With nearly 2,000 stores and over 400,000 employees, Target CEO Brian Cornell says that the glue that keeps the massive one-stop-shop chain constantly growing is the culture within.
In a recent meeting with the top 50 executives at the company, Cornell spent time honing in on the “why” of the company.
“We spent a lot of time making sure we understood the why—why do we make certain decisions? Why do we make certain investments? Why is culture so important? And having the patience and the time to talk about the whys, not just the what, is critically important,” Cornell said at Fortune’s Global Forum conference in New York City on Monday.
Cornell always has the consumer top of mind, ensuring that the brand is staying true to its image, brings joy to its customers, and stays in touch with what the consumer really wants, he says. This is also one of the reasons Cornell credits the Target and PepsiCo partnership for working so well. He and PepsiCo Foods North America CEO Steven Williams met about 25 years ago at PepsiCo and have been friends ever since.
“Both of our companies are very consumer-focused, very focused on managing brands. We’re very true to our partners to make sure that it is a win-win, and it’s part of our culture to make sure I don’t treat Steven and his team like they’re a vendor, but like they’re a partner,” Cornell said at the conference.
A few ways that Target does this is by working with the PepsiCo team on strategy, ensuring they have the right differentiation in the marketplace, and making sure that both companies are growing. On the flip side, from a PepsiCo perspective, Williams recommends that you take time to build relationships, be transparent as it builds trust, and trust that speed is a competitive advantage in today’s market.