Here’s where Sears got it wrong

I don't even know if it matters anymore, and it’s definitely not my intention to rub salt into anybody's wound, but as we face the fact that BK is unavoidable it’s becoming more and more clear that Sears started going in the wrong direction many years ago and that BK is just the conclusion every misstep that was made. This article is a short read, but it effectively pinpoints the basic strategic mistakes that were made during the years.

Here you go:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2018/10/13/four-strategic-mistakes-distanced-sears-from-customers-and-employees/#568b1662e721

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Another big mistake is when we changed from the formal performance rating system to the silly 'OKR' format. You were supposed to put in 'stretch goals' and ask others for performance feedback on a quarterly basis. The OKR format glossed over a lot of formal ratings, not just on your work but certain soft skills like teamwork, motivation and innovation. In practice, very few associates provided feedback when asked, and many managers did not really go over the OKR's in detail so they just rubber stamped what you typed in. All HR cared about is that you clicked on the 'met with manager' button. I think my reviews were much more effective doing it the 'old' way, your manager would spend a hour or two going thru your comments and point out where you needed to improve, etc. The OKR process may have saved some paperwork but not effective to manage associates. I would imagine many others experienced the same. Multiply this by thousands of people and the result is lower performance across the board. Mix in casual days, flex work time, people working from home with little over-site and no wonder why we are on the step of bankruptcy.

Sears got it wrong when Alan Lacy sold off the very profitable Sears credit dept and outsourced it to a 3rd party. That allowed Eddie Lampert to buy the company and that started the dominoes to fall. Alan Lacy also over paid for Land's End and then when EL spun it off we only got approx. half of what we paid. So, Mr. Lacy started this whole thing, that's where I put the blame. Montgomery Wards made the same mistake and they ceased operations circa 2001 ...was it? Eddie at first was in it for real estate but then when retail started trending down, I think he tried to save the company but it was too late. We lost our profit engine (Credit) and didn't have enough capital to turn things around.

The mistakes were intentional. It was a leveraged buy out by a wall street pluck and gut thief.

Why do so many of the articles choose to act like it's all so unfortunate and it's all bad mistakes. The whole thing was a farce from day 1

I'm beginning to think you don't believe in Sparkle magic!

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Here’s where Sears got it wrong

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