After the likes of Google, Microsoft and IBM, yet another US corporate titan has roped in an Indian-origin executive as its head. World’s largest coffee chain Starbucks has appointed Laxman Narasimhan, the former CEO of British consumer goods major Reckitt, as its next CEO and the member of the board.
He will join Starbucks as incoming CEO on October 1, 2022 after relocating from London to the Seattle area. Narasimhan will be replacing Howard Schultz who will remain as the interim CEO until April 2023.
Narasimhan studied at the Loyola High School in Pune and got his engineering degree from the College of Engineering in Pune. He later did his MBA from The Wharton School.
He has over 30 years of experience working in global consumer brands. Narasimhan worked with global consulting firm McKinsey and Co for 19 years between 1993 and 2012. He then joined soft drinks giant PepsiCo where he handled multiple roles, including CFO, PepsiCo Americas Foods; CEO, Latin America, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa; and later global chief commercial officer.
Since July 2019, Narasimhan was the CEO of FMCG major Reckitt, which owns brands like Dettol and Durex.
“Laxman is an inspiring leader. His deep, hands-on experience driving strategic transformations at global consumer-facing businesses makes him the ideal choice to accelerate Starbucks growth and capture the opportunities ahead of us,” said Mellody Hobson, Independent Starbucks board of directors chair.
During the transition, Narasimhan will be spending time with Schultz and the management team, partners and customers and gaining in-depth exposure to the brand, company culture, and reinvention plan. This will initially include Starbucks store immersions, visiting manufacturing plants and coffee farms, connecting with partners around the globe as well as Starbucks long term business partners, Starbucks said.
Schultz had earlier this year unveiled the reinvention plan, which would focus on re-envisioning how it brings its mission to life, renewing the well-being of partners and re-imagining the store experience.
“When I learned about Laxman’s desire to relocate, it became apparent that he is the right leader to take Starbucks into its next chapter. He is uniquely positioned to shape this work and lead the company forward with his partner-centered approach and demonstrated track record of building capabilities and driving growth in both mature and emerging markets,” said Schultz.
Narasimhan joins a growing list of Indian origin CEOs taking charge of corporate America. Some of the big names include Satya Nadella who is the CEO of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, Arvind Krishna, the chairman and CEO of IBM, Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe and Parag Agrawal, who was named the CEO of Twitter.
Last year, cosmetics giant Chanel had appointed Leena Nair, former top HR executive at Unilever, as its global CEO. In 2020 shoemaker Bata had appointed its Indian head Sandeep Kataria as its global CEO. Earlier in 2018, Vasant Narasimhan was appointed as the CEO of pharmaceuticals major Novartis.
Other Indian origin executives who have headed global firms include Ajay Banga who was the CEO of Master Card for over a decade till early last year and Indra Nooyi who stepped down as the CEO of PepsiCo in 2018.
“What was initially a trickle of water has turned into a Tsunami,” is how Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group put it.
“The appointment of Indian-origin CEOs at the world’s most iconic companies is now an unstoppable trend. International boardrooms consider them to be almost safe leadership bets,” he said.
“The humility and hardwork ethic of Indian born CEOs has strengthened corporate America like never before,” wrote venture capitalist and entrepreneur Asha Jadeja Motwani.
Narasimhan has challenges at hand at Starbucks. In the US, its home market, its battling a wave of unionisation. Over 200 outlets in the US have voted to organise themselves under a union. Inflation has surged in many key markets, including the US, driving costs higher and raising fears of a recession.
“I am humbled to be joining this iconic company at such a pivotal time, as the Reinvention and investments in the partner and customer experiences position us to meet the changing demands we face today and set us up for an even stronger future,” said Narasimhan.
On a lighter note, many are now wondering if and when we we will now see more Indian products like the iconic south Indian degree filter coffee on Starbucks’ menu.
“Proud to see the global best being brewed in India. Congrats Starbucks and Laxman Narasimhan. Maybe we will now see filter coffee and vada paav at Starbucks outlets worldwide,” remarked CP Gurnani, MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra.
Many others on social media just felt that hopefully now Starbucks would rename Chai tea latte to simply Chai on its menu.
