Target Corporation

Nearly everyone is at least somewhat familiar with Target stores; the famous bullseye logo is identifiable all across the United States. With the motto “Expect More, Pay Less”, the company suggests that customers can expect more of everything, at more reasonable prices.1 Target’s commitment to the consumer, as well as it’s employment consideration and management style led Fortune Magazine to name it as one of the Most Admired Companies in 2005.

The Target Corporation prides itself on their department store roots with a constant obligation to great prices and stylish originality. The main focus of every Target store is the customer, whom the corporation refers to as a “guest”, making them feel more personal. Each guest can expect to walk into a clean, organized, and easy to navigate store with “high quality, stylishly designed items plus all the essentials for his or her life”.1 The company also has a significant focus on design. The company employs a “design for all” strategy that says great design is for everyone to enjoy, everyday. The product designers know how to create products you will “love to live with and low prices you can’t live without”.1 The commitment to design has become a key technique of attracting and keeping their shoppers coming back.

Founded in 1962 by George Dayton of the Dayton Corporation, the first store was opened in Roseville, Minnesota, and served as the prototype for all Target stores opened since then and changed how consumers thought about discount shopping.1 Each store was designed with the customer in mind; the founders of Target realized that the appeal of clean, organized, and well-designed stores would set them apart from all others in the industry. In every store, related departments are conveniently placed next to each other. In 2000 the company was renamed the Target Corporation and now has over 1300 stores in 47 states, including more than 140 SuperTarget stores, as well as a consumer-friendly website. Many stores now have a pharmacy and Club Wedd and Target Baby gift registries. SuperTarget stores even have a separate side devoted to groceries. The corporation also offers the Target Visa Credit Card and the Target REDcard, which is a credit card that can only be used in Target stores or through the website.

The Target Corporation is also very involved in the communities where they are located. Each store is committed to making the communities where they are located better places to live; approximately 5% of all pretax profits go back to the community. They encourage their employees to volunteer and donate to charities. In 2005, Target employees and retirees volunteered over 315,000 hours to more than 7,000 community projects.2 The company has created programs like Take Charge for Education, which donates 1% of each REDcard purchase to the school of the cardholders’ choice. Through the program, over $183 million has been raised for schools since 1997. The company has also teamed up with the Tiger Woods Foundation and created Start Something, which encourages children in the communities to build individual character as they identify and achieve their goals. They also offer scholarships, field trip grants, and programs designed to encourage individual reading and involvement in the arts. In all, the corporation gives back over $2 million a week to the communities they serve for education, the arts, and the social services; including the American Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army, and domestic violence and child abuse hotlines. As Newsweek states, “helping the needy is as important to its corporate character as its class-meets-mass marketing philosophy”.2 The company also prides itself in promoting reuse and recycling programs for the environment. Stores are now being built with energy-efficient lighting and equipment, and some new stores are being built as “green stores” designed to help lessen the impact on the eco-system and the environment where they are located.1

Target Corporation has many important human resource policies, from the corporation’s hiring practices and diversity efforts, to benefits offered to its employees. The organization operates under a theory that maintains that “true excellence can be best achieved by focusing on areas of established strength and enhancing them, rather than concentrating only on repairing areas of weakness.”3 The company offers job opportunities in every division; the retail stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices. Possible career opportunities in the retail stores include assets protection management, which works to implement programs designed to maximize safety, effectiveness, and efficiency; store leadership, which includes those who work to create a “fast-paced, energetic environment that delivers a consistent experience for both team members and guests”; and human resources, which works to support