INDRA NOOYI
1955–
Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi was
born in Madras (now Chennai),
India. After graduating with a
masters in finance and marketing
from the Indian Institute of
Management, Nooyi completed
a masters at Yale Management
School, funded by working as a
nighttime receptionist. She then
spent six years as an international
strategy consultant, before joining
the telecommunications company
Motorola as a director of strategy.
In 1994 she became the chief
strategy officer at PepsiCo, and
was instrumental in positioning
the company for growth in China,
the Middle East, and India. She
became the company’s CEO in
2006, and chairperson in 2007.
See also: Balancing long- versus
short-termism 190–91
TAIICHI OHNO
1912–90
Taiichi Ohno was a self-taught
engineer whose insights and
methods helped Toyota become
one of the largest motor companies
in the world. Born in Dalian, China,
in 1912, Ohno started work at
Toyota when he left school, and
spent the rest of his working life
there. He is best known for
devising the “just-in-time”
production system, where parts or
products are not ordered until just
before they are needed, rather than
having large stock holdings on
hand. He also advocated flexible
manufacturing methods to allow
tailoring for different international
markets and to reduce waste. He is
regarded as one of the production
geniuses of the 20th century.
See also: Anticipating demand
290–93 ■ Lean production 294–95PIERRE OMIDYAR
1967–Founder of eBay Pierre Omidyar was
born in Paris, France, to Iranian
parents. He moved to the US with
his family as a child, where he
studied computer science at Tufts
University. After graduating, he
worked in software development for
Apple before co-founding a company
that developed business-to-business
e-commerce software in 1991.
Omidyar left to work for a mobile
communication business in 1994,
but continued to explore the
possibilities of e-commerce for
consumers in his spare time. In
1995 he launched Auction Web,
which later became eBay. In 2012
it reported revenues of $22.6 billion.
See also: The weightless start-up
62–63 ■ Changing the game 92–99TOM PETERS
1942–US management authority Tom
Peters was born in Baltimore, MD.
He studied civil engineering at
Cornell University at a masters
level, then earned an MBA and
PhD in business at Stanford
Business School. From 1966 to
1970 he served in Vietnam for the
US Navy, then worked for the US
government. From 1974–81 he
was a consultant for McKinsey
and Company, before leaving to
work independently after the
publication of his book In Search
of Excellence, the business classic
he wrote with Robert Waterman.
See also: Coping with chaos 220–21C. K. PRAHALAD
1941–2010Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad
was born in Tamil Nadu, India.
After completing a degree in
physics at the University of Madras,
Prahalad joined Union Carbide,
and worked there for four years (he
described this as a major “inflection
point” in his life). He then studied
for an MBA at the Indian Institute
of Management followed by a PhD
at Harvard Business School. En
route to becoming a professor of
business administration, he became
renowned as a consultant, after
his advice invigorated the failing
Philips electronics business. He
has published many best-selling
books, including Competing for
the Future, co-authored with Gary
Hamel. He is considered one of the
world’s top management thinkers.
See also: Protect the core business
170 –71 ■ The learning organization
202–07 ■ Gary Hamel 335CARLOS SLIM HELU
1940–Mexican business magnate Carlos
Slim Helú was born in Mexico City.
After studying civil engineering at
the Universidad Nacional Autónoma,
Mexico, he founded his own
business, Inmobiliaria Carso, at 25.
Through acquisition and shrewd
management, he built on this to
establish a large group of
businesses—Grupo Carso—which
included companies in the food,
retail, construction, mining, and
tobacco industries. International
acquisitions and mergers followed,
with partnerships with companies
such as Microsoft, with whom Slim
Helú joined forces in 2000 to launch338 DIRECTORY