By Steve Rhodes
“NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Irene Rosenfeld, the chief executive of the snack food maker Mondelez International, wandered through an ocean of processed foods one day recently, admiring her handiwork. The center aisles of Mariano’s, an upscale supermarket near the Mondelez headquarters, were stuffed with her company’s creations – Oreos, Wheat Thins and Ritz crackers,” David Gelles reports for the New York Times.
As Ms. Rosenfeld prepares to step down as chief executive next week after 11 years leading Mondelez and its predecessor, she reminisced about a career spent trying to increase sales of cookies, candies and chips – and reflected on shifting consumer preferences that are demanding fresher, healthier foods than the ones she championed for so long.
“I set out to create the world’s greatest snacking company,” she said. “But the legacy I’m most proud of is the ethos of this company, where individuals care about one another, they have each other’s back and they care about the world they live in.”
LOL. See when Rosenfeld was Today’s Worst Person In Chicago.
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“She has focused on building shareholder value successfully by increasing margins with no dewy-eyed nostalgia over changing conditions,” Yale business professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told the Times.
Allow me to translate: Rosenfeld boosted profits by acting heartlessly toward her employees – many of whom lost their jobs in her efforts to satisfy insatiable shareholders and pad her own obscene compensation.
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Or, to put it another way: She made herself and a handful of others a lot richer by firing a bunch of folks!
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“In the wake of a flurry of sexual harassment revelations in the business world, Ms. Rosenfeld encouraged female professionals to have a zero-tolerance policy for abuse. ‘Do what in your heart you know is right,’ she said. ‘It is easy to get caught up in your ambitions, but no job is worth not being true to yourself.'”
Is she saying women who are harassed should curtail their ambitions and leave their jobs because it’s just not worth it to, um, stay and continue to be harassed? Shouldn’t it be the company that has a no-tolerance policy?
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Finally, Gelles and the Times credit Rosenfeld for the name “Mondelez” instead of mocking her for it. C’mon!
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Posted on November 17, 2017