Finding a Head for Sears

Edward Lampert, chairman of Sears Holdings Corp. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), is reportedly facing an “uphill slog” in finding a new ceo to hire.

The company parted ways with then-ceo Aylwyn Lewis in January and Lampert appeared to clear the way for a new chief executive two days later by saying he was withdrawing himself from day-to-day operations of the retail giant.

But the Chicago Tribune reports that the search for a replacement for Lewis has actually been going on since fall 2007. And, says the Tribune, “candidates . . . want the freedom to set direction and hold sway over business-unit leaders. Yet with Lampert's wealth and reputation so closely tied to Sears, the billionaire, not surprisingly, is loathe to give up much control, a factor that is getting in the way of closing a deal.” The newspaper quotes people “with knowledge of the situation.”

“It's a very hard sell,” Nancy Koehn, a professor and retail historian at Harvard Business School, told the Tribune. “It's not clear what the strategy of this company is, and that makes it hard to find a ceo. Somebody who is effective and ambitious wants to go into a place where [he or she] have the freedom to set a clear-cut strategy.”

Sears has at least two search firms on the prowl for talent, according to those people familiar with the situation.

The new ceo will be charged with overseeing a new structure, announced by Sears earlier this month, of many business units, including real estate, online, brands, support and store operations, that operate independently, have their own profit-and-loss responsibilities and own advisory boards. Lampert has said the move is meant to speed decision-making and improve accountability, but the Tribune says many on Wall Street see it as a precursor to selling off pieces of the business.

And, says the newspaper, the confusion has interfered with Sears' ability to attract a chief executive. One candidate close to taking the job in January backed away after becoming convinced the strategy didn't make sense and the reporting structure “didn't allow the ceo enough control to fix the retailer.”