Reference no: EM133471998

Question: Target's Disastrous Failed Expansion into Canada

Case: Target is a well-loved brand in the US, so it seemed only natural that it would be just as well-received with expansion up north into Canada. Target executives had a decision to make. They needed a way to track their stock levels and chose to work with an entirely new and untested system. Target Canada would eventually learn what happens when inexperienced employees working under a tight timeline are expected to launch a retailer using technology that nobody-not even at the US headquarters-understood.

In 2013, the company had trouble moving products from its large distribution centers onto store shelves, leaving Target outlets poorly stocked. It didn't take long for Target to figure out the underlying cause of the breakdown: The data contained within the company's supply chain software, which governs the movement of inventory, was riddled with flaws. The checkout system was glitchy and didn't process transactions properly. Worse, the technology managing inventory and sales were new to the organization; no one seemed to fully understand how it worked.

If you were the CEO of Target and would like to re-establish Target in Canada, what strategies would you suggest to improve on? Give concrete details of your inventory management plan.