Conestoga College: MGMT8435 Leadership Power and Influence Essay

This essay examines leadership power and influence within PepsiCo, focusing on how leaders utilize their power and influence to achieve strategic goals and objectives, particularly in the context of sustainable practices. The analysis references Beth Kuhel's arguments on power and influence, exploring how PepsiCo motivates and retains employees through rewards programs and data-driven people management. The essay highlights PepsiCo's efforts to address sustainability issues, such as water availability, and its commitment to integrating stakeholders for organizational and societal development. The importance of leaders possessing both power and influence to guide and inspire employees is emphasized, along with the need for sustainable plans to achieve strategic goals. The essay also references the importance of organizational culture and employee engagement in achieving company objectives. The assignment adheres to the guidelines provided, including the word limit and the requirement to apply the concepts from the Forbes article and the course material on leadership power and influence.

LEADERSHIP
Student details

LEADERS 1
Leadership Power and Influence
PepsiCo is among the leading organisations and effectively focuses on the leadership
abilities within the organisation. The leaders at PepsiCo ensures that they make effective use
of their power as well as influence to motivate and guide the employees to achieve strategic
goals and objectives. The organisation effectively focuses on rewarding employees to
motivate and retain them within the organisation, as PepsiCo has effectively introduced a
program so that the emerging talents can be rewarded and retained (O'Donovan, 2013). The
organisation effectively focuses on utilising the employee information so that their abilities
can be analysed and an effective people management plan can be developed. The leaders
effectively analyse the data and based on the results focuses on recruiting new employees and
managing existing employees within the organisation (PepsiCo, 2020).
The leaders at PepsiCo effectively focuses on the political aspects within the
organisation so that the activities can be managed effectively and the goals and objectives can
be achieved. PepsiCo has effectively divided its organisation into various departments and
accordingly has appointed leaders and managers to take care of the departments or the
divisions and develop policies and strategies to develop the performance of the organisation.
The organisation effectively focuses on developing vision and goals and guide the employees
to achieve those goals and visions while working within the industry. Along with developing
policies and goals, it is required that the organisation focuses on developing an organisational
culture that motivates and promotes change within the organisation.
The organisation effectively focuses on employee engagement within the organisation
so that the goals and objectives can be achieved and the needs and requirements of the
stakeholders within the industry can be fulfilled. As the organisation operates in an industry
which requires focus on the quality of the product that is being provided to the customers and
environmental sustainability. PepsiCo is currently dealing with the issue of availability of the
water, which is the main element in the production process. PepsiCo effectively focuses on
developing a sustainable plan so that the issue can be eliminated and can contribute towards
societal development (PepsiCo, 2014).
The power and influential behaviour of the leaders at the organisation are effectively
focused on integrating the staff of the organisation and the organisational stakeholders so that
the organisational requirements can be met along with the sustainable development within the
organisation. As from the article, the author explains that the leader is required to have both

LEADERS 2
the power as well as the influence so that he can effectively lead the employees. As the leader
with power will not be able to guide or inspire the employees, therefore it is required that
leaders effectively focus on maintaining the power as well as the organisational position
within the industry. The leaders at PepsiCo are required to be followed effective sustainable
plans so that they can contribute towards societal development and can lead towards the
achievement of strategic goals (Kuhel, 2017).

LEADERS 3
References
Kuhel, B. (2017, November 02). Power Vs. Influence: Knowing The Difference Could Make
Or Break Your Company. Retrieved from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/11/02/power-vs-influence-
knowing-the-difference-could-make-or-break-your-company/#6cabdf3d357c
O'Donovan, D. (2013, May 2). PepsiCo designs reward toolkit for staff in emerging markets.
Retrieved from Employee Benefits: https://employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/may-2013-
online/pepsico-designs-reward-toolkit-for-staff-in-emerging-markets/
PepsiCo. (2014). Performance with Purpose. Retrieved from PepsiCo:
https://www.pepsico.com/docs/album/sustainability-report/2014-csr/
pep_rpt14_gri.pdf?sfvrsn=a3997065_4
PepsiCo. (2020). Talent. Retrieved from PepsiCo:
https://www.pepsico.com/sustainability/talent