“Good morning troops!” barks Adrian Cruza — a pipe dangling from his lips, general’s stars glistening from his epaulets, a paratrooper’s beret from Vietnam — where he was a decorated platoon leader — perched on his head.
“Good morning,” comes the polite response. About 40 mid level managers from the Latin American division of SmithKline Beecham PLC, the $9 billion pharmaceutical giant, are gathered around an elegant mahogany table. They are outfitted in combat fatigues, although more than a few also sport tasseled shoes.
“I can’t hear you!” shouts Cruz, a Puerto Rico-born, Harvard-trained MBA who exudes a zesty, take-no-prisoners management style. Cruz was running Sterling Pharmaceutical’s Latin America unit when it was acquired by SmithKline in December 1994. He beat out two SmithKline counterparts to lead the combined operation.
“Good morning!” boom the suddenly inspired executives, their words echoing off the richly paneled walls of a conference room high above Mexico City’s Insurgentes Boulevard.
