General Mills announced a new global organizational structure that will support growth and drive greater efficiency by streamlining the company's leadership, maximizing global scale, and increasing operational agility.

As previously announced, Jeff Harmening, president and chief operating officer has assumed global operations responsibilities reporting to Chairman and CEO Ken Powell. As part of this new structure, the company is eliminating the position of International chief Operating officer. Effective Jan. 1, 2017, four business groups will report directly to Harmening, each led by a Group president:

• North America Retail (US Retail & Canada) led by Jon Nudi
• Europe & Australia led by Bethany Quam
• Asia & Latin America led by Christina Law
• Convenience Stores & Foodservice led by Shawn O'Grady

"As we wrap up our 150th anniversary year, we are ready to take the next step in our journey to truly operate as a global company and fully resource our best ideas to drive growth," said Ken Powell, Chairman and CEO.

In addition to the four business groups, the company is aligning its current dairy strategic brand unit (SBU) to this new global organization structure. The Dairy SBU, based in France and led by Olivier Faujour, will report to Harmening and will work with the Group presidents to explore further opportunities to drive growth and innovation for the dairy platform globally. General Mills holds No. 2 positions worldwide in both yogurt and super-premium ice cream, with brands including Yoplait and Häagen-Dazs.