The purpose of the HR core activities project is to analyze the student’s articulation of key HR activities (CLOs/ULOs). The project is due week 8; however, the assignment contents will be referenced
Target – One of the Highest Leading Retailers 12 Target – One of the Highest Leading Retailers Andrea Lewis HR491 Park University February 28, 2021 Company Overview Target is a general merchandise retailer with stores all over the United States. In this paper, I intend to provide a SWOT analysis to explain Target’s current position in the market. According to www.corporate.target.com, 75% of the U.S. population lives with just 10 miles of a Target store. The very first Target opened in 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is also where they are now headquartered. Brian Cornell is the current CEO and has been since August 2014 and in 2018, Target had a total revenue of $75.4 billion (All About Target). In addition to the U.S., Target also has one global capabilities center in Bangalore, India as well as over a dozen sourcing offices around the world and they have roughly 368,000 employees globally. Organizational Culture Target has built a very successful business as well as a successful business culture that really gives them a competitive advantage. Values, norms and ethics are what builds the company culture environment and Target has done an excellent job or providing three sound pillars for their culture. One thing that really helps their business culture is the fact that they let employees give their input. Target stated that they “stay ahead in today’s ultra-competitive retail market by challenging themselves to become more efficient and more intelligent, providing customers with the best shopping experience possible. The employees are encouraged to communicate their ideas and seek new ways to solve problems (Culture: Working at Target Target Corporate). The fact that they encourage employees to provide their feedback is a huge thing for the company culture. There are so many companies out there that do not welcome employee feedback, which can often cause frustration and ultimately bring down morale. Target progresses their values through cooperative, coaching beliefs devotion to their customers. Target culture has diverse experiences, different viewpoints and background. The company also focuses strongly on building relationships with minority suppliers and women-owned vendors. (Target Purpose, Beliefs & Stories Behind Them | Target Corporate) Technology also has a huge impact on how customers and companies interact with one another. One way that Target does that is data mining, they use this to help meet the customers demands. Data mining helps Target find improvement opportunities for customer growth and their inventory choices. By using data mining, it helps Target enhance busienss ideas while reducing costs at the same time. Data mining also helps identify with customers, calculate future trends and promote the company’s value. Competitive Advantage Target focuses on communicating to all of their customers, which is part of what gives them a competitive advantage. Some examples of this are advertising, public relations, differentiation, cost leadership and broad focus. Target focuses strongly on competitive advantage and tries to make themselves greater than the competitions by taking into consideration not only their products, but their services as well. The company keeps up to date technology to maintain productivity in the market. The company stays informed on the competition and their target market therefore improving their competitive advantage. I can think of multiple times where Target has released a sale ad right before or right after a competitor with the same or better deals on it. Here are some additional ways that Target stays on top of their competitive advantage: They use marketing and media for price adjustments to fulfill consumer needs. They offer discount coupons to customers because their prices are a little higher than some competitors. The company has also established the price match rule, meaning if someone walks in with a competitors ad with a lower price, they will match it. Target uses “Expect More, Pay Less” to draw customers to the store. They focus on pricing and value to enhance the company’s competitiveness Target offers customers a choice to have a Red Card as well which can be a store debit or credit card depending on the customers preference. Target started the Red Card loyalty program in 2010 and in 2011, it became extremely popular with millions of accounts being created because a 5% discount on almost every purchase can be received with Red Card use. In 2012, Target announced free shipping on the website with Red Card use and in 2013, they announced that Red Card customers can have an extra 30 days to return items. Target has achieved a very strong relationship with their customers and continue to attract new ones as well. Overall, I would say that Target has gained an advantage over the competitors due to all the steps they’ve taken anticipating customer needs. Changing Management and Market Strategies In the world of business, management objective and leadership style changes often. Leadership styles reveal the approach managers are using to carry out their responsibility. In any type of business, management will assist with training and inspiring employees to meet the company goals. Management leadership styles also have a major factor in the overall performance of the company. For example, if the leadership style is received poorly, chances are performance will not look good. If the leadership style is received well, performance will go up. Target has a great example of how leadership change helped gain an advantage in the market. In 2013, there was a massive hack on Target’s system where over 70 million customers credit and debit card information was stolen. Target suffered a pretty significant loss in sales after that. Due to the data breach, CEO Gregg Steinhafel resigned and Brian Connell replaced him in 2014. Connell was the first CEO recruit from outside of the company. In 2015, Target decided to move their attention toward the food business and sold their pharmacies to CVS allowing Target a huge savings on healthcare costs. By re-working their priorities, they were able to earn back their customers trust without going bankrupt or severely struggling financially. Target also adapted new marketing strategies to benefit the company’s management change. Eric Bobolinks, group manager for customer’s data and analytical services for Target Corporation, stated, “They plan from the top to the bottom, using macro and micro views of the store.” (Hauss, 2010). Target’s transformation roadmap is to take a channel-agnostic approach to increase profits, which will grow the business. For example, offering discounts for cell phone users doing online shopping. By changing their view point on technology and choose to increase it, they simplify customers lives and inspire them to shop at Target. Target stores can deal with constant change by anticipating the next popular trend. For example, staying ahead of the competitions and dictate sales trends to reach a lot of consumers. Marketing strategies allow the organization to bring popular trends to customers. The changes can carry Target into being a leading retailer in product and store designs. Again, this allows Target an increase in their competitive advantage. Diversity Management Creativity and diversity bring life into companies and address a very important role in society. Creativity and diversity can also fill customer demand by creating jobs, helping the needs of the community and overall improving the quality of life in the area. People communicate in languages, and communication is the key to success. In the world of business, it is extremely important to communicate properly. Target has engaged in a number of ways in their communities. They have innovative programs, volunteer opportunities and sponsorships (Diversity & Inclusion). For example, Target has build a very diversified culture, they use job fairs, partnerships with other agencies like Management Leadership for Tomorrow, national Society of Hispanic MBAs, the National Black MBA Association and Reaching out MBA (Diversity & Inclusion). Compensation and Benefits Targets has a great compensation benefits package to support top talents and bring in new talent. Target has benefits available for almost every walk of life. Target provides medical, dental and vision insurance for their employees, spouses and children and the dental plan 100% covers preventative care. Target also has a Team Member Life resource for their employees and families. The program allows employees and family members free confidential counseling that is available 24/7. The get five free counseling sessions per issue, per year which is a wonderful benefit in my opinion. The program is developed to assist with life changes like dealing with stress, grief, anxiety or depression. The Team Member Life resource can also help with weight and exercise improvement. Target also has a reward program to encourage healthy behavior. The company focuses strongly on employee health. For example, checking for heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, etc. The program is available online to assist with setting life goals as well. The company also offers free maternity support programs that give resources 24/7. Employee and family members also have a nurse line that they can contact at any time to get health questions answered. In total, Target offers their employees a 401(k) and a pension plan, life insurance for themselves and their families, home loans, tax preparation, cell phone plans, vacation, tuition reimbursement and medical insurance (Employee Benefits: Financial Well-Being| Target Corporate). It seems that Target really does care about their employees and offers them good benefits that will help them even after they are no longer working for the company. Recruitment and Selection Target focuses on recruiting and retaining skilled employees. They have a wide pay range and benefits package to attract those skilled workers too. Only as a whole can Target reach their mission, value, goal and objective. Target has several departments that have to work together to be successful in having an organization culture. The company has been able to successfully accomplish its diversity goals through recruitment strategies and dedication to their employees, customers and the environment. Target conducts internal diversity in the workplace (Employee Benefits: Financial Well-Being| Target Corporate). Understanding customers is an important part of recruitment and selection too. By understanding the customers, it can improve training, data analysis and focus the talent that Target wants to hire. SWOT Anaylsis Target Strengths Price positioning adjusted to customer behavior and reinforced through value and marketing. Differenctiation through strong merchandise assortments. Well established presence in the United States. Red Card rewards loyalty program. Target Weakness Dependence on vendors located in foreign consumer countries. Data breach instances could make customer confidence suffer. Target Opportunities Strong presence in e-commerce and innovations in m-commerce will increase revenues. Increasing acceptance of private label merchandise. Focus on expansion in the United States. Target Threats Increase in product selection and competition in the online market may cause decline. Increase workforce wages and healthcare costs. Target focuses very much on leadership strategies and differentiation in the market. The organization also focuses on obtaining new customers as much as they do maintaining the current customers. Target cares about diversity and a safe environment for the customers and their employees. They also care about having healthier and more trendy products then the competition. References All about Target: Target corporation fact sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://corporate.target.com/about Culture: Working at Target | Target Corporate. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/careers/culture Diversity & Inclusion. Target Corporate. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility/diversity-inclusion Employee Benefits: Financial Well-Being| Target Corporate. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits/financial-benefits Employee Benefits, Fringe Benefits, Perks | Target Corporate https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits Employee Health Benefits: Medical, Dental, More | Target Corporate. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits/health-benefits Flores, T. (2016). How many stores does target have worldwide? March 3,2017. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/How-many-stores-does-target-have-worldwide Hauss, D. (January 21, 2010). Target Uses Guest Intelligence to Drive Marketing Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/retail-store-ops/402-target-uses-guest-intelligence-to-drive-marketing-strategies.html Management Leadership for Tomorrow: Home Page. Retrieved from https://ml4t.org/ Prospanica. (2016). The National Society of Hispanic MBAs Becomes Prospanica as part of Rebranding Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-national-society-of-hispanic-mbas-becomes-prospanica-as-part-of-rebranding-initiative-300218925.html Target Global Locations: USA, Canada, India | Target Corporate. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/careers/global-locations Target Purpose, Beliefs & Stories Behind Them | Target Corporate. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/about/purpose-beliefs Target through the years. Retrieved February 23,2017 from https://corporate.target.com/about/history/Target-through-the-years