INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - OCTOBER 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

NOOYI MOST POWERFUL BIZ WOMAN

  IT'S annus mirabilis for Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi. First came the big announcement of her elevation to the top job at PepsiCo. Then she topped Forbes list of most powerful women, followed by the prestigious Economic Times Global Indian Of The Year award. And now, Nooyi's topped Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women In Business list.

   The IIM-Calcutta alumnus grabbed the top spot despite stiff competition from two-time winner eBay's Meg Whitman, Xerox's Anne Mulcahy and celebrity television host Oprah Winfrey. In the end, Nooyi's performance orientation clinched it for her. “Pepsi's brand new chief is a powerful force behind the consumer giant's strong profit pipeline and $108-billion stock market valuation,” the magazine said.

   The magazine also cited her focus on constant reinvention as one of the factors for her success. “The minute you develop a new business model, it's extinct, because somebody is going to copy it,” the magazine quoted her as saying. “My constant challenge is to continue driving the profitable growth that has made PepsiCo a world leader. That requires a constant focus on innovation, serving our customers better than anyone else, managing costs and managing our associates' own growth strategy.”

   The magazine also observed that the Chennai-born Nooyi reached the top even though she never ran a line operation at Pepsi. However, her role in starting Tricon and the acquisition of Tropicana are Pepsi folklore. The sheer dynamism and hard work Nooyi brought into her work can be gauged from the fact that the cola major decided to split her previous position as president and CFO into two separate jobs. She held the positions for close to five years, besides being on the board of Motorola and Federal Reserve Bank of New York.