Panel
Transforming a Legacy Company
- Hubert Joly intends to leverage a large customer base and asset portfolio to showcase technology and capture sales, predicting that matching Amazon prices has eliminated showrooming in the US while plans focus on improving customer experience and continuing vendor partnerships.
- Federica Garcia plans to capitalize on the opportunity for children to return to the brand when they become parents, having introduced the "Canvas by Lands' End" line to recruit a new generation and fulfilling a commitment to plant one million trees, with one tree sent per order this year.
- Denise Morrison expects the food industry to undergo a revolution where companies must lead change or become victims, targeting an 80-million-person millennial demographic and expanding into emerging markets to address a declining middle class in the US and an aversion to the middle class abroad.
- Takeshi Ninema outlines a "big plan to 2020" to grow EBITDA from $3.5 billion to $6 billion, aiming to transform from a domestic Japanese dominant beverage company to a global entity while navigating challenges posed by Japan's declining and aging population.
- Hubert Joly adopts a turnaround strategy prioritizing organizational track correction and model incubation over immediate strategy formulation, having changed the entire leadership team and introduced an in-home advisor program that shifts focus from transactions to relationship-building.
- Federica Garcia plans to present a board-approved plan following a year of deep analysis into company archives to identify weaknesses and inefficiencies, having amplified the founder's work on philanthropy and environmentalism as core to the business.
- Denise Morrison intends to adjust to digital shifts in communication and marketing, partnering with entrepreneurs like Juicero and Project Acre to integrate fresh, healthy, and well-being products, while asserting that sustainability must become an integrated part of work rather than an extracurricular activity.
- Takeshi Ninema plans to bring in diverse talent to overcome the complacency associated with being number one in Japan and to shift the mindset required for global competition, acknowledging that resistance to change stems from legacy and corporate culture factors like seniority and lifetime employment.
- Hubert Joly expects to continue adjusting course if the "bicycle" is moving, having earned the right to plan for the future after achieving positive or flat comps during holidays in 2013, and offering teams a "get-out-of-jail-free card" to take risks within ethical and strategic boundaries.
- Federica Garcia emphasizes that transformation leaders require time in their first year to ensure initiatives work and must possess a long-term vision, noting that the company made a specific promise to plant one million trees last year.
- Takeshi Ninema notes that the acquisition of Beam took over two years to help employees overcome fear and realize that the new entities were similar, supporting a gradual transition rather than a sudden shift from domestic to a super-global company.
- Hubert Joly seeks a successor capable of creating energy and demonstrating a strong bias for action, predicting that taking immediate action and getting the "bicycle" moving is crucial in the business.
- Takeshi Ninema defines the successor criteria as an evangelist of core values who grasps the global big picture and accepts diversity, while acknowledging the significant challenge of fitting into the global arena from a historically dominant Japanese position.