Target Canada: The Effect of Organizational Change

1807 Words4 Pages

Target, a high-end discount department store, hoped to continue expanding and adding to the company’s 1,752 stores, by purchasing 200 Zellers stores, located in Canada. One of Target’s, longtime goals was to expand into Canada , and after a decade, the company took a jump across the border (Shaw, 2011). Because many thousand Canadians hold a Red Card, Target’s reward card, Target assumed this would be a successful expansion, increasing the amount of US brands that encompass Canada’s market. Target spent a year converting the Zeller stores, altering and renovating them to transform them into Target Canada, a subsidiary of Target (Shaw, 2011). They opened 124 stores in locations all over Canada, hiring back only one percent of the former Zellers employees, desiring to make a fresh start for the department store chain (Target Refused Zellers Workers). John Kotter, an expert on organizational change, conducted thirty years of research, coming to the conclusion that because companies do not completely investigate the whole picture when it comes to change, seventy percent of businesses crash by not finishing the change through to the end. For the reason that many businesses fail because of this reason, he created an eight-step process to help businesses succeed and move forward with their change (The 8 Step Process). This paper’s objective is to explain Kotter’s change process and link it to Target Canada’s decision to open in Canada, discussing what decisions fared well and the decisions that produced failure. Step 1 in Kotter’s 8-step process has to do with the reason or sense of urgency for why a company is making the change (The 8-Step Process). In Target's case, there was no urgent need for change but they had good rea... ... middle of paper ... ...ternational -. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/changesteps Shaw, H. (2013, April 16). 'Complaints on pricing were alarming': Target Canada backlash could drag on retail chain's prospects. Financial Post Business Complaints on pricing were alarming Target Canada backlash could drag on retail chainsprospects Comments. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/16/target-canada-price-backlash/ Shaw, H. (2011, May 18). Target Canada. www.canada.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.canada.com/business/Target+Canada/4106808/story.html?id=4106808 Target Refused Zellers Workers, Hired Tory-Linked Lobbyist: Group. (2013, June 12). The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/12/target-canada-protest-zellers-tory-lobbyist_n_3423899.html

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