PepsiCo's Nooyi Is Focused on Retention, Not Succession

With the lackluster performance of PepsiCo under her leadership, Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi clearly faces pressure to perform. So it’s natural to smell a succession race brewing with the company’s March 12 announcement of a new global structure and the hiring of Wal-Mart Stores executive Brian Cornell. But the details of this reorganization suggest the snack-food maker is less concerned about who’s going to replace Nooyi as CEO than it is about who might leave because Cornell has arrived. The hiring of any high-profile executive usually creates ripples of tension within the senior ranks of a company. When that executive has been president and CEO of Sam’s Club prior to becoming CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods, as Cornell was, it’s bound to spark rumors that he’s now a leading contender for the top job.