...Targets Targets are good when managed properly. They have become the most trusted tool for managing the public sector in the UK. Once you have identified your key performance indictors and found the best way to measure them, you should then start to set performance targets. This will give everyone in your business an idea of the targets they need to aim for, individually and collectively, Advantages Good targets help to reveal an organization’s objective and/or the problem in a process or system. In cases where a feasible target has not been met, good measurement and management of time and resources should be applied. They act as the foundation for any project Disadvantages 1. When targets are set, they are automatically perceived to be of utmost importance, therefore, employees pay more attention to achieving them rather than doing the right thing (doing them well). 2. Targets only show part of the picture. According to Blastland and Dilnot, targets go wrong mainly because of an attempt to find one measurable thing to represent the whole. On the other hand, there is a tendency for the parts that are not being measured to do odd things. Example: Call centers * Agents often feel under pressure to meet targets such as queuing times, call duration, number of calls etc. Providing quality services whilst trying to stay within these constraints becomes a difficult task e.g., meeting targets and losing loyal customers. 3. Targets are subject to game playing...
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...PART I: Overview of the Corporation: The year 2012 marks Target’s 50th anniversary. In the years since the department store evolved, Target has “watched our innovations lead to retail revolutions, and our team, guests and partners build better communities where we live and work” (1). With a mission to “make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and exceptional guest experience,” (1) Target has become known as an upscale retail store that does in deed offer trendy, high quality merchandise at discount prices. They place a lot of focus on their brand promise, “Expect More, Pay Less,” in order to ensure customer satisfaction. “Expect more of everything. More great design, more choices and more designer-created items that you won’t find anywhere else. And pay less. Its as simple as that” (1). Target Corporation is guided by their commitment to great value, the community, diversity and the environment and this is held very close to their heart. In keeping with their “Expect More, Pay Less” promise, Target distinguishes itself from competitors by offering affordable yet upscale products. History: Target Corporations, formally known as the Dayton Corporation, was founded in 1902 by George Dayton. At the time of formation, the store was known for “Dependable merchandise, fair business practices and a generous spirit of giving” (1). Dayton had recognized opportunities for growth in this market and took...
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...Target Corporation The Dayton Company opened the doors of the first Target store in 1962. In 1965, the first Super Target store opened in Omaha, Nebraska, and in 2000, the parent company, Dayton Hudson, officially changed its name to Target Corporation. By 2005, Target had become a major retailing powerhouse with $52.6 billion in revenues from 1,397 stores in 47 states. For the Target, Wal-Mart and Costco are the two important competitors. 1、Wal-Mart operated store formats similar to Target, and most Target stores operated in trade areas where one or more Wal-Mart stores were located. Wal-Mart had become the dominant player in the retail industry. Much of Wal-Mart’s success was attributed to its “ everyday low price” pricing strategy. In addition to growing its top line, Wal-Mart had been successful in creating efficiency within the company and branching into products lines that offered higher margins that many of its commodity type of products. 2、Costco, on the other hand, attracted a customer base that overlapped closely with Target’s core customers. But Costco used a membership-fee format. It provided discount pricing for its members in exchange for membership fees. Over the previous five years, sales excluding membership fees had experienced compound growth of 10.4%, while membership fees had grown 14.6% making the fees significant growth source and highly significant to operating income in a low-profit-margin business. A precondition for effective capital budgeting...
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...Our group, upon much deliberation, decided to conduct our research on the Target Corporation. This decision was based partially on the interesting class presentation done by one of its Wisconsin store managers, and also a genuine interest in the company. We have all been to a Target store or one very similar in our lives. A great number of Americans shop there on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, purchasing anything from a loaf of bread to a flat screen television. The broadness of its product and the way they conduct their business is what first appealed to our group. Digging deeper, we found that Target is more than just convenient shopping and friendly service. They are a multi-million dollar corporation that hasn't forgotten about their community or their employees. Target Corporation was founded in 1902, though it was not known as Target Corp. at the time. George Dayton opened Goodfellows in downtown Minneapolis, which remains at the same location today. In 1903 the company changed their name to Dayton Dry Goods Company. This name did not last long either as it was shortened in 1910 to The Dayton Company. In 1946 The Dayton Company began a tradition of giving 5% of their profit back to the communities and continues to do so today. In 1953 The Dayton Company adopted a new logo cutting out the word "company", and just having the word Dayton's as the new logo. In 1954 Hudson's was opened in Detroit Michigan by J.L Hudson who opened the store in Northland Center, the largest shopping...
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...Target: Missing the Bullseye in Canada Target Corp. was founded in 1902 as the Dayton Dry Goods Company and has now become the second largest discount retailer in the United States. Over the past decade, it has continuously discussed the possibility of an aggressive entry into Canada. In 2013, Target turned this discussion into a reality by acquiring the lease agreements of Zellers and rebranding the stores. The grand opening was met with immediate enthusiasm and was a highly publicized event. However, six months into Target’s official opening of its current 82 stores, the excitement quickly diminished and has instead translated into a dramatic $374M loss. More importantly, the company needs to realize that its Canadian expansion has more than just financial implications, but it may also be demonstrating to valuable investors that it is incapable of being an international company and has reached the maturity stage of its growth cycle. Note: There was an IBR article called “On Target” in 2011 regarding the feasibility of this expansion. There is absolutely no overlapping of content in any sense; this article will strictly discuss potential strategic alternatives in the current situation at Target. Although unintentional, Target created great expectations for itself amongst Canadians upon its announcement of entering the country. Since entry however, it has not lived up to these expectations and Canadians have largely been disappointed by Target’s performance. A survey showed that...
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...include your name and student number, does not count as a page. A deduction of 10% will apply if your assignment is more than 10 pages long. For additional advice on how to complete this assignment, refer to the Preparing Assignments page (a link is also provided in the Evaluation block on the course homepage). Read the case “Target: From ‘Expect More’ to ‘Pay Less’” on pages 103 to 105 of the textbook and prepare answers to the questions below. Do not answer the questions at the end of the case in the textbook. Question 1 (20 marks) Identify four actors in the microenvironment that have affected Target’s performance over the past few years. Over the past few years there have been many actors that have affected Targets Performance, the four major ones are, Competitors, Customers, Publics and The Companies Operations. The first major Actor in Target’s microenvironment is the Competitors. When the economic crisis hit in 2008 Target lost market share to its major competitor Walmart. The reason for this Loss was because Walmart positioned themselves in the marketplace as always having low prices on their products, whereas Target positioned themselves as having better brands than Walmart. In this case Walmart as the competitor is a major actor in Target’s microenvironment kick starting a change in philosophy to a more of a Pay less side of things. The second major actor is the customers. When the crisis hit it caused the customers to have a more “frugal” approach...
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...UVA-F-1563 Rev. Jan. 22, 2013 TARGET CORPORATION On November 14, 2006, Doug Scovanner, CFO of Target Corporation, was preparing for the November meeting of the Capital Expenditure Committee (CEC). Scovanner was one of five executive officers who were members of the CEC (Exhibit 1). On tap for the 8:00 a.m. meeting the next morning were 10 projects representing nearly $300 million in capital-expenditure requests. With the fiscal year’s end approaching in January, there was a need to determine which projects best fit Target’s future store growth and capital-expenditure plans, with the knowledge that those plans would be shared early in 2007, with both the board and investment community. In reviewing the 10 projects coming before the committee, it was clear to Scovanner that five of the projects, representing about $200 million in requested capital, would demand the greater part of the committee’s attention and discussion time during the meeting. The CEC was keenly aware that Target had been a strong performing company in part because of its successful investment decisions and continued growth. Moreover, Target management was committed to continuing the company’s growth strategy of opening approximately 100 new stores a year. Each investment decision would have long-term implications for Target: an underperforming store would be a drag on earnings and difficult to turn around without significant investments of time and money, whereas a top-performing store would add value both financially...
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...discount department beside target and Walmart stores which sell the same or very similar products such as Costco, Kmart as well as dollar stores. Target competes directly against them. Because Target and these companies have similar portions of market share, each company wants to become the market leader, and as a result, competition get higher. Several factors contribute to intense rivalry in this industry. Due to Target’s broad product mix, many sellers sell similar or identical items. Although the big discount retailers are few in number, there is no collusion. Wal-Mart, the industry leader, is known for its aggressive price competition and low operating costs relative to other retailers. Buyers have little to no cost of switching from one competitor to the other. Firms can adjust their prices quickly, and these prices are often advertised so they are easily observable. It is relatively easy for customers to shop around for the best price. Target’s strategy has been to position itself as a higher- quality, fun and chic alternative to discount stores. Rather than compete strictly on price, Target focuses on competing on value. this strategy has helped Target cultivate its unique brand image and build customer loyalty . However, Wal-Mart has begun to show signs of upgrading its quality. Target seeks to differentiate the Target shopping experience overall from Wal-Mart by offering higher quality, stylish products. In the other hand, some of target products and other food items are...
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...Wolf 1 Target is Making Gains Target is a Minneapolis-based retail chain in the United States that has over 1,700 stores with plans to open some in Canada starting in 2013 (Wohl). Target has tried to compete with Wal-mart, the largest retailer, with their “cheap chic” clothing and household items. In order to keep up with the times and grow their customer base, Target is utilizing social media, college campuses and making connections with a popular Italian designer along with adding a grocery department to their stores. Target reported a $555 million profit from their third quarter, which is up $20 million from this time last year (Talley). They are having a slow start to the Christmas season as far as toys are concerned due to Wal-mart bringing back the layaway program after five years for toys and electronics. College campuses have become one large marketing campaign for many retailers from American Eagle to Hewlett Packard to Target. College students spent $36 billion on items like clothing, computers and cell phones during the 2010-11 school year (Singer). Target is permeated 66 universities and colleges in 2011 with a private shopping event that they have created for college freshman. Target started this tradition at the University of North Carolina in 2007 and it has been a hit. Target student representatives wear red t-shirts that say “COLLEGE” punctuated by Target’s bull’s eye logo (Singer). Target sponsors a welcome dinner on the Friday of the first weekend and...
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...Target SWOT Strengths One of the strongest features about Target is that the consumer enjoys being there. There store is always clean and the way it is set up is so aesthetically pleasing it's as if each shelf were specifically shelved just for you. Even the setup of the store is maneuverable and the bright colors draw you into the store. What makes the experience even better is that there are great deals here. Things are cheap which is not so expected from a place that is so nice. Since this is still a mass merchandising place there are things from clothing to electronics. The way the aisles are set up too makes it easier to shop. Another thing that is great about Target is that they focus on design. They always have designers come in to work on a product for Target alone. This just proves that there is a great product here for a great price. These designs vary from home décor, to clothing to electronics. It's all about beautiful design at target. Weaknesses With their much strength also come some weaknesses. One of them is that they do not have as many stores as their competitor Wal-Mart. Even with Target's great advertising, it makes it difficult for the consumers to shop here when there aren't that many around. Another weakness with target is that although their prices are low, they just aren't as low as Wal-Mart's prices. AS a matter of fact, compared to Wal-Mart's prices, Target may even seem expensive. Another problem with Target is that they keep a low overhead of...
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...TARGET CORPORATION Executive Summary Target Corporation is the second largest retailer in the U.S. with over 1700 Target and Super Target stores. Targets around the country offer everything from household essentials to computer software to groceries, and sell many of their products under private label brands. In addition to their retail segment, the company also offers credit and debit cards to its frequent shoppers. In 2002 the Minneapolis-based Target Corporation became the United States second largest discount retailer behind Wal-Mart. Target has transformed its signature bulls-eye logo into a lifestyle symbol. The bulls-eye is recognized by 96% of American consumers and considered a brand icon. We analyze company's capital investment decisions. Their accounting disclosures and overall financial performance based on Darden School of Foundation’s case study. According to case there are 10 capital investment project $300 million in capital expenditure request. Five of the projects representing about $200 million in requested capital, would demand the greater part of the committee’s attention and discussion time during the meeting. The company is highly successful at promoting its brand awareness with large advertising campaigns its advertising expenses for fiscal 2005 were $1.0 billion or about 2% of sales and 26.6% of operating profit. Target executives do for the customer shopping experience, Target offered credit to qualified customers through its REDcards, Target...
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...Target Case Study Problem Statement and Objectives: Just like any major corporation, Targets’ push toward diversity is a work in progress. The current operational direction is not congruent within the diversity plan, specifically the areas of product, as being the most important, followed by marketing, customers, team members within the community. The significance of the problem in terms of strategic marketing to the firm is that Target’s merchandise and product offerings are not congruent with its diversity plan. Situation Analysis: Strengths Strong brand awareness. Exclusive partnerships with named designer labels. Donates huge amount of profits to charities. Higher quality and innovative products than is found in competitor big box stores. Celebrity endorsements in advertising programs Weaknesses Emphasis upon quality makes their products more expensive than competitors. No stores in Vermont Lawsuits which tarnish the firm’s reputation. Low global presence Opportunities Global expansion Expand presence online. Expand targeted consumers by diversification Threats Online retailers i.e. Amazon Tough competition with discount retailers such as Walmart Shifts in economy that may push customer to other competitors High rates of employee turnover Dependent on US market The Target Corporation is a strong brand name. It is the 2nd largest general merchandise retailer in America. The red and...
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...students, and businesses. 4. Messages: Target wants to offer low prices, quality, and variety to everyone that shops there even without a rewards card. A: Key message: Target does contribute to the local schools, charities, and the community as well as do whatever possible to be an environmentally friendly store. B: Supporting messages: Target has a passion for corporate social responsibility. Target will remain passionate about sustaining the strength of their reputation and the health of the communities it serves, these goals will be essential in continuing Targets success. Target not only donates money to these good causes but they also donate their time to volunteer where their help is needed 5. Talking Points: Targets has always been a leader in helping the communities and by giving back to the community they continue to build their respect in their customers and communities that they have stores. A: Likely issues or questions: Is Target contributing to its community but not using that image to continue their increasing profits. What are some of the fundraisers that Target contributes to and are they being bias in the decision to choose a fundraiser. B: Associated talking points: Target continue to provide their customers with one of the highest shopping experiences that they can offer. They will continue to offer this high standard in every store and implement to their associate to continue those standards. 7. Tactics: Target has many stores, they deal with a vast...
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...Analysis of the Target Corporation Report by Valanium Analysts: Kaleb Adams, Liza Debus, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Ken Khouri, Chuck Pearlman Investment Recommendation: MARKET PERFORMER TGT – NYSE (11/30/01) 52 Week Range 2000 Revenue Market Capitalization Shares Outstanding Dividend Yield Avg. Daily Trading Volume Book Value per Share (mrq) Return on Equity (ttm) Return on Assets (ttm) Est. 5-Yr Growth of EPS Industry: Retail $36,903M $33,800M 901.7M 0.59% 3.67M $7.76 19.28% 6.26% 15% EPS Forecast EPS Ratios P/E Forward PEG M/B 1999A $1.28 2000A $1.40 TGT 27.01 1.80 4.84 2001E $1.48 2002E $1.69 12/03/01 Competitor Average 13.28 1.96 4.02 $37.54 $57.46 $43.52 $31.27 $11.03 $16.92 $43.63 12 mo 26 % -14% 24 mo -8% 18% Valuation Predictions Actual Current Price Forward P/E Valuation Forward PEG Valuation M/B Valuation EBO (Abnormal Earnings) Valuation DCF Valuation P/S Valuation Performance of TGT Trailing TGT Relative to S&P500 6 mo -0.1% -10% • • • • • • Target operates in the discount retail industry in its Target stores but also attracts fashion minded customers through its Marshall Field’s and Mervyn’s stores. Target uses it Super Target model as its growth engine and funds this with cash flows from its Mervyn’s operations. Target has also recently partnered with Amazon to develop its online sales and fulfillment. The overall retail industry is growing at 3.8% and is competitive. Those players who can aggressively manage costs are the market leaders. Indicators suggest...
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...Target: “From More” to “Pay Less” Gregory Tatum Saint Leo University Target: “From More” to “Pay Less” The central problem for Target is maintaining their goal of affordable prices against a weakening economy and competitors who have an advantage over them when it comes to price. Target got a shock during the 2008 economic slump. Consumers are supposed to "expect more, pay less" at Target. But during the slump, shoppers clearly opted for "always low prices" at Wal-Mart, the retail giant's old marketing tagline. Although there are several facts of relevance to the case, the glaring one was the urgency in solving the problem. Some people have always said, “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” To put it simply, Target is looking to the Wal-Mart model, lots of consumables at discount prices, to help it hold off any serious decreases in profit. Chasing other retailers to low prices is a mistake as it is a battle that Target cannot win in. Target has spent years building its image as a cleaner, trendier, and generally more pleasant shopping experience than its competitors. This image has had immeasurable advantages in the marketplace. The inherent danger of beginning to focus on price is that consumers may perceive less of a difference between Target and its competitors. This would tarnish Target’s brand image and eat away at the tremendous brand equity that it has spent decades establishing. By moving to a focus on price...
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