Imagine you are a manager/executive - would you rather be the manager of a stable happy ship, or would you rather be a manager on the Titanic while it's sinking?

A sinking ship needs a better captain than a stable ship.

A big company needs executives whether you like it not, and they need to attract experienced executives who can properly manage the business.

The executives they have now needs to be paid well to make sure the bankruptcy process goes as smoothly as possible and return maximum value to shareholders.

Sure JC Penny could piss off their execs by saying "sorry, because we are going bankrupt, no bonuses for you".

Hearing that, any decent exec would leave and this sinking ship. That would cause JC Penny to have a total chaotic bankruptcy process, which would likely make the business lose a lot more money.