Case Study: Working At Target Corporation

Introduction
I worked at Target Corporations couple years ago for about two years. It is one of the biggest leading retailers with an exceptional viewpoint and method of reaching their customers while presenting upscale product at affordable everyday price. While I worked for such a huge company it was a bit difficult to deal with the everyday shuffle of information, products, and customers. But working for Target, one will find an immense respect and a effort among co-workers. I will be explaining how the management at Target practices the five management functions: planning, leading, organizing, staffing and controlling, to the advantage of their company, employees, customers.
Planning
The goal of this big retail company is to constantly
19). “Target is a company that is remarkably open to outside inspiration while at the same time so top-down that the CEO personally interviews candidates for the top 600 positions and can identify a misplaced screw on a gazebo,” (Reingold, 2008). The attention to detail and willingness to step out of a corporate role to fulfill any needed requirements is what makes target employees stand out and is the essence of why the term team member is so vital to the entire operation. Target also employs a team of Targeteers who “scour cities from Boston to Bilboa looking for the next ‘in’ thing, be it color or a high-tech fabric,” (Branch, 1999). Perhaps the concept that makes Target stand out among competitors is the type of staff the company employs. The recruiting takes place on many levels, from scouring the globe for celebrities who are willing to produce a streamline product only for Target to a person walking in a brick and mortar location looking for a job; the staffing method is wide spread. The selection is different than any other retail chain because the organization of the company is not a simple up and down with one employee above another, but rather the selection must take into account the need for communication on a level that most are not accustomed to when
23). Target Corporation prides itself on the research and marketing front as one of the most diligent companies to know how to reach the customers and get the necessary information to ensure the goals of the company are met. For instance, Target has long used customer analytics to make marketing decisions and assess how successful the company is at reaching the prime Target consumer. “Target starts by analyzing its collection data to understand the needs of each customer,” while simultaneously studying marital status, age, gender, household income, occupation, and many other specific details about the consumers who frequent their locations (Corrigan, Craciun, & Powell, 2014). This form of data mining, while extremely controversial is also extremely beneficial to evaluating how well the company is reaching certain consumers and how well the company is performing. Aside from simple annual financial reports, the information gathered while data mining is what has launched the company and allowed the Target Corporation to tweak procedures and improve certain areas to continue making profit year after