Information Technology in Corporations

Introduction

Information technology is one of the best elements that the contemporary organisations are relying upon and it has become imperative aspects that provide the extra drive to the functional areas of corporations to strand at the tough times. The report has concentrated on the fact of importance of IT facilities in an organisation and it intends to elaborate the aspects of information technology and how it could drive success to an organisation and destroy in a blink of faction as well. Target was an American retailer with its renowned reputation and had a long history of 114 years to serve the industry well. The company emerged from the old Dayton- Hudson Company that had more than 1800 retailers back then. The unimaginable pressure in the system of IT functionality caused the organisation to fall apart. Thus, the report would be discussing the reason for such consequences and the strengths that was the instigating force for the company to expand internationally. Apart from this, the reason for working well in India for the company could also be discussed to shed light on the facts and facets in the due course. Therefore, the discussion is being generated in the below section with relevant examples and evidences.

Main strengths of the company that led to international market

To survive in the tough competitive environment, it is important to identify one’s strengths and weaknesses and work on the weak areas could help in managi8ng a balance as well. Target’s strength and weaknesses were evenly balanced and that inspired the company to take a leap and discover the international market. In order to deliver a clear idea, three main strengths of the company could be discussed in this regard which might shed some light on the reasons that empowered the company to take further steps.

Main strengths of Target:

i) The brand position is one of the main strengths that the company had and the brand positioning refers to the fact of having a storing market present with a viable number of retails and consumers. Apart from this, the company is one of the oldest retails in the US market with quite heavy brand recognition concurrently. Target’s exclusive product range and the differentiating services had also helped the consumers and other associates to be connected with the brand for a longer period of time. These are strength keys that could be taken as the definite strengths that led it to other regions.

ii) The second strength that could be considered as important factor is discount programmes. Target mastered the art of generating discounts in every occasion and consumers irrespective of their regional borders like to associate with such offers. The discount programmes like the RED Card and cartwheel are the main point of attraction that increased its operational strength as well the financial one as well.

iii) another key strength of the company is observed as the Omni-channel model that pushed the facility of optimised search keys and draws consumers towards the company or brand as well. The online assortment also boosted the sales and make consumers land their official website as well. Along with this, the store network is also evident in generating services like the store keeping and delivery of products at the same time.

These are most important and highlighted strengths of the company through which the company got the confidence to venture into foreign markets. The reason was the brand positioning strength, offers and large customer base would be the prime stone in the context of initiation a new journey.

Reason for failing

Investing into the foreign market is the matter of definite knowledge and research that would create base for investing into the right channel and also reduces the risk of failing. But in case of Target, the method or the processes was a performed in a bit hurry which caused the failure as the company concentrated more on non consumer sides rather than the target markets and their needs. Therefore, three main reasons for failing in the Canadian market are stated as below:

i) Decisions made in hurry:

The decision of entering in to the Canadian market turned out to be a disaster as it was observed that the respective company did not undergone through the process in a step by step manner that should have been performed. The lack of proper promotions and advertisements were one of the core reasons why the company failed. If the consumers are not made aware of the new entry, fewer chances are there that the company might fall behind in the long race.

ii) Poor performance of supply chains:

The supply chain management is another important fact that beholds the utmost importance in the context of generating a clear impression about the brand among its target market. The lack of required products and inability to fulfil the racks in stores gave a wide open chance to critics to smash the company image and its brand name.

iii) Inability to carry out media hypes and brand image in Canada

With lots of investment, the company had managed to make a noise and create noticeable present in the market with the help of media news and social media marketing. But the company could not perform as per the expectation of the consumer market and the poor supply chain added fuel to the fire. Apart from this, the brand image that Target had in the American market could not toss its coin in the Canadian market.

Therefore, above mentioned reasons could be taken into consideration related to the fact that the aspects and lack of professional practices caused the company to face the dire consequences and within two years the company had to pullout its presence from the market witnessing $5 billion loss.

Reason behind sustaining in Indian market

In India many business ventures were made and most of them were successful. In the case of Target Corporation, it could be stated that their practices in corporate social responsibility is the main key strength for sustaining in India. The CSR functionalities have been evident enough for the organisation to create a mark on the Indian consumers and in 2002; the company launched several programs which made it one of the remarkable service providers. Supporting relief for any disasters and children education programs is one of the main ideas that the company had practiced while functioning in India. Along with this, Target spent $2.5 million annually to NGOs and relief funds. Apart from this, producing products as per Indian environment and understanding the cultural needs also boosted its effort and created a wide path for the organisation to deliver its services to the target market as well. On the other hand, the business intelligence system also was a driving force for the organisation to maintain its position in the respective market which also marked the merchandising and delivery facilities as well. Moreover, project Everest is another source through which the company had created an intensive practice to deliver better experiences to the consumers related to the websites and deliver options as well. Hence, such initiative caused the website to generate more traffic and make the consumer retail for a longer period of time turning the visits into conversions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is to ne asserted that internationalisation of a business required several aspects to be studied thoroughly and also some practices needs to be changed to gain the desired results. The report has focused on the case study of Target Corporation and intends to discuss the reason for its failure. The report has also highlighted the fact that there were certain strengths that helped the organisation to consider its ability to venture into foreign markets and also it analysed the reason for it’s failing in the Canadian market as well. Therefore, it is realised that the company lasted into the Indian market while doing good with its business. Hence, it could be concluded that in internationalising a business requires the financial, professional and most important sustainable practices in definite manner.