Democratic Business: Gift Certificate

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Is it time to Rethink the Corporate Structure?

Warning! Do not buy gift cards at these stores! and Use your gift cards before it's too late!

If you know of other failing businesses, please leave a comment.

Shoe Pavilion -- Closing all stores
Circuit City -- Closing all stores
Anne Taylor -- Closing 117 stores
Eddie Bauer -- Closing 29 stores by year end
Cache Clothing -- Closing 20-23 stores
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines -- Closing 150 stores
Tallbots, J. Jill -- Closing 100 stores
Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic -- Closing 85 stores
Footlocker -- Closing 140 stores
Wickes Furniture -- Closing all stores
Levitz, Bombay -- Closing all stores
Zales, Piercing Pagoda -- Closing 105 stores
Home Depot -- Closing 15 stores
CompUSA -- Closed all stores
Macy's -- Closing 9 stores
Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video -- Closing 920 stores
Pacific Sunwear -- Closing 150 demo stores
Pep Boys -- Closing 33 stores
Sprint, Nextel -- Closing 125 stores
J.C. Penney -- Closing some stores
Lowe's -- Closing some stores
Office Depot -- Closing some stores
Ethan Allen -- Closing 12 stores
Wilson's the Leather Experts -- Closing 158 stores
Sharper Image -- Closing 90 stores
KB Toys -- Closing 356 stores
Dillard's -- Closing another 6 stores

--Summary of email. Original email from Vivian L. Brewer of Washington Mutual Bank--

How Will You Measure Your Life?

I recently read this article by Clayton Christiansen out of Harvard entitled, “How will you measure your life?” It is what he tells his students on the final day of his class.

One of the items that he mentions sticks out to me. It reads as follows:

“One of the theories, . . . . . how to be sure we find happiness in our careers—is from Frederick Herzberg, who asserts that the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities, contribute to others, and be recognized for achievements. I tell the students about a vision of sorts I had while I was running the company I founded before becoming an academic. In my mind’s eye I saw one of my managers leave for work one morning with a relatively strong level of self-esteem. Then I pictured her driving home to her family 10 hours later, feeling unappreciated, frustrated, underutilized, and demeaned. I imagined how profoundly her lowered self-esteem affected the way she interacted with her children. The vision in my mind then fast-forwarded to another day, when she drove home with greater self-esteem—feeling that she had learned a lot, been recognized for achieving valuable things, and played a significant role in the success of some important initiatives. I then imagined how positively that affected her as a spouse and a parent. My conclusion: Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team. More and more [people think] that a career in business means buying, selling, and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people."

I’m sure you can see why it sticks out.