Introduction
Organizational success depends on the capabilities of those entrusted with leadership and management roles. The difference between leadership and management is often obscure, but it is crucial to understand that effective leaders are not always managers and vice versa. However, a combination of these skills can be critical in influencing positive outcomes for any organization. A study conducted by Noruzy, Dalfard, Azhdari et al. (2013) established a positive correlation between different aspects of leadership and management. The implication is that successful leaders and managers must express high levels of intellectual, managerial, and emotional competencies through parameters such as critical thinking, influence, motivation, and conscientiousness. In light of this understanding, this paper seeks to present a case study of Denise Morrison (CEO of Campbell's Soup) in the context of their leadership and managerial abilities.
Profile of Campbell’s, the Company and its CEO, Denise Morrison
Campbell’s is an American company founded 148 years ago, and deals in food and processing industry with its canned soup and related products being sold in over 120 countries worldwide. It implies that the multimillion business deals with a diverse range of consumers and employees due to cultural differences from country to another. Success under such an international context requires astute leadership and managerial capabilities. Denise Morrison has demonstrated that she has these in plenty since taking the mantle as Campbell’s president and CEO in 2011. Eight years down the line Denise Morrison transformative leadership has seen the company performance improve significantly. Under Denise Morrison’s tutelage, Campbell’s has been reshaped to drive sustainable growth while enhancing shareholder value through implementation of a dual mandate to strengthen and expand the business. It begs the question, which qualities have allowed Denise Morrison to succeed in this male dominated environment in such a global context?
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Leadership and Management Strategies and Approaches
Denise Morrison observed that upon arrival at Campbell’s, her board reaction was that of skepticism when Morrison proposed the acquisition of the $1.55 billion Bolthouse Farms in a bid to help her diversification strategy. According to O’Kefee (2015) Morrison had to show leadership courage and sell the board on the idea. The strategic move was intended to change the conservative and risk-averse culture of the company, and make failure acceptable because it is part of organizational learning process. Morrison showed focus and determination, and through her passion and confidence, she was able to inspire the board leading to approval of her proposal. Her strategy underscores the importance of decisiveness, which is required to succeed by employing selective ignorance, a critical leadership strategy for making important but unpopular decisions.
In my opinion, Denise Morrison expressed a combination of leadership and managerial capabilities. I especially admire her stoicism and open-mindedness approach to leadership and management, which allow her to be innovative because they can identify opportunities and are prepared to anticipate the worst case scenario. Morrison’s leadership and management approach corresponds to the findings in Noruzy, Dalfard, Azhdari et al. (2013) that transformational leadership correlates to positive organizational learning, knowledge management and innovation and performance of manufacturing firms; while organizational learning, knowledge management, and innovation also influenced each other in addition to organizational performance. Morrison has been able to effectively communicate her strategy whose adoption has seen Campbell’s performance improve significantly.
Management in a Multi-cultural Setting
According to O’Kefee (2015) the CEO’s of companies that have been existence for over a century, agree that remaining relevant and competitive depends immensely on motivating employees by building a culture that depends on corporate purpose. According to Marcus (2014), Denise Morrison had a strategic plan to “create a new innovative culture that would address the changes in the marketplace, get better results, and deliver shareholder value.” The plan was based on her ability to judge trends leading to the discovery that the market has change in terms of marketing and consumer preferences, and Campbell’s was either to be the change leader or a victim of it. The outcome was the innovation of new soup and packaging targeted at the millennials, and implementation of a comprehensive corporate social responsibility.
One can argue that Morrison’s major strength lies in understanding that one cannot succeed by working alone. Investors, employees, and consumers all play important roles in the success of the company business, but also come with a significant number of challenges. For instance, Marcus (2014) noted of the obstacle faced by Morrison in transforming the culture of Campbell’s that has been stagnant for 145 years. However, she had a vision and a plan which she implemented to transform the traditional company’s culture into that which embraces creativity and flexibility. She achieved this through effective communication, motivating employees and inspiring them, team building, vision and goal setting, and risk taking. However, Morrison observed that not all Campbell’s culture was stagnant as part of it was highly-engaging and all they needed was to leverage it to reflect high performance. I admire Denise Morrison because she understood her role as an agent of change, anticipated the challenges that come with it, and developed plans for dealing with them.
Conclusion
Denise Morrison embodies leadership and management qualities that are needed by modern CEO to succeed by being change leaders rather trend followers. Her success in a male dominated field as a CEO of a multibillion global company underscores her capabilities. Her will to succeed is underlined by her confidence, courage, insightfulness, stoicism, positivity, and decisiveness among other qualities that make great leaders and managers. The success of Campbell’s in a multicultural context with changing consumer preferences reflects Morrison’s ability to identify opportunities and innovate to maximize them. These are desirable qualities that can be emulated by practicing and prospective leaders and managers.
References
Marcus, B. (2014, Apr). Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison stirs the pot to create cultural change. Forbes. Retrieved 16/05/2017 from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bonniemarcus/2014/04/25/campbell-soup-ceo-denise-morrison-stirs-the-pot-to-create-cultural-change/#2de45780170d.
Noruzy, A., Dalfard, V. M., Azhdari, B., Nazari-Shirkouhi, S., & Rezazadeh, A. (2013). Relations between transformational leadership, organizational learning, knowledge management, organizational innovation, and organizational performance: an empirical investigation of manufacturing firms. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology , 1-13.
O’Kefee, B. (2015, Nov). Campbell Soup CEO: I had to show ‘leadership courage.’ Fortune (Leadership). Retrieved 16/05/2017 from: http://fortune.com/2015/11/03/campbell-soup-ceo-leadership/.
