According to JCP 10-K in the article Item 1A. Risk Factors paragraph 11, JC Penney’s depend on operations beginning with security, consistency, and integrity. There are various operation systems and data centers, including the point-of-sale systems in the stores, data centers that process transactions, communication systems, and various software applications used throughout the company to track inventory flow, process transactions and generate performance and financial reports.(JCP 10-K, 2013). JC Penney has great tools to track all of the information needed sales purposes. Although these tools can help JC Penney with tracking inventory and processing transactions, etc. There are also difficulties that can be encountered when JC Penney upgrades or develops new systems. These difficulties can lead to losses and unwanted expenses due to disrupting business operations.
For example, working with JC Penney there have been changes with the systems that have upset customers and has caused sales to decrease.
The challenges that retailers may face are customer service, low inventory, store appearance, and brand selection. For JC Penney it’s important to put the customer first and make the customers shopping experience a memorable one. Customer service is always mentioned through coaching to employees because the customer’s worth means a lot to JC Penney. JC Penney strives to greet and help the customer find exactly what they are looking for, or something similar. Adding value to a customer’s shopping experience is more likely to keep the customer coming back then giving poor service. Followed by inventory for all retailers it’s important to stay stocked up, otherwise, the customer will shop with the retailers who have the item available. Often time’s customers will shop with their favorite company knowing that other retailer’s carry the same item so it’s important to have the store stocked up at all
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Show MoreBased on the Miles and Snow strategy typology, Dollar Tree would be categorized as a prospector and an analyzer. Dollar Tree initially started off as a prospector when it was created as an off-shoot of the retail chain K &K Toys (Parnell, 2014). Prospectors focus on intrapreneurship, which involves the creation of new business ventures within an existing organization (Parnell, 2014). When K & K Toys was divested in 1991, it was done so in order to focus their energies on developing the concept of the dollar store, which in turn gave them the first mover advantage for being first in that particular market (Parnell, 2014). Just as prospector companies places priority on new product and service development to meet the changing needs and
James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney stores, gained his retail experience working for Golden Rule Mercantile Company, after graduating from high school in 1902. He quickly rose through the ranks as a salesperson, store manager, and partner. In 1906, at the age of 26, he opened his first retail store in Kemmerer, Wyoming the first to become JCPenney store. 1913, he had 34 stores with over $2 million in sales and incorporated JCPenney Company, Inc. JCPenney’s success was due to the popular private-label brand that were good quality, lower prices than the named brands, and these products yielded high profits. In 1927, headquarters opened in New York and in 1929, the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and store manager/owners traded in their portions of individual stores for stock in the company. JCPenney’s survives the depression, providing basic goods and services at lower prices and increased profits.
On April 4, 2008 Goldman, Sachs & Co. submitted a prepared prospectus for Dollar General Corporation. According to the prospectus, Dollar General is the largest discount retailer in the United States by number of stores. They serve a broad customer base and majority of products are priced at $10 or less and approximately 30% of products are price at $1 or less. They believe that their combination of value and convenience is what has kept them ahead of their competitors since opening in 1955. Dollar General has had substantial growth in recent years, growing their number of stores from 5,540 as of February 1, 2002 to 8,229 as of February 2, 2007. This growth encouraged Richard Dreiling,
JCPenney is a chain of American mid-range department stores that is based out of Texas that started over 100 years ago. JCPenny has been successful for most of its time up until the last three to four years. The company is trying relentlessly to overcome the lingering effects of the makeover that former CEO, Ron Johnson, had implemented in order for the company to take a new direction in hopes of increasing sales. The new CEO, Myron Ullman, has taken a close look into the markets demographic segmentation along with the income segmentation in order to attempt to return the retailer back to its old self, which is to appeal to middle-market customers. A couple issues of major concern for the company are the dissolving of Johnson’s Boutiques, the price of their products, and overall revenue.
Facts of the Case: In 2008, Samantha Elauf applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch, Inc., who as part of their “Look Policy” prohibit the use of caps. Elauf, as part of her religious practice, wore a headscarf to the interview. She was interviewed by assistant manager Heather Cooke, who gave her a score that qualified her to be hired. Cooke, however, was worried that Elauf’s headscarf was against the store’s policy and called her district manager Randall Johnson. She informed Johnson of her belief that Elauf wore her headscarf because of her religion, and Johnson replied that headwear whether it was religious or not violated the “Look Policy” of the store. Elauf with the help of the EEOC sued Abercrombie on the grounds of religious discrimination. The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an agency established by the government of the United States that imposes federal laws that make it
“Macy’s operating margin in 3Q15 fell to 4.4% from 6.8% in 3Q14, mainly due to asset impairment charges of $111 million related to the plans to close 35 to 40 stores in early 2016 (Bailey).” This decline was a result from not only lower sales but the company’s investments in digital growth in its Bluemercury expansion, as well as cost of entry into the China market and additional investment in the Backstage stores (Bailey). These factors could have appeared more detrimental if it had not been for the lower marketing expenses, restructuring initiatives, and a reduction in bonus accrual that were intended to counteract weak sales performance (Bailey). Higher digital growth helped to offset the decrease in earnings ("Macy 's Earnings Fall for
This is a challenging time for retail and Macy’s is so exception. There has been a large shift in the last year as profits have decreased and earnings are forecasted to fall this year. There are numerous challenges and obstacles that have caused this to occur, including: irregular weather patterns, too high inventories, a decrease in tourism, limited growth in women’s wear, and a decline in share prices by 45.4 percent. Shareholders are also affecting business, especially one stakeholder in particular, Jeffrey Smith of Starboard Value. Smith has allied with other shareholders to advocate for “real estate spin-offs to lift shareholder value.” In other words, Smith sees more value in Macy’s real estate rather than in the operation of the stores. Morgan Stanley evaluated Macy’s real estate and came up with an aggregate value of $18.5 billion, with a range of $16 billion to $20.8 billion. The previous value was $11 billion. This suggests that the stores are worth more than the operating business.
The retail stores of JC Penney and Sears have face headlines of “Which is Worst: JCP or Sears?” The end maybe near for both companies (Andersen2014). The customers look at the employees like their idiots. The public believes that poor management is the reason for the down fall of these companies. Eddie Lambert and Ron Johnson are the CEO’s of being credited to running these companies with wrong management strategies (Andersen 2014). Ron Johnson who is now the former CEO was highly qualified with his retail instincts tried to run the store like a retail boutique. He never took the time to consult a survey on what the consumer’s thought were and after two years he jeopardized the company (Andersen 2014). Whereas the CEO Eddie Lambert of Sears
Technology does affect how JC Penney and other retail stores do their business. For example, with the new invention of cellphones, now managers must find ways to prevent their employees from using their devices while they are working. Using technology effectively can increase profits and revenues instead of harming the company. All of the companies must adapt to technology to increase and improve their customer service, speed the transactions, and effectively compete against other online stores. The internet allows customers to buy and search things online. JC Penney must have their company connected with the internet to attract more customers. Social media allows JC Penney to promote their services and products, stay involved with the community,
Penney's approach to strategy is best measured using a SWOT analysis, which maps out the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For instance, J.C. Penney's strengths include a strong liquidity position, an efficient supply chain, and a broad product and service offering. J.C. Penney's liquidity position grew to lend the industry from 2014 to 2015 (J.C. Penney Company, Inc., 2015). Strong liquidity against its competitors provides J.C. Penney with an advantage while funding any potential opportunity that arises in the market. Its supply chain facilitates the flow of goods between two thousand four hundred domestic and foreign suppliers, distributors, and stores (J.C. Penney Company, Inc., 2015). Its efficiency enables J.C. Penney to generate higher margins, which allows for lower prices for customers. Moreover, it allows the business to operate in a cost effective manner. The broad product and service offerings help the company serve the diverse needs and preferences of its customers. J.C. Penney also has the largest apparel, home furnishing, and general merchandise catalog in the United States (J.C. Penney Company, Inc.,
The only real Information systems used in each Dollar General store is their satellite link up (space net) and the POS (point of sale) software Triverstiy which enables headquarters with the day's sales information.
My company of choice for this report is Macy 's. 'The Magic of Macy 's ', as the company advertises it, has inspired me to shop there, take advantage of their incomparable discounts and great online shopping experience. Macy 's, Inc. is one of the largest department store chains in the United States of America. Macy 's manages stores under the Macy 's and Bloomingdale 's brands. I enjoy shopping at both of the company 's store brands, Macy 's and Bloomingdales. Bloomingdales provides a more personalized experience
Over the past couple of years, Walmart has boosted its e-commerce operations and bringing in a large portion of revenues from online sales (Aronow & Burkett, 2015, p. 20). Gartner Inc. describes Walmart as a “supply chain pioneer” that has continued its push into e-commerce and has expanded investment in multichannel drive-thru pick-up centers and a ‘click-and-collect’ grocery service offered at some of its stores (Aronow & Burkett, 2015, p. 20). One of the components of Walmart’s supply chain in which their success is heavily relied on is the continuous improvement of their supply management as a whole, particularly within their e-commerce division. According to an article on the website logistics company Cerasis, “Not only has Walmart excelled over the decades in traditional supply chain management but… is also focused on continuous improvement by investing more into emerging technologies to capture more of the e-commerce market…” (University of San Francisco, 2015). A concept that our class had discussed time and time again throughout the semester was the concept of continuous improvement. Any given organization or business is constantly focused on continuously improving their business for the better. For Walmart, they believe that the anticipatory action of investing in emerging technologies will help differentiate themselves from the competition
Some core competencies that must be exploited are: Brand Kmart is an existing well-known and trusted national brand in USA Kmart has private label and designer clothing that is well endorsed Infrastructure Kmart has a large number of well-located, low-cost, leased stores in urban far away from competitors through out the country ( Appendix B ). Staffing Confidence by the market in Kmart is created by the achievements of its staff and management. With the turn-around strategy in place, new blood has been put into the top management structures. In any renewal there will be retrenchment as unprofitable stores are closed. This can be used as an opportunity to retain and move high performing staff to where they are needed and to get rid of non-performing staff. Anderson the chairperson of Kmart is well supported by Wall Street and the board of Directors. These new staff members enter the company with needed skills to address problems in certain areas that previously were poorly managed such as inventory control and merchandising. Store locations, layout and Performance Stores conveniently located away from competitors like Wal-mart and Target therefore less to compete for customers face-to-face. There are 250 non-performing stores who have already been identified as being more cost effective to close than continue with running costs. Expertise exists in-house for the planning of store layout and appearance to meet different customer segments. This concentration of effort will enable focus on key areas Technology Kmart has already invested in good retailing systems. The system can be use to control inventory, supplier payments, track customer buying and monitor income versus profit margins across all stores. Research and Development The planning department is well established and in cross-functional to provide various perspective. The planning department to ensure that strategies at all levels are executed can further use the access to past data and knowledge of changes in buying patterns. Financial Backing JP Morgan Chase has agreed to support Kmart to avert the current threat of closure due to bankruptcy.
How does managerial planning for Project Impact take place at different levels within the organization?