General Mills announces new organizational structure

Company aligning current dairy strategic brand unit to new global organizational structure.

December 7, 2016

2 Min Read
General Mills announces new organizational structure

General Mills announced this week a new global organizational structure that it said will support growth and drive greater efficiency by streamlining the company’s leadership, maximizing global scale and increasing operational agility.

As previously announced, president and chief operating officer Jeff Harmening has assumed global operations responsibilities and reports to chairman and chief executive officer Ken Powell. As part of this new structure, General Mills is eliminating the position of international COO. Effective Jan. 1, 2017, four business groups will report directly to Harmening, each led by a group president:

  • North America Retail (U.S. Retail & Canada), led by Jon Nudi.

  • Europe & Australia, led by Bethany Quam.

  • Asia & Latin America, led by Christina Law.

  • Convenience Stores & Foodservice, led by Shawn O’Grady.

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“As we wrap up our 150th anniversary year, we are ready to take the next step in our journey to truly operate as a global company and fully resource our best ideas to drive growth,” Powell said.

In addition to the four business groups, the company is aligning its current dairy strategic brand unit (SBU) with this new global organizational structure. The dairy SBU, based in France and led by Olivier Faujour, will report to Harmening and will work with the group presidents to explore further opportunities to drive growth and innovation for the dairy platform globally. General Mills holds number-two positions worldwide in both yogurt and super-premium ice cream, with brands including Yoplait and Häagen-Dazs.

General Mills will also enhance its growth capabilities in several areas, including strategic revenue management (SRM), e-commerce and marketing innovation, and intends to augment its current talent with external expertise in these areas over the next several months. The new global revenue development group, which includes SRM and e-commerce, will report to O’Grady, group president of Convenience Stores & Foodservice and senior vice president of global revenue development. The company intends to name a new global chief marketing officer/marketing innovation leader, who will report to Harmening.

Global operations functions such as innovation, technology and quality and supply chain will continue to report to Harmening. Global corporate functions including finance, legal, human resources and external relations will continue to report to Powell.

The new structure is expected to affect approximately 400-600 positions worldwide, subject to consultation with employees and employee representatives in locations, as required.

“We continue to prioritize both growth and returns,” Harmening said. “The structural changes announced today will help us unlock global growth opportunities and go after them by efficiently restructuring our teams and processes. In addition, the capability investments and savings generated by these changes will help us deliver our fiscal 2018.”

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