Theodore Houser, a former CEO of Sears wrote a book, "Big Business and Human Values". The book is really worth reading because the contrast between Houser and

Theodore Houser, a former CEO of Sears wrote a book, "Big Business and Human Values". The book is really worth reading because the contrast between Houser and Lambert (and most all CEOs now) is striking. I think just the title of his book demonstrates how different capitalism is now in comparison to Houser's day. "Human Values" is not something we hear CEOs or financial talking heads speak of much anymore. (Has Jim Cramer ever used that phrase?) I will point out that Arthur Martinez did help bring Sears back to a customer centric business model in the mid-90s but he missed the boat when the internet came into the mix. Sears was perfectly positioned to become what Amazon is now and they did almost nothing to move on it. Hard to imagine anyone rising up the corporate ranks like Houser did these days. I can't think of a single example that compares to it. I think it would be interesting to review Sears fall from the top from that perspective because I suspect we'd probably see their decline began when they stopped promoting CEOs from within their own ranks. That changed the focus from their customers to their investors, and that's why they're where they are today.