Company Introduction
J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was founded by James Cash Penney in 1902 and has evolved to a holding company and retailer whose principal operating subsidiary is J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc. with 1104 department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico selling merchandise and services to customers through department stores and online (Mergent Online, 2013). JCP sells a broad range of general merchandise, including apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, beauty products and home furnishings as well as provides salon, optical, photography, and decorating services in the company’s corporate level strategy. JCP was incorporated in 1924 in Delaware, continuing from a partnership in 1902, and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. was …show more content…
Myron Ullman, the current Chief Executive Officer, serves as the only active JCP leadership member on the Board of Directors. Thomas Engibous (Chairman) who also serves on the Audit and Finance and Planning committees and chairs the Committee of the Whole. Engibous is also a trustee of Southern Methodist University, Director of the Texas Instruments Foundation, Chairman Emeritus for Catalyst Inc., and Independent Director, Member of Audit Committee and Member of Compensation Committee in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2013). Ullman was brought out of retirement to his previous position as CEO for JCP to restore the company’s practices which were in place before former CEO Ron Johnson, formally of Apple, after a 17 month tenure in which a botched transformation plan cost the company record losses (“Penney’s shares”, 2013). JCP’s middle market customers were alienated by discontinuing the expected discounts during Johnson’s 17-month tenure as CEO in his attempt to deliver a “younger, hipper image” by changing products, promotions, placement, and prices opting for the “fair and square” pricing strategy dropping the $0.99 seen in more high-ends/European market. “The executives who Johnson brought in are mostly long gone. So is Bill Ackman, the investor and board member who handpicked Johnson to run the company. Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, was the largest shareholder; after a failed coup against Ullman, Ackman sold his entire stake. Some estimate that the fund may have lost more than $700 million. Six months after Johnson vanished, J.C. Penney has almost perfected the illusion that he was never there at all. All that’s missing is about $1 billion.” (Berfield, 2013). The principal-agent problem appears to be resolved with Ackman’s departure and Ullman’s
J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was founded by James Cash Penney in 1902 and has evolved to a holding company and retailer whose principal operating subsidiary is J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc. with 1104 department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico selling merchandise and services to customers through department stores and online (Mergent Online, 2013). JCP sells a broad range of general merchandise, including apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, beauty products and home furnishings as well as provides salon, optical, photography, and decorating services in the company’s corporate level strategy. JCP was incorporated in 1924 in Delaware, continuing from a partnership in 1902, and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. was …show more content…
Myron Ullman, the current Chief Executive Officer, serves as the only active JCP leadership member on the Board of Directors. Thomas Engibous (Chairman) who also serves on the Audit and Finance and Planning committees and chairs the Committee of the Whole. Engibous is also a trustee of Southern Methodist University, Director of the Texas Instruments Foundation, Chairman Emeritus for Catalyst Inc., and Independent Director, Member of Audit Committee and Member of Compensation Committee in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2013). Ullman was brought out of retirement to his previous position as CEO for JCP to restore the company’s practices which were in place before former CEO Ron Johnson, formally of Apple, after a 17 month tenure in which a botched transformation plan cost the company record losses (“Penney’s shares”, 2013). JCP’s middle market customers were alienated by discontinuing the expected discounts during Johnson’s 17-month tenure as CEO in his attempt to deliver a “younger, hipper image” by changing products, promotions, placement, and prices opting for the “fair and square” pricing strategy dropping the $0.99 seen in more high-ends/European market. “The executives who Johnson brought in are mostly long gone. So is Bill Ackman, the investor and board member who handpicked Johnson to run the company. Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, was the largest shareholder; after a failed coup against Ullman, Ackman sold his entire stake. Some estimate that the fund may have lost more than $700 million. Six months after Johnson vanished, J.C. Penney has almost perfected the illusion that he was never there at all. All that’s missing is about $1 billion.” (Berfield, 2013). The principal-agent problem appears to be resolved with Ackman’s departure and Ullman’s