(Long explanation incoming....)
As someone who is looking at this from a neutral point of view I can understand both sides. In one hand I think that everyone deserves to be informed about what's going on and the risk involved when it comes to working at sears. Especially if you depend on your job to support your family. Its the least they could do right?..On another hand I can understand why management wants to keep this information to themselves to reduce the level of chaos and unrest. The level of unrest in the company is already pretty high even if a lot of the management ignores it since it's easier to ignore it over and over than to address it over and over. Adding to it would solve nothing. You would only lose the remaining bits of order that remain and that would progress the company down the path of bankruptcy even faster.
"Ignorance is bliss" almost perfectly sums of what they're trying to do. Governments of the world do this all the time (although I won't get too far off into a tangent.) The issue now is the fact that the problems have become to big to hide. Everyone knows what's happening. The media knows. Your customers know. You're managers and upper management all know. And that makes all of your problems worse, not better.
The media crucifies sears every chance it gets. Your customers no longer bother to shop there because of all the rumors and they especially don't want your service plans, the bread and butter of your company. Management stops caring and start doing the bare minimum because it doesn't matter anyway. Your fellow associates stop caring and they do the bare minimum because it doesn't matter anyway. No one wants to work for you because it's no longer considered stable so you get the bottom of the barrel workers...who never cared to begin with. And the remaining people who once cared are leaving and/or they quit caring as well.
You were told not to be negative because negative doesn't help your situation. Sears management isn't the best at giving direction in the most professional way... at least from what I saw when I worked there, but I can understand the main idea they were probably trying to get across. The people who spread negativity then leave only make those around them miserable, especially those who can't leave for whatever reason.
Hopefully that was a more "professional" explanation for you.
I guess I should add that I don't work for sears any longer. I don't , and never have worked in upper management. I do sort of manage projects in another field though so I think I see what they're trying to do..as useless as it may be at this point.
Originally posted by @OpZxZt0-gjn, bumped for good analysis.