GAP INC. UNDER CEO PRESSLER
It is very easy and most common to blame the existing CEO for any problems a company has. Sometimes that blame is warranted and sometimes it isn't. In the case of Pressler as CEO of Gap, Inc. it is a toss-up. The company was in trouble long before Pressler took the reins in 2002. In fact, the board had ousted Drexler, former CEO who took the position of COO and president in 1983, before hiring Pressler, who came from the Walt Disney Co. (Sumyla, 2007). Pressler was an operations executive, not a design executive. That was no secret but it was that lack the board eventually fired him for. The Gap Corp is comprised of three companies: Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy, each of which is supposed to cater to a specific market segment. The company, in simple terms, lost its way but it began before Pressler became CEO (The Associated Press, 2007). Reports also indicate that the company kept going downhill during Pressler's tenure, which ended right after the last holiday season (The Associated Press, 2007). One retail analyst said: "It was a tough environment when Pressler arrived and things are even tougher now" (The Associated Press, 2007). The company did improve during Pressler's first 18 months on board (The Associated Press, 2007). One of the positive strategic moves Pressler made was to close unprofitable stores (The Associated Press, 2007). He also got the financial operations in order. All sectors in the fashion and retail apparel industries fluctuate in terms of good years and bad years (Popovec, 2007). Gap was no exception, its sales varied by year and by quarter. But, Gap's sales