Executive Profile: Marie Lacertosa

Volume 2, Issue 2 - 6/11/2009

Marie Lacertosa is the senior vice president of supply chain management for J.C. Penney Co. She is a member of RILA's Supply Chain Leaders Council and Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and recently served as the opening speaker at RILA's 2009 Women in Logistics Networking Workshop.

1. Tell me about your first job in retail.
My first job in retail was one summer while I was in college. I worked on the retail floor at Macy’s in the evening. It was there that I first experienced how important the customer is in the supply chain.

2. What excites you most about the field of supply chain?
The people who work for us and their untapped energy. When we ask our facilities to be able to flex to various flow needs, they do it. They are always willing to go that extra mile to get things done. It’s the people side of the business that makes it what it is.

3. What is the biggest challenge your supply chain department faces right now?
The biggest challenge is making the correct service-vs.-cost decisions as we move product through the supply chain. Saving money is not the point if we do not bring product to market in a timely manner or “fly” everything. So you need to develop the tradeoffs.

4. What new or recent trend will have the biggest impact on supply chain, and why?
If you read the surveys, most respondents say visibility to product moving within the supply chain is a key issue. This includes the source of the raw material to manufacture product, through delivery, to the ultimate customer. This visibility will enable all members of the supply chain -– manufacturers, retailers and carriers -- to make the appropriate cost/service decisions in order to serve the customer.

5. Who do you feel is the most influential person in the supply chain field, and why?
As I mentioned in a previous question, the Customer is the most influential person in the supply chain. Everything we do at JCPenney revolves around what we term CustomerFirst. It’s part of our corporate long range strategies, and the first strategy in our Logistics Long Range Plan. Within the Supply Chain we have both external customers and internal customers. But most importantly, we all serve the customer who shops through our stores, jcp.com and our catalogs.

6. What is your favorite quote?
It is an oft-told Cherokee tale. It’s about a grandfather who explains to his grandson that within every person are two wolves fighting – one the wolf of anger, resentment and fear, the other of caring, compassion, hope and love. The grandson asks which wolf wins and the grandfather answers, “The one you feed.”

7. What’s your favorite non-job-related pastime?
I love to garden; I enjoy my weekends when I spend time outdoors enjoying the warm weather and peacefulness. I have the pleasure of living next to a miniature horse ranchette, and nothing is more enjoyable than watching them graze while I putter in the garden.

8. What’s one thing your co-workers don’t know about you?
That my alter-ego would love to be an archaeologist. I love reading about the Crusades and the Middle Ages, so maybe when I retire I will go and dig up old villages.

9. What’s the last book you read? / What book are you reading now?
From a business perspective, the last book I have read is Unleashing Innovation, by Nancy Tennant Snyder and Deborah L. Duarte. A great book on how Whirlpool embedded sustainable innovation in their culture. The book I am reading now is Business Beyond the Box –Applying Your Mind for Breakthrough Results, by John O’Keefe.

10. If you could invite any four people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would you invite and why?
I would invite Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Lafayette. As I mentioned before, I love history, so this would be my ideal dinner party.

Bonus: Are you a dog, cat, bird or fish person?
A dog person -- we have four (4) Brittany Spaniels. Two are retired hunting dogs and two love to ‘flush’ birds.

Marie Lacertosa
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management
J.C. Penney