Target turns to students for fresh ideas

MINNEAPOLIS Target is turning to business students at The University of Tampa to find creative solutions to its retail business challenges.

According to the UT web site, students in the Sykes College of Business' Practical Strategic Assessment class were given two case studies on how Target can recruit top hourly and executive team members and on how the company can use technology to increase grocery sales at its SuperTarget stores. The students were divided into groups of four to study the problems and find out of the box solutions.

AUT professor will pick the top four proposals, and Target will ultimately choose which group’s solution is the most creative, realistic, and best presented. A winner will be chosen on Dec. 7.

It is the first time Target has coordinated such a program on UT’s campus. Executives hope it will “expose students to actual challenges that retailers face in today’s competitive marketplace,” and to incorporate classroom learning into real world business challenges. The company is coordinating a similar competition at one other Florida university.