Sears Tragedy Essay

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

The Great Chicago Fire was one of the significant devastation that happened in the eighteenth century. Through this tragic event, hundreds of people died and thousands of buildings were completely destroyed in the fire. Before, the city was flourishing as more people traveled and decided to call Chicago their home. After the fire destroyed most of the surrounding area, people began blaming one another for the deaths of all the people. As time passed, Chicago slowly began to rebuild like never before. Although the city of Chicago continued to grow before the fire, after, the city boomed with the abundance of money and people. Moreover, because there was destruction, the people of Chicago, Illinois did not allow a fire to stop them from creating more opportunities for the future. The city has changed from the fire, but because of the help that was received, it was able to get rebuilt, and invite new individuals to explore the wondrous city of Chicago.

"After the Layoffs, What Next?" is a case study involving the aftermath of the downsizing of Delarks, a Midwestern clothing store chain. In this case Harry Denton, the architect of the downsizing, is able to orchestrate a considerable financial turnaround, but in so doing he alienates most of Delarks' remaining employees and most of Delarks' upper-management. Denton is an inexperienced CEO whose management experience rests solely in managing a national chain's flagship store in New York. Though Denton's restructuring of Delarks' business model will cause Wall Street to take notice and toast Denton's efforts, his inexperience may in the end eventuate in Delarks' collapse. Delark's downsizing was done in a rather abrupt way in which most laid-off employees were entirely unaware that they were about to lose their jobs. The problem Denton unknowingly faced was that the employee-pool at Delarks was very tight-knit where members felt as if they belonged to one big satisfied family, and the unexpected lay-offs caused great distress within the company.

Since 1992 when Arthur C. Martinez was brought on board to head Sears’s retailing operations, credit sales, especially through the use of the company’s own proprietary credit card, boost the sales of the company greatly from 1993 to 1997. The new card accounts between 1993 and 1996 were increasing by roughly a 50% rate every year. Besides the company’s own credit cards, the third

Over the last few years, it has been predominantly evident that Sears Canada has been not performing relevant to the standards present within the competitive industry. The market of retail department stores has dramatically changed since the time the corporate entity first began. To stay relevant within today’s retail industry, Sears Canada has to change their current operations. In today's market, the power of value-driven consumer products has been dominating the industry due to their affordable prices and emphasized popularity. Sears Canada has failed to distinguish themselves within the industry as either an affordable or a high quality department store. With emerging high-end retailers like Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, the Hudson's Bay Company, and the rise of online discount retailers like Amazon and eBay, Sears can not afford to flood both market segments. This has become a major issue that Sears Canada is facing, as the company will need to differentiate themselves from their competitors by focusing their resources in the home improvement industry.

Department stores are not easy to manage, and take a whole team of individuals to run daily operations smoothly. Dillard’s success at the turn of the century came from balancing finances properly, incorporating a friendly atmosphere, and building its reputation as a welcoming upscale department store. In recent years, however, Dillard’s Inc. has surfaced in headlines for being listed as one of the worst companies in the nation to work for. With stiff competition and acquisition factors, the department store industry is not one to lag behind in and

All companies have core competencies that they use to differentiate their company, product, or service from the competition, Sears is no exception. Also, it is common for a company’s core competencies to change, as their industry progresses through phases and shifts its emphasis between product and process innovations (Regis University, 2011), Sears is no exception. Yet, when a company’s core competencies become misaligned and no longer supports their strategic intent the business is in danger of becoming obsolete (Regis University, 2011), as their customers no longer perceive the unique benefits the company has

Sears began as a small retailer but as the years have gone by, they have become

Our recommendation is to take Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) private through a private equity buyout. After doing so, we recommend implementing a centralized management structure and recruiting retail-savvy executives for the upper management team. We then recommend focusing on increasing value by capitalizing on SHLD’s real estate holdings through leasing agreements and increasing partnerships with complementary enterprises. Also, we recommend improving employee retention rates and retaining exclusive rights to private brands. Finally, we recommend focusing on a long-term strategy to continue to maximize SHLD’s ecommerce platforms. We believe these recommendations will lead to long-term stability through increases in customer base and

Zappos has tackled some serious challenges, handling them with quickness, strength, and accuracy. The first was the 2008 Layoff. Due to the economic times, Zappos had to lay off 8% of their cherished employees. This was a hard choice as the company treasured every staff member. They were straightforward and open about their financial circumstances and the employees fathomed why they needed to take these actions. Employees who were laid off received six months of COBRA health insurance coverage, paid for by the company. The second ethical challenge was the union with Amazon in 2009. Customers were puzzled on why Zappos had decided to join with Amazon. Instead of leaving their devoted customers speculating, they openly articulated the circumstances. Tony Hsieh shared the motives on why Zappos made this decision, guaranteeing that is was to the advantage of the customers. The existing board of directors did not want the company to focus on their clients but to alter attention entirely to product sales. Hsieh did not want to abandon the customer-centric model that Zappos was originated upon, and decided he must take action. In order to buy out the board, Zappos needed to come together with Amazon, a company that not only accepted but endorsed their value to customers. In the end, Zappos and its customers benefitted from the unification. Soon after, the company faced some of its major challenge concerning technical

The following pages focus on providing a strategic analysis of Sears Holding Corporation. The introduction reveals the issues that the paper addresses. The Company Presentation section reveals important facts in Sears' evolution. The Strategy Debates Section discusses theoretical issues applied to the situation of Sears. This is followed by the Strategic Decisions section that provides a series of recommendations that can help Sears improve its situation. The Implementation Challenges section provides important issues that can be considered challenges of strategic implementation.

The retailer will continue to see aggressive competition from Target, Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Home Depot and Lowes. These companies are some of the national retailers that Sears will have to contend with in order to survive. According to Sears Holding 2011, annual 10K Report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Home Depot and Lowes are the company’s most fierce rivals of the major appliance category in which Sears accounts for nearly “16% of its entire revenue” (p.5). This fierce market positioning battle between its competitors will be a major obstacle for Sears to overcome. Sears continues to try to move forward as the company’s efficiencies in fixed assets continued

Abstract; this report examines the ways in which Wal-mart responds to internal and external factors such as globalization, new technology, innovation, diversity, and ethics. Wal-Mart is a successful industry giant, so it stands to reason that they are proficient at responding to internal and internal factors and thriving . In this essay we explore Wal-Mart’s programs and initiatives and access if we could use their examples to learn from and grow as managers and business owners.

Sears grew up to the world’s largest retailer by expanding annual sales through diversifying sale products, such as apparel, cosmetics, jewelry, electronics, household appliances, cookware, bedding and hand-tools. This article shows that Sears suffered from a cost increase in 1997, including lawsuits, credit collectibles and sales in Mexico. Besides, the flexible payment facility that Sears offered is also a reason for cost increase. These problems brought Sears with bad debt and hence decreased the cash flow. The problems of the company came from the liquid market security, so I emphasize the flowing concepts:

Harold lost his employees’ trust. They needed a sense of identity within the organization and