Assignment : (CASE STUDY) FOLLOW INDRA NOOYI’S

EXAMPLE: BECOME A LEADER PEOPLE ARE

Examiner : PROF MADYA DR UNGKU NORULKAMAR UNGKU

Group : 06

Section : 02

Members name :

1. LIANG WEE NI
(A20BS0048)
2. NADIRA CHAIRUNISSA
(A19BS3008)
3. NURUL HASYA
(A20BS0107)
4. MUHAMMAD ZAKI AFIFI
(A20BS0215)
5. SARASWATI A/P M. SUBRAMANIAM
(A20BS0119)

1
Follow Indra Nooyi's example: Become a leader people are
excited to follow

Leaders have a lot of power and influence. And people follow the example of what leaders do
more so than what they say. That's why it's important to cast the right shadow of leadership.

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, shows the impact great leaders truly have –
things like creating a vision, having courage of your convictions, and unleashing the power of
your people. Results under her tenure as CEO of PepsiCo speak for themselves. PepsiCo's
revenue grew from $35 billion in 2006 to $63.5 billion in 2017 and by the end of last year,
total shareholder return was 162 percent. She introduced the Performance with Purpose
vision, an initiative to drive long-term growth while leaving a positive imprint on society and
the environment. Indra's success is rooted in the way she leads. Learning from her example
can help anyone become a leader people are excited to follow.

Creating a vision
When taking on a new role, it's important to create a vision and share it with those you lead.
After all, it's a lot easier to get somewhere if you know where you're headed. This is exactly
what Indra did when she transitioned from CFO to CEO of PepsiCo. Despite Indra's track
record as an amazing functional leader, she was still nervous about taking on the top position
at PepsiCo.

She knew that moving from CFO to CEO would give her a whole different view of the
company. So, she did her research with her new role in mind: she watched the economy,
looked at the trends and discovered rocky times were ahead. She saw a looming financial
crisis and tremendous growth in emerging markets. Indra's big question was: how will we
navigate as a company through these changes?
"There was a lot of anxiety when I took over," she told me. "I realized that I could have all
the anxieties inside, but to the company I had to project confidence, optimism, a can-do spirit

2
and a must-do resolve."She said leaders need to be honest. "The one thing I've learned is don't
lie to the people," she told me. "Don't tell your people one thing when the reality is something
different."

Leaders also need to communicate their plans. Indra told her team exactly what they would
do in the short-term, medium-term and long-term. "I told them they needed to just keep the
performance going in the short-term. The medium-term focus was on what kind of
acquisitions we were going to make to bolster the company's portfolio in emerging and
developing markets. For the long-term, we were going to invest in R&D, start the portfolio
transformation to put in place multiple initiatives which will not pay out today, but require
investment today to pay out in the long-term."
Indra admitted she was uneasy because she didn't know if people would buy into her plan. To
her surprise, people did and were relieved because they saw the changing trends and her plans
addressed them. Her shared vision helped everyone understand where PepsiCo was going
next.

Have the courage of your convictions

Indra is a master at conducting research and deep analyses before making a decision. When
she was CFO of PepsiCo, she made a bold decision to overhaul the company's IT systems. It
was a $1 billion project and she faced lots of skeptics.
She knew she had to be certain she was doing the right thing. Over her holiday break, she
studied the problem from every angle. She read 10 IT textbooks, cover to cover. She had
professors on call to answer her questions. She even reviewed all the binders on an IT
architecture study commissioned for PepsiCo. By doing all these, Indra concluded the
company had no choice but to replace the IT systems. She overpowered her skeptics through
knowledge and competence. No one regretted her decision.

3
Unleash the power of your people
It's been shown that the most successful companies have a culture where every single person
feels valued. No matter what the position, they all know they have a chance to contribute and
make a difference.

There's no doubt that people love to work for PepsiCo and Indra's belief in people drives a
culture of recognition and diversity. Indra gets how leveraging the power of recognition leads
to positive results.
Growing up, Indra's motivation to succeed was rooted in making her family proud. While
PepsiCo has a variety of different recognition programs across the organization – from
individuals to groups – she gets the most satisfaction from writing letters to the parents of her
team members. "I tell the parents what a great job their son or daughter is doing. That
recognition is worth more than money, stock runs, hugs, tickets – anything – because at the
end of the day, when your parents say to you, 'I'm so proud of you; your boss just wrote to me
saying you're awesome,' the look on their face is worth more than one million dollars."

(Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/12/pepsico-indra-nooyi-be-a-leader-people-want-to-follow.html)

4
1. Based on Yukl Group 19 categories of leadership behaviour, describe three (3)
behaviours that Indra Nooyi is showing.

The first leadership behaviour that Indra Nooyi showed is “goal setting”. According to
Gary Yukl, goal setting is defined as “the extent to which a leader, either alone or jointly with
a subordinate, sets specific, challenging but realistic performance goals for each important
aspect of the subordinate’s job” (Managerial Leadership and the Effective of Principal, 1982).
Based on the study case, Indra Nooyi the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo showed that
behaviour from these, firstly, when Indra Nooyi become the CEO, what she do is create the
vision and share it with the subordinate. Lastly, Indra Nooyi told her team exactly what to do
in the short-term, medium-term and long-term goals like for short-term, she told them just
keep their performance. For medium-term, Indra Nooyi told the team about what kind of
acquisitions (asset) that the company (PepsiCo) going to make to help support the company’s
portfolio and emerging markets. For long-term, Indra Nooyi told her team that the company
will invest in R&D, start the portfolio transformation to put in place multiple initiatives
which will not pay out today, but require investment today to pay out in the long-term.
Besides goal-setting, Indra Nooyi showed another leadership behaviour which is
“problem-solving” skill. According to Gary Yukl, problem solving defined as “the extent to
which a leader takes a prompt and decisive action to deal with serious work-related problems
and disturbances” (Managerial Leadership and the Effective of Principal, 1982). Based on the
study case, Indra Nooyi showed that behaviour from this, when Indra Nooyi was CFO of the
PepsiCo, she decided to change the company’s IT system. Before Indra Nooyi make that
decision, Indra Nooyi conduct a research and do a deep analyses such as studying the
problem from every angle, read 10 IT textbooks, had an on call with professors to answer her
questions and reviewed all the binders on an IT architecture study commissioned for PepsiCo.
This prove that Indra Nooyi is capable of making decisive action.
Lastly, Indra Nooyi also showed “praise-recognition”. According to Gary Yukl, praise-
recognition defined as “the extent to which a leader provides appropriate praise and
recognition to subordinates with effective performances, and shows appreciation for special
efforts and contributions made by subordinates” (Managerial Leadership and the Effective of
Principal, 1982). Based on the study case, Indra Nooyi showed that behaviour from this,
Indra Nooyi gets satisfaction from writing letters to the parents of her team members. Indra
Nooyi wrote in the letters that how much she appreciates their son or daughter and that
they’re worthy and deserve recognitions.

5
2. Discuss one (1) leadership style Indra Nooyi is using in leading PepsiCo.

One leadership style of Indra Nooyi use is autocratic style. Autocratic style means a
leadership approach in which a manager does not share decision-making authority with
subordinates. Autocratic style is appropriate when handling crises, instructing others, and
exerting maximum focus on the task. These can be seen on Indra Nooyi. Indra Nooyi
establishes rules and tends to be clearly outlined and communicated. In fact, she shares her
vision for short-term, medium-term, and long-term focus to the team members. She told them
they needed to just keep the performance going in the short-term while the medium-term
focus was on what kind of acquisitions, they were going to make to bolster the company's
portfolio in emerging and developing markets. For the long-term, they were going to invest in
R&D, start the portfolio transformation to put in place multiple initiatives which will not pay
out today, but require investment today to pay out in the long-term. Her shared vision helped
everyone understand where PepsiCo was going next and helped them to know their task
clearly. Indra Nooyi also take quick decision-making especially in stress filled situations. She
took a bold decision to solve company’s IT problem. She almost spent her holiday to find
alternatives to company’s problem and she took a bold decision based on her knowledge
which nobody regret her decision.