When some students think of Pepsi, Britney Spears may come to mind -- but now, many Wharton MBA students are more familiar with the real woman behind the scenes of the soda company.
Indra Nooyi, president and chief financial officer of PepsiCo, spoke yesterday afternoon to a full house of over 300 people in Huntsman Hall.
Since May of 2001, Nooyi has served in her present position at PepsiCo, which is the world's fourth largest beverage and food company. In 2002, Fortune magazine named Nooyi the fourth most powerful woman in business.
Her talk was part of the ongoing Wharton Leadership Lecture series, which invites top-level executives from business and government to address MBA students.
Nooyi devoted much of her talk to outlining her "six lessons from the school of hard knocks," compiled during her years of experience in corporate America.
"Think of a business as an investment," Nooyi said. "You've got to know when to get in and when to get out."
She also spoke about instituting change, as well as making effective business deals by paying attention to the minute details.
"To drive great change, start with a great vision and share it widely," she said. "Communicating effectively is one of the keys."
Nooyi added that putting faith in one's employees and coworkers is vital.
"Numbers matter, but you live and die by your people," she said.
In addition to the six lessons, Nooyi spoke briefly about the major changes that PepsiCo has undergone recently, such as the "spin-off" of PepsiCo's former restaurant businesses, like Pizza Hut and KFC, and the "marriage" of PepsiCo and Quaker Oats. According to Nooyi, these and other changes have resulted in $35 billion of transactions over the last five years.
She ended her lecture by emphasizing the importance of constantly learning and growing.
"In my humble opinion, whether in business or in life, that's what success is about," she said.
During the question-and-answer session following the talk, Nooyi spoke of her childhood in south India and the "three Fs" -- "family, friends and faith" -- that have given her strength.
She also acknowledged that luck -- "being in the right place at the right time" -- has played some role in her success.
Additionally, Nooyi provided encouragement to both women and minorities in the audience seeking success in the business world.
"Don't get bogged down by the fact that you're minority and female," she said, adding that one should move away from perceiving this minority status as a weakness and instead convert it into a strength.
The audience, comprised mostly of Wharton MBA students, seemed to enjoy the lecture, particularly when Nooyi joked about her traditional Indian upbringing.
"I thought it was phenomenal," Anjana Nigam said. "I wanted to find out more about her achievements, and I thought it was wonderful that she emphasized her family."
"It was great to get a chance to meet her," the second-year MBA student added, saying that she sees Nooyi as a role model and has been following her career for years.
Second-year MBA student Kevin Chan-A-Shing said he appreciated Nooyi's talk for her wit and straightforward advice.
"It was candid, inspiring, humorous and unforgivably honest," he said. "As she mentioned in her speech, Indra doesn't play the politics game."
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