Claudia B. Kotchka
Procter & Gamble
One key to Procter & Gamble's turnaround has been the focus that CEO A.G. Lafley places on product design. Embedding that way of thinking into the culture of the world's largest consumer-product company falls to Claudia B. Kotchka, vice-president for design, innovation, and strategy. Since the 27-year company veteran moved into her new role in 2001, she has more than quadrupled the size of the design staff and convinced the company to relax its promote-from-within policy so that she can hire more outside designers.
Kotchka also integrated designers into product development from the get-go and approached divisional heads to identify top business worries and find out how designers can address them. Her aim: identify consumers' needs and desires before they have even been articulated.