In recent years, the topic of workplace and employee motivation has emerged as a significant concern for both employers and management personnel. An analysis of such strategies at a Target Retail Store provides an example of how such motivational strategies affect the company"s sales, profits, workplace morale, and future. One of the most important issues at a Target Retail Store is the timely method and manner of placing and displaying the merchandise on the sales floor before the store actually opens to the public at 8:00 a.m. This must be effectively done with limited resources and staff. As a result, management must be able to appropriately and effectively motivate all staff employees and improve performance and employees" resistance to increasing productivity. This paper will examine the organizational efforts of Target Retail Stores in this area, and identify and analyze two motivational theories not currently in practice by Target. It will also apply the chosen motivational theories to management and discuss their impact and offer possible solutions that could have been implemented before employee motivation became an issue.

             In order to eliminate the time it normally took to neatly present merchandise on the sales floor, Target implemented a program that would effectively eliminate unnecessary packaging (EDA"s Waste Reduction Update, 2005). The results of this was the elimination of approximately 1.5 million pounds of waste, an estimated saved $4.5 million through packaging reduction, and the implementation of a more efficient method of merchandise distribution (EDA"s Waste Reduction Update, 2005). This led to an easier and more efficient merchandise placement in preparation for store opening every morning. Before the program"s implementation, Target"s management team observed both the amount of waste from packaging and the time workers spent opening and unwrapping shipments (EDA"s Waste Reduction Update, 2005).