Corporate Level Strategy
The mission of Target is to make "Target the preferred shopping destination for their guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling their Expect More. Pay Less.® brand promise." Target wants to be the top competitor in the retail market, so in order to achieve that status they set many goals for themselves. Target defines goals as corporate responsibility. As of 2012, they say they want to, "continue our commitment to environmental sustainability, responsible sourcing, strong, healthy and safe communities, being a great place to work, and our legacy of giving and service." Target believes that their work toward their goals can help create a brighter future for their team members, their communities and the world we live in. According to Target's goals & progress report, Target's main focuses are on four areas, environment, team member well-being, education, and volunteerism.
Environment
- increase sustainable seafood selection
- increase organic food offerings
- improve owned-brand packaging sustainability
- improve transportation efficiencies: inbound/outbound
- Being environmentally friendly
Team member well-being
- increase health assessments
- increase biometric health screenings
- increase breast, cervical, and colon cancer screenings
- increase diabetes HbA1C testing compliance
- increase use of financial tools
Education
- double education support
- increase Take Charge of Education (TCOE) program giving
- increase reading proficiency
Volunteerism
- increase volunteer hours
The corporate strategy of Target is growth. Their strategy is to expand their company internationally, which creates a more competitive advantage and to increase market share. The pro of this strategy is that Target stays competitive with their competition and expanding will also increase profit. Their are many risks involved to expanding internationally. For instance currency differentiation can lead to unexpected currency fluctuation which could destroy your profits, but can also produce a windfall. The relative strength of the U.S. dollar against the currencies in the countries you supply can make your products and services expensive or inexpensive. Another risk is that different countries have different laws so what might be legal in one country is illegal in another, this could cause problems for the business.
Target corporation line of business is retail and according to wikipedia, they own several subsidiaries which include:
- Financial and Retail Services (FRS): issues the Target REDcard which is a credit card. It is issued through Target National bank for consumers and through Target Bank for businesses. The FRS also oversees Gift card balances.
- Target Sourcing services (TSS): this is a global sourcing organization that locates merchandise from around the world for Target and helps them import the merchandise to the United States.
- Target Commercial Interiors: provides design services and furniture for office space.
- Target Brands: owns and oversees the company's private label products, such as Archer Farms, Market Pantry, Sutton & Dodge, premium meat line, Trutech, and Up & Up. The Bullseye Dog, design and "Target" are registered trademarks of Target Brands.
- Target.com: owns and oversees the company's e-commerce initiatives.
Target has mainly build from within to increase its growth, but have recently seen the opportunity to buy with recent acquisitions. To increase their online growth Target made its first buys on the e-commerce front by acquiring Chefs Catalog and assets of Cooking.com which are both sites selling kitchen accessories and cookware in brands from Kitchen-Aid to Cuisinart. Target has also acquired the DermStore Beauty Group. This acquisition expands Target's online beauty market.
(Source# 8,9,10,11)