B6| Tuesday, April 7, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
lockdown. Here are edited
excerpts:WSJ:What trends has the
pandemic triggered that
could stick around?
Mr. Narasimhan:E-commerce
and digital will be even big-
ger. Supply can’t keep up
with demand right now, but
we’re seeing more older
people using e-commerce.
There will also be a new
depth to planning supply-
chain resilience. And in
some industries you’ll see a
shakeout where the compa-
nies that win are ones that
understand consumers.WSJ:How have you dealt
with supply-chain disrup-
tions?
Mr. Narasimhan:In China,
we flew ingredients there
that would typically have
come on boats or trucks. If
an ingredient we bought in
China wasn’t available be-
cause that factory was shut
down, we imported it from
Europe.
We put in place measures
to ensure people were safe—
check, test, trace, isolate—
and we didn’t have people
infected. We increased thenumber of buses running to
factories so there was social
distancing on the bus. For
some people we had to rent
hotels in Hubei province due
to travel restrictions. Now
we’re transporting these
ideas and practices around
the world to ensure we keep
our people safe as this
spreads.WSJ:What about other big
markets?
Mr. Narasimhan:We’ve been
in close contact with our
[retailer and wholesaler]
customers in many countries
who are narrowing product
ranges to things that really
sell. For Lysol, for instance,
which is made in the U.S.
and Mexico, you might need
fewer fragrances and sizes.
At our factories and dis-
tribution centers there,
we’re simplifying assort-
ment. That helps us produce
quicker since you don’t have
the downtime from switch-
ing lines.WSJ:The French health
minister recently tweeted
that Ibuprofen—which your
brand Nurofen contains—
could make Covid-19 symp-tively affected fire victims, and
said the company has failed to
provide crucial details about
how and when the trust could
sell the shares to pay the claims.
They are recommending that
victims wait to vote on the plan
until May 1, to provide a window
to rework the settlement terms.
The concerns aren’t univer-
sal among the numerous law
firms representing fire victims,
several of which have said. On
Monday, firms representing
about 7,000 victims objected in
a court filing to the committee’s
request to send out a letter, ar-
guing that victims have been
adequately informed about the
plan. Attorneys who favor the
plan may advise their clients to
support it, regardless of the
committee’s recommendation.
Fire victims are the only ma-
jor class of claimants that PG&E
is proposing to compensate
with shares. The company has
agreed to resolve claims from
the 2017 and 2018 wildfires for
more than $25 billion, but the
other major settlements—with
California governments and in-
surers—would be paid in cash.
Already, support for the plan
has eroded within the commit-
tee representing victims in the
bankruptcy proceeding, which
originally had 11 members.
Three have resigned in the past
two weeks. “The risk is too
great,” wrote Karen Gowin, who
quit out of concern that the
plan exposes victims to greater
risks than other creditors, in
her resignation letter Thursday.
“I cannot support the plan, and
I cannot recommend that oth-
ers support the plan.”
At least two-thirds of the
roughly 70,000 people and
businesses who filed claims
against PG&E have to approve
the exit plan. If the dissenters
are able to influence enough of
them, it could create a serious
roadblock for PG&E, which last
month secured the support of
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
for its bankruptcy exit plan.Continued from page B1PG&E Deal
Over Fires
Is Fraying
toms worse. How have you
responded?
Mr. Narasimhan:Our medical
team got together immedi-
ately. We said, “Where is
the evidence?” From our
perspective, which is shared
by the WHO [World Health
Organization], there is no
data we have seen that sug-
gests that what was tweeted
was based on facts. Otheragencies have stepped in
since. It’s very hard for us,
as a brand, to step in.WSJ:Condom sales rose
during the 2008-09 reces-
sion. How have Durex sales
been affected since the out-
break, given that this time
people are stuck indoors?
Mr. Narasimhan:There are
definitely fewer people buy-
ing that single-serve con-
dom from a vending ma-‘You’ve got to be
extremely organized
about how you deal
with a crisis.’BUSINESS NEWS
chine. Also, when people
stop going to stores, or
don’t hang around a store,
sales of the things I’d con-
sider impulse categories go
down. But we also sell di-
rect to consumers online
and are seeing more people
using e-commerce to buy
them.WSJ:How do you go about
leading a large, global com-
pany remotely, particularly
when you’re so new to the
job?
Mr. Narasimhan:I’m seeing
people all the time, just on
screen. I was supposed to
be in the Americas last
week and we kept the meet-
ing—just did it virtually.
You’ve got to be extremely
organized about how you
deal with a crisis. Every
evening at 6 there’s a core
group of us who get on
video to talk, and we have a
dashboard—a customized
online platform—to track
key metrics like safety, peo-
ple, performance, any
emerging crises.
You also need to think
about how you engage peo-
ple. I took today off just to
think. If you don’t create
time to think, all you’re do-
ing is responding.WSJ:How’s the adjustment
been?
Mr. Narasimhan:In England,
the home is a very private
place, but now suddenly
you’re dialing into the
home. We’re trying to en-
courage people to turn their
cameras on. I did a video
for employees here in my
living room where I showed
them the room and photos
of my family. I want people
to feel their leader has no
problem doing this.
My wife and kids are still
in the U.S., but my 79-year-
old mother lives here with
me in West London. The
other day she walked into
one of my video meetings
and said, “You haven’t taken
the garbage out.” I had to
stop the meeting and take
care of it.As head of the company
that makes Lysol and other
popular disinfectants, Lax-
man Narasimhan has a
close-up view of how con-
sumers around
the planet are
trying to pro-
tect themselves from the
new coronavirus.
“As the pandemic goes on
for a while, the real ques-
tion is: Does it change peo-
ple’s behavior in the long
run?” said the chief execu-
tive ofReckitt Benckiser
GroupPLC, whose products
include cold brand Mucinex,
Airborne vitamin supple-
ments, Durex condoms, En-
famil infant formula, and
Dettol, one of the biggest
antiseptic brands outside
the U.S.
Mr. Narasimhan, who
joined the British consumer-
products giant last summer
from PepsiCo, is betting it
does. Before the outbreak,
the 52-year-old executive
crafted a strategy to reinvig-
orate Reckitt Benckiser’s
flagging sales, casting hy-
giene—and many of the
company’s brands—as a cor-
nerstone of health.
The first Lysol-brand dis-
infectant was introduced in
the late 1800s to help battle
a cholera epidemic in Ger-
many and was promoted as
a countermeasure during
the Spanish flu pandemic of
1918.
Now, even as the corona-
virus disrupts his supply
chains, Mr. Narasimhan ex-
pects it to accelerate that
strategy, as Reckitt’s Lysol
cleaners and Dettol soap
and sanitizers fly off
shelves.
He recently spoke by
phone to The Wall Street
Journal from his living room
in London, where he is on
BYSAABIRACHAUDHURI
Lysol Maker Targets Supply Chain
Reckitt Benckiser CEO
races to meet demand
for hygiene products
during pandemic
Mr. Narasimhan sees trends toward greater reliance on e-commerce and better planning.GUILLERMO GUTIERREZ/BLOOMBERG NEWSBOSS TALK
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