JC Penney Organization
JC Penney’s organizational cultural began innocently enough, being based upon the Golden Rule philosophy. The chain had over 300 stores in 1924, and grew to support over 1,000. It is a multi-billion dollar industry with fierce competition in retail stores like Kohl’s and Dillard’s. The store’s culture had innocent roots, but the question is whether they have remained the same. The answer is, they have not. It is actually not clear what their organization’s culture is today, as there is a flagrant disregard for senior management, and little engagement from local employees. COO Michael Kramer did not prefer JCP’s old culture and, demanding a change, threw it into the tumultuous doldrums we see before us.
Essentially, Kramer spent too much time trying to outline what JC Penney’s new culture should try to project to young people, who started trying to avoid the store in the early 1990’s. Instead of telling people what the culture is going to be, they would have had better luck giving them a new culture to base their shopping experience around. The period of change was made more difficult by employees from the “old era” of JC Penney, who were still clinging to the old ways. Constant flashy advertisements and incentives to drive customers running to cash registers did not translate to old employees and were not promoted by them. Employees even today are less than enthused about their job, which directly correlates to the consumer experience. While Kramer wants JC Penney’s organizational culture to be flashy and exciting, what he has managed to deliver is an environment that is dull and uninviting on the surface, but tense and nervous behind the scenes. Employees worried about their jobs try to involve themselves in this vision of the future, but those who do not care allow it to show, and it results in cramped walking spaces, chaotic advertising schemes, and floor layouts that are impossible to navigate. The culture itself is unfriendly, as the merger between old and new has never quite taken hold.
References
Bhasin, K. (2013, March 7). Why JCPenney's New Corporate Culture Is Failing. Ney York City, New York, United States of America.
