Summary of the Three Papers
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implementation_strategic_controls_and_contingency_plans.docTARGET CORPORATION 1
TARGET CORPORATION 2
Implementation, Strategic Controls, and Contingency Plans for Target Corporation
University of Phoenix
06/19/2015
Target Corporation
Implementation plan
Historically, Target Corporation has continued to pursue to have congruent capital base. Business analysts point out that without the adequate resources such as capital, the business might fail to achieve any of its set targets. However, with the required amount of capital, businesses can exercise advent growth since they have access to valuable business prospects. With reference to Target Corporation, presence of a large pool of capital has facilitated effective formulation of the policies set forth by the company (Target Corporation, 2015). With such a strategic amount of capital, the company has been able to acquire or develop certain capabilities which include being in a position to pay its debts, produce large quantities of products with high quality but selling at low prices hence giving the company an edge over its competitors.
Functional tactics and Action items
This corporation has a pertinent business model whereby it creates and delivers as well as captures the value for its customers. Thus, Target Corporation business model revolves around providing high quality products, low product prices, consideration for schools, communities, and promotion of artistic works. Intuitively, reliable sources suggest that unlike its competitors such as the Wal-Mart, people always welcome the opening of any new store for Target Corporation because of its zeal and passion for quality, durability, and reliability. This corporation enjoys a number of core competencies, which include but not limited to its well-entrenched culture of creativity and innovation (Rowley, 2003). Besides that, this company also enjoys other core competencies like its huge base of human capital that facilitates its success through innovation and formulation of the set company targets.
Milestones and a deadline
Target Corporation has a value proposition that revolves around its motto. In addition to having a strong financial base, Target Corporation also enjoys a value proposition based on innovation and creativity. Under this spectrum, the company creates value by offering quality products but with high quality to its customers, which in turn helps create a more valuable proposition for the business. Ideally, this value proposition is valuable to consumer segments that range from low to middle to high classes. This is so because, when any of these consumer segments resorts to buy products from Target Corporation, they get products of high quality at low process (Target Corporation, 2015). As such, they acquire value for their money and satisfaction from the quality of products purchased as opposed to how the situation would be if they shopped in another company whose products’ prices are high. Nevertheless, noting that this value proposition is more attractive to the low and middle class segment of consumers is substantial.
Resource allocation
Target Corporation has several resources and specific knowledge that it controls but its competitors do not have access to it yet. For instance, Target Corporation consumers are entitled to a free shipping of their products when they shop using the Target Corporation Credit or Debit Card. Furthermore, at Target Corporation, customers get 5 percent discount when they shop using their credit or debit card. Without a doubt, these are some of the resources controlled by the Target Corporation only, which gives it a competitive edge over its competitors. Apart from having a large financial base, Target Corporation also have other strategies that works better compared to its competitors. It has a culture based on regular practice whereby the group whose responsibility is to create a growth in the company’s financial outcome at the end of every fiscal year, continues to practice regularly the key strategies that can attain such objective.
Organizational change
Recent news have revealed that Target Company is now planning to narrow its focus area in order to endorse growth by allocating recommendable resources toward categories that seems to perform as expected. In addition to this, the management plans to focus on the corporation’s signature products. The management of the company points out that it cannot prioritize the entire categories at the same time. Therefore, some aggressive measures are required to uplift signature categories that will remain as the primary traffic drivers. It is foreseeable that Target Corporation has realized that it requires to make consumers’ shopping experienced more convenient in order make them gain trust and confidence with the company’s products. One of the company’s strategies is to concentrate on those departments that seem to capture the shopper’s attention and interest. As part of this strategy, the company’s management is planning to invest more and offer greater attention to children and infants fashion, products, furniture and wellness product categories (Target Corporation, 2015).
It is apparent that these categories attracted more customers to Target Corporation in the past. Thus, the management of the company expects investments into these categories in order to help the corporation turn around. It remains clear that Target Corporation does not plan to leave any of the categories. The company is diverting more resources towards its main segments. Furthermore, under the leadership of the company’s former CEO, the company adopted a culture of concentrating more on daily consumption products. On the other hand, the company’s categories which included fashion were sidelined. The company’s new CEO has done recommendable work of adopting the strategy of concentrating on signature categories with the aim of making old shoppers regain confidence with the company’s products. The new CEO is also searching for new ways that will position the company among urban shoppers, who usually like shopping at smaller-format stores.
Key success factors
Greater organizational success is achieved through performance management. The system allows the management to put in place measures and rewards that please the workforce. Improving morale and creating loyalty within the workforce through performance management is a key component for companies to outperform competition. Good performance measures provide ways for the management to see if the company strategy is working. Secondly, performance management measures are explicitly defined with reference to the unit of measure, collection of frequency, data quality, and threshold. For this reason, performance measures help in focusing the employees’ attention towards what matters most at the organization.
As an organization, the Target Corporation has put in place a number of performance management measurement and reward system to achieve its goals. The group’s work assessment system is one of the performance measures used by the company. Under this measure, the responsibilities for each of the white-collar position is measured and listed according to one’s contribution to company goals (Target Corporation, 2015). Another performance management measure used by Target Corporation is one based on target setting, evaluation, monitoring and planning meetings. In using this measure, the company targets to strengthen an atmosphere of mutual communication between the executives and the employees.
Forecast financials
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Break-even analysis
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The Budget
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Risk management plan
Despite the corporations overwhelming success, it is apparent that Target Corporation has remained effective at managing remarkable risk exposure throughout its history. For example, the economic crisis which occurred between 2008 and 2009 plunged businesses organizations into challenges. In addition, there are has been continued calls for business organizations to all sizes to have more robust enterprise-broad risk oversight. The management at Target Corporation has continued for search for different methods to hike the value of its risk oversight tireless efforts. The company has also continued to strengthen its risks focus which is associated with its strategic areas of focus.
Contingency Plan
For the last few decades, Target Corporation has embarked on effective negotiations which have proved to work. Evidently, this initiative has impacted this retail store in many ways, and some tangible benefits have come to realization. Effective negotiations incorporate several concepts which the retail corporation has implemented. It remains clear that buying goods and services requires some negotiating power though negotiating principles remains the same across all platforms (Rowley, 2003). Skilled negotiators in Target Corporation have learned several aspects of negotiating in order to meet their expectations. Several steps are deemed necessary in the negotiation process, and they catalyze the whole process positively. Notably, preparation appears as the first stage for effective negotiation process in which decisions dominates this step and both financial and non financial matters comes to the limelight. In this step, the best deal attracts some interest and consumers give it the first priority. Target Corporation has embarked on a mission of conducting thorough market research in order to ascertain the financial status of the consumers. This move has enabled the retail store to adjust the prices for some of its products and brands.
References
Rowley, L. (2003). On Target: How the world's hottest retailer hit a bullseye. Hoboken: J. Wiley.
