Module 4 – Case
PRICING & MARKETING PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
Required Reading/Resources
Reingold, J., Jones, M., & Kramer, S. (2014). How to
fail in business while really, really trying. Fortune, 169 (5), 80.
Lublin, J. S., & Mattioli, D. (2013, Apr 09). Penney CEO
out, old boss back in. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from ProQuest.
Glazer, E., Lublin, J. S., & Mattioli, D. (2013, Apr 9).
Penney backfires on ackman. Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from
ProQuest.
D’Innocenzio, A. (2012, January 27). J.C. Penney slashing
prices on all merchandise. USA Today. Retrieved from
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-01-25/penneys-price-overhaul/52787388/1
Reingold, J. (2012, March 19). Retail’s new radical.
Fortune. Retrieved from http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/07/jc-penney-ron-johnson/
Mattioli, z. (2012, January 26). J.C. Penney chief thinks
different. Wall Street Journal.
Mattioli, D. (2012, January 25). How J.C. Penney was minted.
Wall Street Journal.
There’s a lot going on at J.C. Penney in recent years. With
a new CEO, J.C. Penney, confronted with pressing competition up, down, and
sideways in the department store wars, is reinventing itself in terms of
merchandising, supply, and pricing strategies. Here we will concentrate only on
the pricing aspects of these new directions. However, this is ultimately about
positioning; trying to find a space that is responsive to potential customers
as well as differentiating the Penney brand from Target, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, and
Macy’s.
These articles shed additional light on the implications of
Penney’s new direction:
Berfield, S. (2012, May 24), Remaking J.C. Penney Without
Coupons. Bloomfield Business Week.Retrieved from
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-24/remaking-j-dot-c-dot-penney-without-coupons
Girard, K. (2012, March 5). Is J.C. Penney’s makeover the
future of retailing? Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. Retrieved from
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6944.html
Halkias, M. (2011, December 7). J.C. Penney buys stake in
Martha Stewart’s company. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved from
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/20111207-j.c.-penney-buys-stake-in-martha-stewarts-company.ece
Timberlake, C., & Townsend, M. (2012, February 28).
Macy’s says Martha’s dance card is too full.Business Week. Retrieved from
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-28/macys-says-martha-stewarts-dance-card-is-too-full
Case Assignment
A well-written report should have a brief introduction,
headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should
use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as “Johnson’s pricing
strategy,” instead of a sentence or a question. Read and cite article
listed above, supplemented with any other articles related to J.C. Penney, and
develop a report addressing following issues.
Briefly describe Johnson’s pricing strategy, also providing
background on the company and department store industry.
Explain why Johnson’s pricing strategy did not work. Support
your position in terms of environmental factors such as economy, the
competition, and changing consumer behavior.
What do you think Johnson could have done better? Take into
account J.C. Penney’s segmentation, positioning, and branding strategies to
explain this issue.
Compare J.C. Penney’s current pricing strategy and Johnson’s
pricing strategy, based on your research on the most recent situation of J.C.
Penney. How do you think J.C. Penney would perform in the next five years? Take
into consideration the relationships between pricing and other aspects of the
marketing effort such as a change in merchandising, logo, atmospherics, use of
celebrity spokespersons, and so on.
Assignment Expectations Regarding Your References and
Defense of Your Positions
Write clearly, simply, and logically. Your paper should be
750-1500 words long, excluding title pages and references, but quality of
writing is more important than length. Use double-spaced, black Verdana or
Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size.
Back up your positions or opinions with references to the
required reading found in the Module 1-4 Background reading and Ongoing Useful
Resources. In using those references, demonstrate your understanding of the
concepts presented. Rather than grading on how much information you find,
emphasis will be on the defense of the positions you take on the issues. Also
remember that:
The “why” is more important than the
“what.”
The defense of your positions on the issues is more
important than the positions you take.
Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required
reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions) should
demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented. Do not include
definitions or summaries of the readings or simply describe what the company
did. Instead, your responses to the questions should be analytical and should
demonstrate that (a) you understand the principles from the background reading
and (b) you can apply them to this particular case. Vague, general answers will
not earn a good grade.
Avoid redundancy and general statements such as “All
organizations exist to make a profit.” Make every sentence count.
Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas,
employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely
exceed five words.
When writing an academically oriented paper, you will
uncover many facts about the product. If you paraphrase the facts, cite the
sources in your text and link those citations to references at the end of the
paper.
Here are some guidelines on how to conduct information
search and build critical thinking skills.
Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Searching for information.
Retrieved from
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/searching.htm
Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Developing critical
thinking. Retrieved from
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/critical_thinking.htm
Guidelines for handling quoted and paraphrased material are
found at:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Academic writing.
Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/2/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Quoting, paraphrasing,
and summarizing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Is it plagiarism yet?
Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/
Your paper consists of arguments in favor of your opinions
or positions on the issues addressed by the guidelines; therefore, avoid the
following logical fallacies:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Logic in argumentative
writing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/01/
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