Target Canada for Fundamentals of Management-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theTarget Canada for Fundamentals of Management. Answer: Introduction Different organizations come up with different projects to meet certain predetermined objectives. However, a project can meet or fail to meet its objectives depending on how it is carried out. Project failure can be as a result of avoidable or unavoidable circumstances (Bolland, 2017). Among the common factors that lead to project failure are, having a poorly defined project scope, lack of sufficient risk management strategies, ineffective project leadership, failure to track progress and requirements, underestimation of project complexities and lack of project documentation. A good example of a failed project in Canada is Target Canada Co. Canada Co is a Subsidiary of Target Corporation which is the second largest discount retailer in the United States of America established in the year 2011.The corporation opened its doors in Canada in 2013 Target Canada opened its first store in 2013, and by January 2015 it had approximately 133 stores in different locations. Despite having an aggressive expansion initiative Target Canada finally collapsed after recording a loss of up to $2.1 billion, was declared bankrupt and officially closed all its stores by April 2015 It has since been termed viewed as a case study of what retailers should not do upon entering new markets (Daft, 2017). What went wrong Target Canada failed to carry out sufficient market research before penetrating the Canadian market and also failed to offer Canadian consumers similar prices to those enjoyed by its American customers. Failure to study the Canadian Market Before entering a new market, businesses are required undertaking sufficient market research to identify the best business models that can work in those new markets. By taking a business model that has worked successfully the in the USA and transferring it to the Canadian market in Target corporation seemed to have underestimated the importance of the Canadian consumer to their success (Rowley, 2013). The retail took Canada as small American version in which they only needed to open stores with target logs and Customers would automatically come. It was a worse undoing for the retail store was transferring its American business model to Canada merely because it had succeeded in America. The store charged higher prices and did no avail variety of products for the Canadian consumers. The failed to give consumers a reason of shopping at their stores giving Wal-mart an opportunity to tap into huge consumer groups of Chinese and South Asians (Stephens,2013). Having an over-ambitious expansion plan Another undoing for the company had an over-ambitious plan in which they intended to achieve too much within a very short time. Despite being new in the Canadian Market, the retailer went ahead to open a record of 124 stores in barely ten months a move which they aimed would seal the gap that was left after the dissolution of Zellers (Kerzner Learning,2013). The retail store failed to consider the fact that some of the stores initially belonging to Zellers were located in areas not accessible by middle-class consumers. Despite having big expectations by entering the Canadian Market as displayed by the number of stores opened in a small duration the Target failed to attract customers through its offerings. Customers had many expectations of getting variety best quality products at rock bottom prices just as the American consumers, but it came as a shocker when the prices they were introduced to did not resonate with the American prices. The Retail outlet, therefore, failed to meet th e expectations of consumers in its new market segment. The over-ambitious expansion plan worked for the company in that it created supply problems due to having many stores, denied it an opportunity to offer a variety that was available in American stores and finally made it unable to compete in the competitive Canadian Market effectively (Hitt, Ireland Hoskisson,2017). Failure to build strong relationships with the local communities The retail store also failed to recognize the important role played by local communities in the success of an organization and went ahead to foster ill-will immediately after entering the Canadian market (Heagney,2011). The retail entered the Canadian market just as Zellers was edging out of the market and thus went ahead to snatch most of the stores previously occupied by Zellers across Canada and laid off over 25000 employees who formerly worked for Zellers, and promised to hire them later.However, upon opening their stores, the retail store ignored the former Zellers and went ahead to hire new staff only hiring a mere 1% of the 25000 at entry pay level. The Retail also let go of the immediate staff without any prior notice. The impact of this move was the creation of ill- will with the immediate Zellers employees and the wider community as it was viewed to have treated the former employees unfairly (Elms,World Trade Organization., Temasek Foundation,2013). These undoings by the retail store led to its collapse barely a year after opening its doors in the Canadian Market. What it could have done Undertaking market research The retail should have taken time to undertake market research on the Canadian market before opening their branches. Market research is concerned with the identification of consumer needs and preferences (Thomsett, 2010). Market research would have enabled Target Canada identify existing gaps in the Canadian market and enabled it to understand the expectations of its current customers which would have informed the adoption of the appropriate business model to enable it deal with competitors such as Wal-Mart and Giant Tiger. Research would also have enabled it to understand the ideal location for setting up their locations (Lowe Graves,2016). Systematic market penetration Some of the challenges associated with supply and availability of a variety of goods for consumers were as a result of the overambitious expansion plan for the retail outlet. Being in a new market, the Company should have undertaken a systematic penetration by only opening a only a few stores instead of opening 133 stores in short span of time.This would have solved the problems associated with a shortage of supplies (McKenzie-Mohr,2011). Maintaining strong relationships with the community With the significant role played by communities, it would be suicidal for an organization to ignore them. The retail outlet would have retained most if not all former Zellers Employees and offer them fresh training if need be instead of terminating their employment contracts (Harned,2017). Conclusion In conclusion Target case can be summarized as the case of failure due to circumstances which could have been avoided. Among the cause of the failure of the retail chain, were the failure to undertake market research, having an over-ambitious plan, implementation of the wrong business model and failure to strengthen relationships with the local communities. 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