Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AT JCPENNEY
Organizational Culture at JCPenney
Laura Lynn Peck
University of North Texas
laurapeck@my.unt.edu
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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AT JCPENNEY
Introduction
The name JCPenney is one of the most recognizable in the retail industry among
American department stores. This company has had a tumultuous several years with plenty of
public criticism regarding internal company structural changes and failed re-branding strategies.
However, the company is still afloat and hopeful for an increased customer base and higher
revenue under the leadership of current Chief Executive Officer Myron E. Ullman III. Having
some retail experience in part-time positions, I chose to interview a professional in this industry
to better understand the organizational dynamics and culture of a large company at the full-time
level. Kelly Forsythe is an Ecommerce Assistant Buyer for JCPenney whom I interviewed two
weeks ago at a private location outside of her workplace. Throughout our nineteen-question
interview, I gained valuable insights on having a full-time job in the retail industry, how a
candidate can excel during the hiring process, and JCPenney’s organizational culture in relation
to literature we have reviewed in this course. Having previously worked as an Assistant Buyer
for Neiman Marcus, Kelly had a wealth of information with which to educate me on having a
career in the retail industry.
Interview Analysis
As an Ecommerce Assistant Buyer for JCPenney, Kelly works specifically for the men’s
dress wear department. While she said that everyday is little bit different in terms of her daily
tasks, she described four main responsibilities which fall under her job title. The word
“ecommerce” in her position’s title means that Kelly is responsible for the men’s dress wear
section of the JCPenney website. The first of her four main responsibilities is to constantly
double-check the website, making sure that all items are described correctly, that everything
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looks correct and accurate, and confirming all colors and prices listed for each item. These may
seem like tedious tasks, but they are of the utmost importance since customers rely heavily on
this information when deciding whether to purchase an item. Secondly, Kelly spends a
significant amount of time in meetings, specifically with vendors who make the clothes. These
meetings are crucial to maintain positive relationships with outside vendors and to ensure that
everything is going according to the plan in terms of what clothing items will be made and
subsequently posted on the JCPenney website. Kelly also has a role in choosing what JCPenney
will sell in future seasons. She works with a brand team who essentially forecasts trends and
reports how clothes should fit and be styled. This information helps Kelly and other Assistant
Buyers choose the colors, styles, patterns, and details of each clothing item. Lastly, one of the
most important parts of Kelly’s job is to analyze which items are selling the most, where those
are located on the website, how to get customers to click on low-selling items, etc. These tasks
require a lot of time researching and generating new ideas, especially when considering less
popular items which do not attract the customer’s attention. Again, while tedious, these
responsibilities are incredibly important because they can lead to decisions which either boost
sales or leave them stagnant.
When I asked Kelly how someone might get a job in her industry, she replied with three
strong points: networking, experience, and internships. Kelly got her job at JCPenney because
she knew current employees who helped her get her foot in the door, so to speak. Like many
professionals in the corporate world, Kelly emphasized the importance of networking — not only
in person, but online as well. We discussed the pros and cons of online networking websites
(namely LinkedIn) and how to use the Internet in the most positive and appropriate ways. All
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online networking websites offer the opportunity for users to overuse or abuse them, but
appropriate use of networking websites is especially important for professionals on LinkedIn. In
an article about how people convey themselves on Facebook and LinkedIn (Dijck, 2013), the
author highlighted LinkedIn as a place for users to highlight their skills, promote their strengths,
and showcase recommendations from other professionals. The article also identified online
behaviors that LinkedIn users should avoid, like self-expression or exhibiting emotion, as these
could harm the individual’s professional image. However, when used appropriately these online
platforms can be an excellent way to connect with others and enhance one’s personal brand. In
addition to networking, Kelly also stressed the importance of previous experience to help a
candidate get the job. Along with a college degree, Kelly told me that employers see great value
in related work experience and internships which can help a job candidate adapt to the industry
more quickly and provide useful skills on the job. In the next part of the interview, Kelly told me
about her experience in the hiring process from the employer’s point of view and gave useful
information about how to stand out as an interviewee.
Some people are simply born with naturally great speaking abilities, but no matter how
charismatic a person is, I believe that everyone should constantly strive to improve their
interview skills. I took this opportunity to ask Kelly what she looks for when interviewing job
candidates, since she has had real-life experience as an employer looking for the perfect
employee. First, she said that she responds well to interviewees who are eager about the position.
A person who conveys a genuine desire for the job will stand out as an employee who will most
likely be committed to producing excellent work. Kelly’s initial response about an applicant’s
eager attitude lines up with research identifying communicative behaviors of successful
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interviewees. In one study (Einhorn, 1981), successful interviewees expressed career goals that
were relevant to the position and indicated specific reasons for pursuing their chosen careers.
This research also echoed Kelly’s emphasis on a job candidate’s speaking ability as a way to
stand out among other applicants. The same study (Einhorn, 1981) concluded that successful
interviewees employed a more technical vocabulary in order to demonstrate their knowledge
related to the position. Kelly reported that she looks for a person who can speak intelligently
about the company and demonstrate the development of skills which will be useful in the
position. Generally speaking, she simply looks for an interviewee whose presentation is
confident, intelligent, and professional.
On the flip side of finding excellent employees, I asked Kelly why she or another
employer might remove a job candidate during the hiring process. She did not hesitate to say that
a resume with any spelling errors would immediately be thrown out. As many upcoming college
graduates are warned, she also advised me to scour my personal social media (Facebook,
Twitter) for any inappropriate photos or posts which might hurt the company image. Lastly, she
pinpointed experience again as an important component which can either help or hurt a job
candidate. Applicants who have relevant experience will get interviews first and consequently,
those who lack experience will be lower on the list of candidates to get a call. She concluded by
telling me that the interview is much more important than the resume. A person’s resume is
simply the first step to catch an employer’s attention and get an interview, while the interview
itself has a much bigger role in determining who ultimately gets the job. As a student who will
soon be applying for full-time positions after graduation, I took especially detailed notes on this
portion of our conversation since this valuable information might help me in my own job search.
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In my initial conversation with Kelly about her career with JCPenney, she indicated a
strong sense of organizational culture within the company. For this reason I decided to shift the
focus of my interview to investigate JCPenney’s culture, rather than my original proposal to ask
her about structural changes in relation to the communication and management styles of each
new CEO that JCPenney has had in the last few years. For this portion of the interview, I chose
to examine how closely JCPenney adheres to Deal and Kennedy’s “strong cultures” (1982) as
well as Peters and Waterman’s themes for excellent organizations (1982). Our course’s textbook
(Miller, 2012) identifies the ideas put forth by these authors as prescriptive approaches to
organizational culture rather than descriptive or interpretive approaches. In asking Kelly about
these aspects of JCPenney’s culture, I wanted to see if her company had the qualities of a
successful organization as identified by these authors.
First, I asked Kelly about JCPenney’s values, heroes and villains, rites and rituals, and
cultural network. “Fun, fight, win” is an important motto in her workplace which symbolizes
JCPenney’s values of having fun at work, fighting to do the best job possible, and winning by
achieving goals at work and ultimately seeing higher profit and revenue. Kelly also reported the
value that members put on providing the highest quality merchandise at the best price possible.
An obvious hero of JCPenney employees is — of course — James Cash Penney, the entrepreneur
who founded the department store in 1902. Kelly described management’s goal to create a
positive, high spirit atmosphere in the workplace and because of this, she did not report any overt
villains — except for competitors, naturally. Several rites and rituals are used to boost morale
and unify employees, including pep rallies, awards, and team-building events. Yes, JCPenney
holds pep rallies, which are attended by all employees at the home office and video-streamed to
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stores. I was surprised to hear this, but Kelly said that employees having fun at work is so
important to upper-level management because they believe that happier employees are more
productive and perform better. JCPenney’s principal cultural network is an internal website used
to disseminate information like sales highlights and press releases, and also to showcase service
events and fun events. Pictures of employees volunteering or participating in company pep rallies
underscores the fun culture created at JCPenney.
Next I asked questions pertaining to Peters and Waterman’s eight themes of excellent
organizations (1982). I purposely framed the questions to be open-ended, so as not to encourage
a “right” answer. Even with my efforts to be objective, Kelly’s answers showed that JCPenney
embodies all but one of the eight themes of excellent organizations. After JCPenney’s recent
setbacks, the company is in a position to do everything they can to recoup sales and build up
their customer base. With this in mind, she confirmed that JCPenney employees currently have a
bias for action, the first of Peters and Waterman’s themes, but that may change as things stabilize
over time. Like any good retail company, she reported that JCP is extremely focused on the
customer, which is in line with the second theme. For example, they have a whole team that
reads customer complaints submitted on the website and uses problem-solving techniques to
generate creative solutions. She also confirmed that employees are encouraged to take risks and
develop new ideas, especially in the company’s current state. In almost every meeting,
management explicitly asks employees to come forward with any ideas or suggestions. The
fourth theme, productivity through people, is exemplified by JCPenney’s expectation of close,
yet professional management-employee relationships. “Hands-on, values-driven” is the fifth
theme which is manifested in JCPenney’s culture through constant reiteration of the company’s
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core values. The sixth theme encourages excellent organizations to avoid radical diversification.
Kelly said that at the moment, JCPenney is forced to put some good ideas on hold simply
because they have to stabilize first before being able to fund any radical changes. Again, despite
recent challenges, JCPenney would still measure up as an excellent organization against Peters
and Waterman’s standards. The one area where Kelly’s answer did not match up with one of the
eight themes was Peters and Waterman’s ideal of “simple form, lean staff”. She reported that the
previous CEO very much believed in simple methods and a lean staff, but the company is
currently moving back towards a more complex structure. Lastly, Kelly confirmed that JCPenney
exhibits the “loose-tight properties” of an excellent organization which include unity of purpose
and the diversity necessary for innovation. JCPenney’s unity of purpose is exemplified in every
employee’s efforts to get the company back to the profit levels that they were several years ago.
Upper-level management is doing this by showing a willingness to try new ideas and being open
to diversity and innovation. Despite the one area where JCPenney’s qualities did not line up with
Peters and Waterman’s idea of an excellent organization, it is clear that the company is doing
everything it can to encourage a culture which will help return it to being a high sales,
powerhouse department store.
My interview with Kelly Forsythe proved to be tremendously informative, educational,
and valuable. I learned about pursuing a full-time career in the retail industry using networking,
prior experience, and internships to help me get the job as well as how to stand out during the
hiring process and impress an employer with excellent interview skills. Lastly, I got to take a
closer look inside JCPenney’s organizational culture, using Deal and Kennedy’s aspects of strong
cultures and Peters and Waterman’s themes for excellent organizations to guide my interview
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questions. This information from a seasoned professional in the retail industry was insightful not
only from an academic standpoint, but valuable to me on a personal level as I will soon be
exposed to the corporate world through real-world experience.
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References
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