New CEO Procter & Gamble makes big changes

Large reorganisation at the top

Two weeks
ago Procter & Gamble surprised the world with the immediate departure of
its CEO Bob McDonald and the comeback of A.G. Lafley, who had lead P&G up
to 2009. He isn’t wasting time now: he is determined to boost the receding
market share of P&G. Sales of P&G grew by 2% last year, while those of
rival Unilever grew by 8.7%.

The brand
new CEO has implemented a reorganisation of management at the top, while at the
same time putting all consumer brands into four worldwide industry groups: one
for baby, women’s and family care (e.g. Pampers and Tampax), one for beauty products
(e.g. Pantene, Olay), one for men’s and pet care (e.g. Gilette) and one for
cleaning products (e.g. Swiffer and Tide).

The new
managers are given the assignment to make their divisions more efficient, make their brands grow faster
and to stimulate innovation in their domain.

Possible
successor already known?

Next to
those four managers, there will also be two senior managers who will report
directly to Lafley. Speculation about one of those two being the successor of
66-year-old Lafley when he retires (again) have already started.

“These
new assignments mean A.G. is likely to stick around for at least a couple of
years in order to ensure that the person who gets the CEO job produces results
and earns the support of the other successor candidates,” said John Wood, a
vice chairman of Heidrick & Struggles International.