Principles and Practices of Leadership and Management Report- PeapsiCo

Principles and Practices of Leadership
and Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Main body........................................................................................................................................3
Most important leadership skills and competencies for PepsiCo...........................................3
Skill 1......................................................................................................................................3
Skill 2......................................................................................................................................5
Skill 3......................................................................................................................................5
Skill 4......................................................................................................................................6
Skill 5......................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Flexible organisational structure can be advantageous for the business in today's
competitive environment. This not only promotes flexibility in the organisation but also
encourages the workforce to find new ways to do their tasks. The research report includes the
case study of PepsiCo, which is an American multinational company (Pepsi organisational
structure, 2016). The director of the company is planning to change the structure of the
organisation from MRD (Marketing Research Department) into more flexible style CSI
(Consumer Strategic Insights). They have been planning to adopt the working environment of
Google which gives their employees more freedom and flexible working hours. It will allow the
company to gain strategic advantage and it will become more competitive. In order to
accomplish this PepsiCo has change its leadership style to introduce the change. PepsiCo is the
largest revenue earning business in food and beverages segment with its product distribution
across 200 countries. The PepsiCo has adopted flexibility in the organisation and its structure.
The report contains an analysis of different leadership theories and its competencies for the
implementation of flexible organisation structure.
Main body
Most important leadership skills and competencies for PepsiCo
The Director of PepsiCo Jorge Rubio has decided to introduce flexible organisation
structure, which will give more freedom to the workforce. A flexible organisation has no
hierarchy and there are no rules and regulation for the employees. This improves efficiency and
competitiveness of the company (Akers, 2013). The employees are in a better situation to face
challenges and this brings innovation to the organisation. The PepsiCo needs an effective
leadership style that supports their flexible organisation structure. There are different theories of
leadership but it is essential to carefully evaluate each one of them before adopting it. The
leadership theories that PepsiCo can implement in their organisation are. The skills and
competencies develops a framework that helps a leader to know what he has to do and what is
expected from him The PepsiCo is planning to develop a flexible organisation and they want
their office to appear as an independent market research company. They want their employees to
be proactive and as such they want a leadership style that has the required skills and
competencies to attain the objective.

Skill 1
Leadership competencies are essential in developing and supporting the leaders. PepsiCo
has the intention to create the flexible organisation and they need leaders that can support their
mission. They want a matrix like process and they want their every employee to become self-
responsible, proactive and flexible (Patterson, 2015). Skill means an ability of a person to
accomplish a particular task. PepsiCo needs a a leader who has all the essential skills to help
them in creating a flexible organisation.
Traits Theory
The trait theories define the essential characteristics or traits that a leader should possess.
These traits include personality, skills, communication, vision and social relationship (Barrick
and et.al, 2013). These set of characteristics differentiate a leader from others and it also helps in
the overall development of the organisation.
Advantages and disadvantages:
The traits theory can be useful for PepsiCo, as it will defines the characteristics that is
needed for becoming a leader. PepsiCo has decided to adopt a flexible organisation structure and
the traits theory can help in creating an effective leadership style for the organisation (Frick ant
et.al, 2014). But PepsiCo would need time in analysing the traits that are required. Furthermore,
these could be temporary in nature and won't reflect the future. The leaders would only get the
generalised view as the situational factors are overlooked.
Skills related to the organisation:
 Managing change skills: The leader in Pepsi should be competent enough to mange all
the changes in the organisation. The structure of the company is changing into a flexible
form whereby giving more opportunities and freedom to the employees (Morgan, 2013).
It is very important for the leader to incorporate all these changes in the organisation. The
use of authentic leadership can be helpful in accomplishing this. The leader should give
the proper motivation and guidance.
 Taking risks and innovation skills: The management of PepsiCo has given the right to
their employees to try new things. They want them to come out of the rigid processes and
produce more creative ideas. So the PepsiCo also needs a leadership style, which is
aligned to this. A leader should give ample of opportunities and freedom to its followers.
They should be encouraged and a close relationship needs to be established with them