I don’t know much about the situation with J.C. Penney, but I think this statement is true for all organizations: The problem with J.C. Penney is that it serves no compelling customer purpose — and neither did Borders. It doesn’t have an aspiration for winning — just for improving from the current pathetic state. 
This is good too…
Investments in improvements without a clear definition of strategy are simply a waste, whether or not the CEO came from a company with an awesome strategy or not. The only competitor against which the ‘new J.C. Penney’ is actually advantaged is the ‘old J.C. Penney’.