Management

The post-Ron Johnson era did not begin well for Apple. Earlier this year, the company ousted Johnson's successor, John Browett, as head of its retail operations following a series of rare and embarrassing cockups. Initially, those missteps appeared to be largely operational, fomenting unrest and criticism among Apple Store employees: Freezing hiring and other moves intended to scale back payroll expenses, deferring facilities repairs. But new research from analytics firm ForeSee suggest that Browett's brief tenure at Apple may have had some negative effects on the customer-facing side of its retail operations as well. Could that really be the case?

According to Nielsen's "Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages" report, which surveyed more than 28,000 Internet respondents in 56 countries, 92 percent of consumers said they trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. From an ecommerce perspective, there are a number of benefits to using consumer-driven ratings and reviews. They provide reassurance to the customer during the decision making process, relieving them of insecurities they may otherwise have. They also help customers find products that best fit their needs and help guarantee a more satisfying shopping experience.

Fifteen container ports along the East and Gulf Coasts — stretching from Maine to Texas — will immediately shut down if an agreement isn't made between the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents dockworkers, and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents terminal managers. The two sides have been negotiating a new labor contract for months, with the assistance of federal mediators, but their talks recently broke down, signaling that a coastwide supply chain disruption is imminent. The last time these ports experienced a strike was 1977.

Wal-Mart's President and CEO Mike Duke appeared earlier this week at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations where he shed light on a range of topics that weren't fully captured by headlines and soundbites from the event. Duke was a participant in the organization's CEO speaker series where for an hour he was politely grilled by Bloomberg president and CEO Dan Doctoroff and took questions on a broad range of topics.

Avon Products Inc., the world’s largest door-to-door cosmetics seller, will cut about 1,500 jobs globally and exit South Korea and Vietnam as part of a plan to save $400 million by the end of 2015. The steps will result in pretax costs of about $80 million to $90 million, with $50 million to $60 million recorded in the fourth quarter, the company said yesterday. Chief Executive Officer Sheri McCoy, who took over in April, announced the cost-cutting goal last month and said she would lower the company's dividend as it works to recover from three years of declining profit.

Retailers added 465,500 seasonal workers in November, the most ever added during the holiday hiring season, according to an analysis of nonseasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Despite all of the uncertainty, all the talk of fiscal cliffs, the widespread damage to retail epicenters on the East Coast by Hurricane Sandy, and the continued growth of e-commerce, retailers are hiring holiday workers in record numbers," said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Coldwater Creek announced that Dennis Pence, its co-founder, chairman of the board and CEO, will retire as CEO effective Dec. 31. Commensurate with this announcement, Coldwater Creek's board of directors appointed the company's president and chief merchandising officer, Jill Brown Dean, as president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2013.

Protests by organized labor failed to materialize in a meaningful way at Wal-Mart stores over the weekend and the retailer went on to achieve record results. Heading into the weekend, groups supported by organized labor attempted to spoil Wal-Mart's plans by encouraging workers to walk off their jobs and stage protests at select stores. The union activities received considerable media exposure, but ultimately proved to be isolated and nondisruptive to sales.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has named former Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola executive Brian Kelley as its new president and CEO, effective Dec. 3. Kelley replaces Lawrence Blanford, who held the company's top spot since 2007 and announced his plans to retire in Feb. With Blanford at its helm, Green Mountain acquired Keurig, a manufacturer of single-cup coffee machines, in 2006, making it one of the fastest-growing U.S. companies. Although the company's market value increased five-fold with Blanford in charge, shares fell 41 percent this year.

Wal-Mart, like many other retailers, will be opening its doors extra early this Thanksgiving in the hopes of cashing in on deal-hungry shoppers. The retailer announced last week that rather than waiting until Friday, a day when retailers traditionally offer massive markdowns, Wal-Mart stores will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Some of their employees, however, are less than keen to head to work on the federal holiday.