Organizing Cultural Change: Leveraging the Four Forces Framework

Abstract

Ron Johnson boasted a stellar resume. Educated at Harvard and Stanford, he spent twelve years at Apple, designing the retail strategy that birthed the fabulously successful Apple Stores. He went on to a stint at Target, where, as vice president of merchandising, he launched the eye-catching line of Michael Graves products and, according to retail experts, made the stuffy company “hip.” Then he migrated to J.C. Penney, the ailing low-cost department store chain, where he assumed the top spot in late 2011. At the time, reflecting on why he had taken the job, he said: