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Indra Nooyi

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Indra Nooyi
It’s a simple story of a powerful woman. A story of an Indian girl who came from conservative Chennai to pursue higher studies in the US with little money and no safety net. If she failed, she failed. A story of this determined girl, who while studying in Connecticut, worked as a receptionist from midnight to sunrise to earn money and struggled to put together US$50 to buy herself a western suit for her first job interview out of Yale, where she had just completed her masters. Incidentally, she wasn’t comfortable trying out a formal western outfit and ended up buying trousers that reached down only till her ankles. Rejected at the interview, she turned to her professor at the school who asked her what she would wear if she were to be in India. To her reply that it would be a sari, the professor advised her to “be yourself” and stick to what she was comfortable with. She wore a sari for her next interview. She got the job and has followed this philosophy for the rest of her career. She’s been herself, never tried to change her basic beliefs, derived strength from her traditions and believed in who she is. As she says, “I’m so secure in myself, I don’t have to be American to play in the corporate life.” She worked hard and in time was counted as one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes. In this edition of ‘My Story’ we present Indra Nooyi, President & Chief Financial Officer PepsiCo, Inc – a story that is both inspiring in its simplicity and grand in its achievement.
It all began years ago in Chennai, where she studied hard in school to get her grades. She remembers how her mother would, after meal every day ask Indra and her sister what would they like to become when they grew up. They would come up with different ideas and their mother would reward the best idea each day. It forced Indra to think and dream for herself. It was this dream that led her to be a part of the 11th batch of IIM Kolkata. After two years of work with Johnson & Johnson and

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    Jain, M. and Mukherji, S. (2010), “The perception of ‘glass ceiling’ in Indian organisations: an exploratory study”, South Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 23-42. Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A. (2008), Organisational Behaviour, 8th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Mathur-Helm, B. (2006), “Women and the glass ceiling in South African banks: an illusion or reality?”, Women in Management Review, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 311-26. Maume, D.J. Jr (2004), “Is the glass ceiling a unique form of inequality? Evidence from a random-effects model of managerial attainment”, Work and Occupations, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 250-74. Mok Kim Man, M., Skerlavaj, M. and Dimovski, V. (2009), “Is there a “glass ceiling” for mid-level female managers?”, International Journal of Management and Innovation, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 1-13. Mooney, S. and Ryan, I. (2009), “A womans place in hotel management: upstairs or downstairs?”, Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 195-210. Powell, G.N. and Butterfield, D.A. (2003), “Gender, gender identity, and aspirations to top management”, Women In Management Review, Vol. 18 Nos 1/2, pp. 88-96. SA Business Women Beat Global Counterparts (2011), Mail & Guardian Online, available at: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-03-08-sa-business-women-beat-global-counterparts (accessed 26 February 2012). Singh, V. and Terjesen, S. (2008), “Female presence on corporate boards: a multi-country study of environment context”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 83 No. 1, pp. 55-63. Taylor, L.J. and Waggoner, J. (2008), “Goldratts’ thinking process applied to the problems associated with the glass ceiling effect”, Proceedings of the Allied Academies International Conference on Organisational Culture, Communications and Conflict, Vol. 1. Further reading Blair, D.D. and Stanley, J.R. (1991), “Personal relationships and legislative power: male and female perceptions”, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 495-507, Comparative Legislative Research Center, available at: www.jstor.org/stable/440014 Linehan, M. and Walsh, J.S. (2001), “Key issues in the senior female international career move: a qualitative study in a European context”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 12, pp. 85-95. About the authors Risper Enid Kiaye is a Food Scientist/Technologist and has worked in Food Production as: Quality Assurance Manager – Fruits Division at East African Growers Ltd; and Senior Quality Control Analyst at Laboratory and Allied Ltd She has recently completed her MBA dissertation on the Glass Ceiling. Anesh Maniraj Singh is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Business & Leadership of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Anesh Maniraj Singh is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: singham@ukzn.ac.za…

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