Pepper and Jager gear up to tackle unsatisfactory volume and sales growth P&G shake-up aims for growth via global focus Procter & Gamble is preparing to unveil a major reorganisation designed to speed innovation and meet its goal of doubling sales by 2005. In a letter to shareholders, chairman John Pepper and chief operating officer Durk Jager say they are not satisfied with the rate of volume and sales growth being produced by P&G. For the year ending June 30, P&G's global sales were up just 4% to $37.2 billion, compared with the $33.4bn when Pepper took charge in 1995. To meet the company's goal, sales would need to increase by about 7% a year. In their letter, the two men say P&G will be shifting from regional business units to global operations focused on specific products. "[The changes] will improve our ability to create and build even more profitable leadership brands around the world." They say P&G's newly created Global Category Management concept will bring together business services dispersed throughout the organisation. "It will also achieve significant economies of scale while improving the overall quality and speed of services," they add. Although a formal announcement about the reorganisation is not expected for a few weeks, P&G admits there will probably be some job losses from its 110,000 strong global workforce. The company's last big reorganisation, in 1993, resulted in 13 plants being closed and 13,000 jobs being axed worldwide. But P&G insists its latest corporate revamp is not simply a cost cutting exercise. "It's a global reorganisation of our structure and culture to accelerate growth and meet business goals," said a spokesman. l Unilever's Persil Tablets have taken 9.4% of the UK detergent market since their launch four months ago, according to figures from IRI Infoscan. This means Persil has overtaken P&G's Ariel as the UK's number one brand. P&G is still test marketing its Ariel Discs. {{NEWS }}