Advice for CEOs

The media news lit up last month with the ouster of the much heralded Ron Johnson as CEO of JC Penney. After 17 months at the helm, share value plummeted by 50% and sales slid 25%. What happened? How could this outstanding merchant and retailing innovator fail so completely, leaving the company in crisis rather than on the path to renewal. There are lessons to be learned here for the CEO’s charged with turning around underperforming middle market companies and the boards they answer to.