Sears Holdings hires turnaround specialist as chief administrative officer

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Sears Holdings announced Monday that James Andrew has joined the company in the new role of chief administrative officer. In this position he will be responsible for the company's corporate support functions, including financial planning and analysis, business finance, procurement, legal and human resources.

 

"Jim is a proven executive with deep expertise leading business performance improvement, corporate strategy and delivering on key objectives," said Edward Lampert, Sears Holdings' chairman and CEO. "His range and depth of experiences managing corporate transformations and capability development makes him a strong fit for Sears Holdings as we pursue our member-focused transformation."

 

Andrew comes to Sears Holdings from Royal Philips, where as an EVP and the chief strategy and innovation officer. He played a central role in the multi-year transformation of Philips' performance, productivity and capability development. He was responsible for the company's business and market growth strategies and annual planning. Andrew also led the company's digital transformation and a major repositioning of Philips' portfolio, among many other accomplishments.

 

Prior to Philips, Andrew spent 25 years with The Boston Consulting Group, where he most recently served as a senior partner and managing director. At BCG he consulted with Fortune 250 companies across a wide range of industries on business performance improvement, corporate strategy, portfolio composition and shareholder value creation and growth. Andrew also established BCG's Innovation Practice and served as its global leader for many years, providing organizations with support on product development, speed, innovation strategy, portfolio management and resource allocation.

 

Andrew has served as a charter member of the USA's National Advisory Committee for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and is the lead author of "Payback: Reaping the Rewards of Innovation," selected as a "Top 10 Innovation Book" of the year by Bloomberg Businessweek. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois.