UPDATE 8/16/06: Powerline updated their coverage of the Indra Nooyi controversy.
UPDATE 8/20/06: Columbia Business School might think about getting LTC Randolph
White to give their next commencement address. You really need to
listen to this soldiers take on those who blame America. Here’s the link (the comments are great reading too.)
UPDATE 8/21/06: Jerhad Jeremy (a San Franciscan no less!) wonders if Indra will change Pepsi’s red, white and blue logo colors to something less offensive…
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The recent anti-American comments of PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi combined with her appointment today to the top spot of one of America’s most iconic brands continues to trouble me. If you’ll recall, Nooyi was at the center of a controversy
recently where she accused America of giving the middle-finger to the
rest of the world during a business school commencement speech. Her
comments generated significant bad press and PepsiCo’s so-called apologies after the fact were collectively insincere and insulting.
The coverage of Indra’s promotion today has been predictably positive with almost all reports following politically correct doctrine of celebrating her gender and her immigrant roots. Missing from every report I’ve listened to and read is any mention of the anti-American comments, and more importantly the impact this may have on PepsiCo. But there are several other things that trouble me about her promotion. They are:
1. Is Indra really the best person for the job?
Or is she simply the projection of politically correct notions of diversity? Did she really earn all her promotions? Was she really the best person for each job promotion she received? Or was she the "quota-maker" for human resources who needed an immigrant female to make their numbers? I have no doubt that Indra is clever and smart, but an unfortunate consequence of entitlements and diversity quota’s are the unspoken questions of competence that follow most women, minorities and other protected classes. But lets assume for arguments sake that Indra earned her promotions and was the best person for the job.
2. Would the best person for PepsiCo’s CEO slot potentially alienate 50% of her customer base?
Up until her anti-American comments at the Columbia’s Business School commencement, I would of considered Indra’s background impressive and assumed that she earned her stripes righteously (an assumption I no longer make with any regularity). BUT after her anti-American comments it was a very simple conclusion for me that she was unfit to run and iconic American brand. Why? Because you don’t want somebody running an image dependent brand who happens to alienate half of her customers. So in my opinion, at best you have a candidate who is clever and smart, but devoid of common sense judgment. I find it difficult to believe that PepsiCo didn’t have another candidate of equal competence and possessing better judgement. Even Wall Street was suprised by the suddenness of her appointment.
3. Does PepsiCo and Indra Nooyi really think Americans are idiots?
I understand that some folks agree with Indra’s notions that Americans are arrogant. I respect Indra’s right to feel this way. What I really find troublesome though, is the attempt at a cover-up apology from her and PepsiCo. Both of which were insincere and insulting. Insincere because if Indra really believes this way, then she has nothing to apologize for, and insulting, because Indra and PepsiCo believe that Americans will accept the apology. Further, I would respect PepsiCo if they had issued a statement supporting Indra’s view and Indra had stuck to her guns. I would disagree with their positions but I would respect them for being truthful.
4. How come the PepsiCo brand hasn’t been affected?
Good question. I’ll be the first to observe that PepsiCo has not experienced a Dixie Chick(ish) decline in market share as a result of her comments. There were a few half-hearted attempts at boycotts after her comments, but nothing I can see that hurt PepsiCo’s performance. BUT, her ascendancy to the CEO slot combined with her penchant for speaking her mind, opens up all sorts of potentially devastating incidents that will make the Dixie Chicks debacle look like a tea party. Additionally, an upstart competitor, or even Coca-Cola could spin this into a market share bonanza. Coke is far to politically correct to take this on, but how about her 100 or so small upstart beverage, snack and nutritional competitors?
5. But a hard charging ex-Marine is the one who picked Indra!
Steve Reinemund, the current PepsiCo CEO and an ex-Marine, is the one who hand-picked Indra as his replacement. So doesn’t that mean anything? No. Not really. I think he’s made a mistake. It happens. Same way another hard charging traditional American, an ex-Marine by the name of John Murtha has made a few mistakes in recent months.
You can read my original posts on Indra here.
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I am disheartened to see the incredibly callous way in which you casually devalue an all-American success story of an immigrant woman who rises to the top of a US corporation, by calling Indra’s success as the result of the HR department quotas. The subsequent gratuitous “for argument’s sake” adds insult to injury. Is every immigrant success story suspect in your eyes? As an immigrant myself, I find this presumption of quota-guilt (unless proven innocent) rather un-American!
Hi Arkay,
It is the right of all Americans to discuss, debate, and dissent. I no longer agree that entitlements and quotas are effective approaches. My experience indicates that they weaken enterprise competitiveness and individual self-esteem. After almost 50 years of existence it’s time to discuss and debate the effectiveness of quotas and entitlements and find a better solution.
Indra’s promotion to the CEO slot is another sign for me that the process is flawed. Her anti-American comments should of disqualified her from further contention. I find it impossible to believe that PepsiCo didn’t have another candidate of equal competence and possessing better cultural sensitivity. Which raises four questions:
1. How can Indra be culturally sensitive when she insults 50% of her customer’s culture?
2. Why the abrupt departure of Reinemund? And the seemingly unwise selection of Indra?
3. How long before PepsiCo’s small aggressive, upstart beverage, snack and nutritional competitors go after Indra’s anti-Americanism?
4. Does Indra become PepsiCo’s center of gravity?
As to your questions about my views on immigrants… No not all immigrant success stories are suspect. And, I give immigrants the same benefit of the doubt I give everybody else. It’s simple Arkay, prove it to me. Indra hasn’t proven or demonstrated to me she’s the best person for the spot.