KM Discussion 2: Solving the Wrong Problem

“To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease. Recognizing this disease as a disease is to be free of it.”
- Lao Tzu

Key Takeaways

J.C. Penney hired Ron Johnson as CEO in November 2011, and fired him April 2013. Johnson previously worked for Apple as Senior Vice President of Retail Operations.

While he was in charge, J.C. Penney’s annual sales fell from $17 billion to as low as $11 billion. 43,000 JC Penney employees lost their job in 2012, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That drop represented 27% of J.C. Penney’s workforce at the time.