OPINION

The resignation of Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci illustrates how difficult the job of a modern CEO has become.

The supermarket boss resigned on Wednesday, later telling reporters: “I haven’t managed to dodge every
bullet.”

Those bullets were relentless criticism from politicians and community leaders that Australia’s supermarket duopoly of Woolworths and Coles were price-gouging and anger at rising prices from customers struggling with the higher cost of living.

The companies are facing several government inquiries into price-setting and lack of competition in the retail sector.

Banducci’s resignation came after he bungled a television interview. Asked about criticism of the supermarkets’ tactics from former competition regulator Alan Fels, he responded by pointing out that Fels is retired. He quickly realised how churlish the comment was and asked the journalist not to include it. When the journalist refused, Banducci walked out of the interview, only to be coaxed back by his PR team.

He resigned two days after the interview aired.

Woolworths insists the 59-year-old’s retirement had been long-planned and certainly the company had his replacement ready to announce. Amanda Bardwell, head of loyalty and e-commerce, will take the top job.

Even so, Banducci’s tenure will forever be associated with failing to dodge those bullets and with walking out of that interview.

The irony here is that he was a hugely successful chief executive.

He had a background in liquor retailing and started working for Woolworths when the supermarket giant acquired alcohol chain Cellarmasters. He took over as head of liquor retailing for Woolworths, then as head of food.

Banducci was appointed chief executive eight years ago, at a time when Woolworths was reeling from its unsuccessful and very costly attempt to enter the hardware business and was falling further and further behind Coles with every earnings announcement.

He invested heavily in supply chains and gradually lowered costs and put Woolworths back on a competitive footing.

And people who know the yoga enthusiast describe Banducci as self-effacing and highly personable.

But as the leader of one side of the supermarket duopoly, Banducci had become the public face of price-gouging and corporate arrogance.

The Woolworths share price doubled during his tenure and shareholders certainly recognised his skills as the manager of a large and complex business – shares in the company fell 6.6 per cent after his retirement was announced, wiping A$3 billion ($3.17b) off its market value.

But shareholders aren’t the only stakeholder group business leaders need to keep happy. Banducci’s messy exit was thanks to his failure to take account of the views of customers, the community, regulators and government as the supermarket chain went about accumulating profits.

Former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce also had a messy exit from the airline last year for the same reason.

The airline posted a record A$2.47b in profit in the 2022-23 financial year, to the delight of investors, but to the chagrin of customers and government, who believed the airline was taking advantage of limited flight capacity by overcharging customers.

Ironically, the new Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson would have been relieved to release a more modest first-half profit last week.

Hudson announced a 13 per cent profit drop in the first half of the financial year. The airline is still flush with cash – and will return A$400 million to shareholders in a share buyback – but Qantas said fares and capacity had normalised.

Additionally, Hudson can point to a A$90m in investment in customer pain points – call centres, food and beverage, increased loyalty rewards, better practices when flights are delayed and cancelled – and tell customers the airline has heard their complaints.

Christopher Niesche is an Australia-based financial journalist with 25 years’ experience on Australia’s major newspapers, most recently as deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review.