Management

We can excuse Howard Schultz if he’s feeling a little like Michael Corleone these days: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" The difference, other than the obvious, is that Schultz seems to be the one doing the pulling. This week he returned for his third term as CEO of Starbucks, the company he built from a handful of coffee shops to one of the largest, most iconic and downright ubiquitous hospitality chains in the world. More than 32,000 locations, compared to 24,000 KFCs and 18,000 Pizza Huts, though McDonalds beats them …

Howard’s End: Why is Schultz Back for a Triple Shot at Starbucks?Read More

Target’s yearly results are nothing short of amazing, hitting $106 billion in revenue as part of the pantheon of the largest retailers in the U.S. market (and the world) including Walmart, Amazon and Kroger. Comp sales were up 12.7 percent for the year with revenue growth of $27 billion since 2019. So, how did they get here? We all remember the best hires we’ve ever made in our careers. For Target it was undoubtedly its current CEO, Brian Cornell (my opinion of course, but the facts back me up). In 2014 when he was hired, Cornell made the …

How Target Hit $106 Billion in RevenueRead More

Who is the executive who fixed a retailer that just about everybody thought was unfixable? One who quotes both The Godfather and Camus with equal authority? Someone who was a most unlikely candidate for the job that has now come to define his career. And a person who sees the magic in both people and companies. To understand Hubert Joly, the former CEO of Best Buy and now a best-selling author and Harvard Business School professor, you need to understand all of the above dynamics -- but that only gets you started. French born and educated, …

Hubert Joly: The Unlikely RetailerRead More

We’ve heard it, seen it, and are experiencing it as a customer or retail management. The employee is calling the shots. There’s a great power shift that’s giving employees the upper hand. Workers are leveraging their power to choose employers that meet their needs – professionally and personally. Which means it’s a buyer’s market when it comes to employment options. This should put retail management on alert. The old rules don’t apply anymore, and if you’re asleep at the wheel you’re going to miss out on top talent that can make or break your …

Power PlaysRead More