Outcomes
Efforts: Cultural Awareness and Civil Engagement Activities

Civil Engagement

Target Corporation believes that sharing their experience and resources with policy makers will give rise to better decisions for communities and businesses. The civic activities of Target can be categorized into public policy, issue advocacy, and political engagement.

1. Public Policy

The company believes that participating in legislative and public-policy activity is a significant and essential constituent of being a differentiated, multinational retail business. Target works in tandem with voted officials of both political parties to aid in shaping positive public policy solutions that are beneficial to its business operations, team members, clientele, as well as the consumers they serve. The corporation is dedicated to ensuring the alignment of public-policy activities and business interests, capitalizing on a decision-making process to support continuing amenability with their alignment goal, and sustaining transparency to all stakeholders. Notably, in the 2012 fiscal year, Target Corporation unveiled Citizens@Target, which is the corporation’s action center for members of the team and clientele. The company also provides an unbiased platform for civic engagement that accentuates issues influencing Target’s business and offers resources for team members and members of the community to participate (Target Corporation, 2019).

2. Issue Advocacy

By being a major retailing company and also employing approximately 350,000 team members, Target Corporation plays a positive role in notifying policymakers regarding numerous legislative issues. The company advocates at all levels of government, with trade companies and policy-based establishments, to guarantee that the effect legislative and regulatory issues have on the business operations; the industry in its entirety, communities and members of the team is comprehended. In the 2017 fiscal year, Target Corporation’s direct advocacy lays emphasis on three aspects including new store expansion, employee scheduling as well as trade, which are perceived as the company’s fundamental priorities. This is owing to their influence in the retail industry, and furthermore, the direct and substantial effect to the business (Target Corporation, 2019).

In regard to new store expansion, one of the key strong suits at Target takes into account their flexibility in retail store design. In recent times, the company initiated small format stores in situation where a conventional Target store would not fit, for instance, urban markets and proximate to college and university grounds throughout the nation. These stores range in terms of size and variety, and enable Target to generate a more locally pertinent experience for consumers. Secondly, as for employee scheduling, Target’s retail stores attract a diverse and gifted group of team members, partly owing to the reason that the company offers flexible scheduling policies. Notably, hourly team members, ascertain the number of hours they are available to work, and Target forms timetables and programs around their availability in line with business needs. Lastly, in regard to trade, Target provided backing for U.S trade policy to diminish import duty charges and alleviate barriers for the free flow of goods and services across borders. Imperatively, trade agreements help in the reduction of high import taxation, which can get as high as 30 percent, which is beneficial to the corporation in passing value to its consumers (Target Corporation, 2019).

3. Political Engagement

Target Corporation may provide financial assistance and backing to political aspirants, political parties, or ballot initiatives through two distinctive channels including TargetCitizens PAC, which is financed via the voluntary contributions of the company’s qualified team members and secondly through the use of overall corporate funds where sanctioned by law. To begin with, TargetCitizens PAC is financed via charitable donations by eligible team members and contributes in a bipartite way to federal...…progressively more consumers are distrustful of irresponsible corporations that participate in unethical business practices. Any CSR activities undertaken by a firm ought not to be perceived as a liability on the finances of the entity but rather be deemed an investment plan (Baden, Harwood, and Woodward, 2009). One of the most ideal outcomes of Target’s CSR practices are that the civic engagement and cultural awareness activities will be beneficial for the business in improving its level of customer retention in addition to obtaining new business affiliations and deals in various markets. Secondly, there is the prospective outcome that the company will be able to enhance and advance relationships in regard to suppliers, distributors, networks as well as consumers.

Furthermore, the company will become progressively more attractive and appealing to talented and proficient employees in the job market. In addition, the civic engagement activities undertaken by Target Corporation will enhance the company’s position and reputation. Corporations consider that building a solid and proper reputation is imperative for gaining legitimacy with regard to CSR actions and social values. Firms with high public profiles in the marketplace are more worried about building good social reputation with the aid of the involvement of the community in CSR activities. Implementation of CSR gives leads to an upsurge of a firm’s credibility, which in tandem with reputation provides a kind of insurance, referred to as reputational capital, in the event of less than optimal ethical conduct. When CSR activities are conveyed and understood, it can operate as a form of safeguard that generated reputational capital. In the case of any ill-fated actions that are in violation of the corporate reputation, accumulated reputational capital aids in the protection of the firm and makes it conceivable to detach the issue from the rest of the firm (Lii…