Principles and Practices of Leadership and Management

http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/jsl/vol4iss2/jslvol4iss2.pdf#page=13

Read the adapted PepsiCo case study. Consumer Strategic Insights (CSI) Director Jorge Rubio is changing his part of PepsiCo into a more

flexible style of organization. Using leadership theory to support your arguments, critically evaluate the most important leadership skills and

competencies (maximum of two or three) that you think will be required for this organization

Case Study – PepsiCo – An adapted extract from

Aguirre-Mar, M. (2013) Global Structural Design and Results: PepsiCo Case. Journal of Strategic Leadership, Vol. 4 Iss. 2, Spring 2013, pp. 6-

PepsiCo Foods Mexico (PFM). In order to review PepsiCo’s organizational structure in their Mexico business unit, an interview with Jorge Rubio,

national director of CSI (Consumer Strategic Insights) for PFM, was conducted.
CSI. The interview took place in an office named the brain spa, where CSI members carried out customer qualitative studies. For guests and

outsiders, there is not a clue that this office belongs to PFM; everything is designed and planned in such a way that it gives visitors the

impression that this office belongs to an independent marketing research company. Nothing in the office is uniform; there are different kinds

of chairs, pillows, futons and all in different colors and forms. There are no furniture tables in the place. On one side of the room there is

bookcase with creativity books and table games to promote creative thinking processes; next to the bookcase, there is a poster which explains

the rules of the brain spa:
(1) strictly business—consumer’s creativity and innovation;
(2) keep it cool and keep it clean;
(3) be a stranger, leave your ID at the door;
(4) thank you for not smoking;
(5) spread the word, talk to someone about it;
(6) practice curiosity;
(7) take risks, make mistakes;
(8) be polite, don’t be loud.

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Jorge Rubio, a marketing veteran in the company with 25 years of experience in the field, proudly explained that their intention was that the

brain spa be similar to Google’s corporate creativity center, a place where flexibility and discontinuity carry out to creative processes to

find productive ideas (J. Rubio, personal communication, October 25, 2012). In the interview, Rubio pointed out that they decided to change

the name and the strategic structure of the former marketing research department (MRD) in order to make it clear that the department was to be

more proactive and flexible, not limited to merely being a distributor of the information obtained from the customers. The aim is that this

area becomes a change agent for PFM’s commercial area, leading faster reactions to meet their consumers’ requirements, preferences and likes

(J. Rubio, personal communication, October 25, 2012). The steps taken at CSI made it clear that their intention is to increase their value

offer to PFM. The structural design of CSI has two main groups:
(1) insights BU’s, insights team inside each business unit (Gamesa, Sabritas and Sonrics) that supports in research and brand strategy, and
(2) the CSI support center, the insights team which designs and executes, with qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, in-house

customer studies to support marketing and sales strategies.
Regarding the integration of CSI’s team, Rubio stated: “To integrate the CSI department we followed these steps:
(1) establish the vision;
(2) define core strategies;
(3) build a team;
(4) assign positions and responsibilities (structure);
(5) execution”
(J. Rubio, personal communication, October 25, 2012).
CSI’s organizational structure is flexible, with an approach on matrix-like processes. It is expected that every business unit and individual