which are various. However, different leaders and styles are required in different situations, which is what Morrison (2000) illustrates that different leadership styles generate different influence and significance on the entrepreneurial spirit. According to Darling and Leffel (2001), by analyzing the four main leadership styles, Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, could be regarded as an Analyzer. Analyzers generally are system, cautious. Searching information and collecting a large number of data are always required before analyzers performing tasks. Analyzers also are diligent, objective. They always are not emotionally and they can control themselves well. In addition, analyzers generally manage clearly and orderly, when confronting with the bad  situations or major problems they will not easily compromise (Darling & Leffel, 2001). Nooyi is such a type of leadership. In 1994, Nooyi analyzed the market and she found that the growth rate of Fried food and quick meals which are â€Å"unhealthy† food of the restaurant industry gradually developed slowly because people started to focus on healthy eating and nutrition problems. Then, Nooyi decisively proposed to spin out the food and beverage business, split over the canned business at the same time and listed them individually, all of which can reduce the fixed capital and promote the overall influence of PepsiCo (Jagannathan, 2009). Moreover, Nooyi identified the market and recommended that stop in carbonated beverages tend to be saturated market competition environment and open up new fruit drinks market as she considered that promoting healthy food and drink is very significant for building PepsiCo’s brand image. In 1998, Nooyi acquired Tropicana which is fruit juice company brand and product line (Hays, 1998). In addition to a Director style, Nooyi also could be considered as a Director. As Darling and Leffel (2001) explain the style of director is pragmatic; they are clear about their tasks and goals and are able to work steadfastly in accordance with this direction. What is more, they always pay attention to the results. Director is confident and determined; they not only like to accept new challenge but also have the courage to take risks. As a CFO, in 2001, under the direction of Nooyi, Pepsi Company completed the acquisition of Quaker Oats (Quaker Qats) 2002 R & D efforts to develop healthy products and all the products are divided into three categories: the â€Å"beneficial class† (good for you), â€Å"health class† (better for you) and â€Å"fun† (fun for you), as a consequence, PepsiCo’s non-carbonated beverage industry in the world to occupy a market share of 25%, 1.5 times that of the major competitors of Coca-Cola. After Nooyi became CEO of PepsiCo, She began to pay attention to PepsiCo products health and balanced concept through the acquisition and product innovation, further enrich the product line. Specific measures are successfully merger and acquisition Stacy’s Bagel, Pita Chips, Izze carbonated drinks business in North America, there are also including fruit and vegetable juice drinks ( Jagannathan, 2009). Nooyi not only can be considered and regarded as a successful manager but also can be an effective leader. To illustrate Nooyi’s effectiveness,  looking back on the performances that Nooyi achieved, for example, when Nooyi was SVP, due to her strategy measures that are logical, serious and thorough, the profits of sales of the company were grown a lot, which rose from US$ 20,337 million in 1996 to US$ 26,935 million in 2001 (Jagannathan, 2009). What is more, Jagannathan (2009) mentioned that during that period Nooyi as CFO, the growth of sales of the PepsiCo increased from US$ 25,112 million in 2002 to US$ 35,137 million in 2006. Most importantly, with the great efforts of Nooyi, PepsiCo Company has been built up a positive and healthy brand as well as image around the world. In conclusion, by synthesizing the explanation of Darling and Leffel’s (2001) framework, it is obvious that the characters of Nooyi’s Analysis as well as direction are showed extremely well. Those strategies which include the spin-in of food and beverage business, the acquisition of Tropicana as well as Quaker Oats all prove Nooyi has highly keen analysis ability and long-term vision. Undoubtedly, Nooyi plays a curial role in Pepsico Company, without the smart analysis as well as audacious decision of Nooyi, and if Nooyi do not focus on vision as an Analyzer and Director, PepsiCo may not obtain such great achievements. In the future, people believe that Nooyi will develop and strengthen PepsiCo Company more and more efficiently with her â€Å"performance with purpose† strategy. References list Darling, J. & Leffel, A. (2009). Developing the leadership Team in an Entrepreneurial Venture: A case Focusing on the Importance of Styles. _Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship_, 23(3), 355-371. Hays, C. (1998, July 21). Pepsico to pay $3.3 Billion For Tropicana. _The New York Times_, p.1. Retrieved form: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/21/business/pepsico-to-pay-3.3-billion-for-tropicana.htm Jagannathan, R. (2009). Leadership-The Indra Nooyi Way. _IBS center for management Research_. Retrieved form: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Leadership%20and%20Entrepreneurship/LDEN058.htm Kotterman, J. (2006). Leadership versus management: What ‘s the difference? _The Journal for Quality and Participation_, 29(2), 13-17. Retrieved form: http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/219091679?accountid=14543 Morrison, J, A. (2000). Developing a Global Leadership Model. _Human Resource Management_, 39(2&3),117-131. Doi: 10.1002/1099-050X