Insider sources confirm that since Brian Cornell started he has been working furiously with an outside consulting company to truly automate inventory planning and ordering in a new system called DOST- digital ordering system technology. Tests have proven successful in small pilots in various commodity businesses and roll out is anticipated shortly. As suspected, this will completely eliminate the Merchandise Planning Business Analyst Role. Rumor to be confirmed Tuesday following the board meeting.
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Agreed. 774408. Clearly people are getting unnecessarily defensive and pointing fingers presumably because their ass is on the line. I think we should all stop diminishing other roles, and start supporting each other during this hard time. Remember we're all in the same boat. The negativity I'm seeing here and in the workplace, while understandable, is disheartening. I joined the Target team because it was a supportive and friendly culture. Let's try not to lose sight of what brought most of us here in the first place. Please give your team members the support they deserve right now.
Seems like bullshit to me. I hear all men are being fired too.
Regardless of what you think, most BAs work their asses off and we are people too...not all of us are high and mighty millennials. Most of us are just thankful to have a job...
@74376
Hell yeah. Having worked at 5 different companies before Target I agree 100%. The entitlement at the bullseye is staggering and though I hate to say it, many of those youngsters need to be taken down a peg or two, or three!
@Anonymous74376 - couldn't have said it more perfectly!
Having left target years ago, I am enjoying this all too much. Target people who have only worked there since college are so disillusioned. That place was/is a joke and Cornell sees it. Smart people, yes...but the egos and b.s. high school cliques is now so laughable. You are all expendable...don't ever forget that. There are some great people, but so much wasted efficiency and productivity in everything from unnecessary processes to "coffees and networking". There are far too many management layers and a support or specialized team for everything. Most companies and even retailers are not organized like that. Expecting a promotion every 18 months will be a thing of the past once the management layers are thinned out and there are more bottlenecks. Get used to 3-5 years in a role or paygrade. That is what it is like EVERYWHERE else. Most of the BA millennials will need to get off their high horse...but I guess that they are already brainwashed to think they are all too deserving to be a manager or buyer after 3 years out of college and will try to find that silver spoon somewhere else only to be shown the fake reality that is constructed around them at Target. Best of luck all.
@ Anonymous74336 - you are joking right? when we got bonuses you had them to thank for it??
UM no, sorry you had the stores busting their you know whats. It's real easy for you to sit behind your computer screen clicking away thinking YOU are the reason guests are coming into the stores. Typical Target kool aid drinker.
74332, cloud based technology is hardly new. Newer to Target yes but not new in general. I'd say we are about 5 years behind the curve on this one.
Automation is certainly the way of the future. Did Cornell crack this code in the past six months? It would be silly to think so. The BA role will change in the future, but next week? Doubtful. Also, for those hating on the BAs - when we got bonuses you had them to thank for it. Aside from stores, no one is closer to the front lines than BAs.
"many retailers are still hesitant to adopt cloud strategies to drive their businesses forward. Increasingly, this may put retailers at a disadvantage, as competitors harness this powerful technology."
"The Internet of Things – in which billions of “things” can be connected and communicate with each other – could be a game changer for the retail industry, giving retail enterprises the tools and insights to transform their business."
The technology is being marketed heavily to major retailers. Target is a sure bet to be making this move if possible.
You BAs are getting all fired up. Guess what, you are the bottom of the ladder. Target doesn't give two shits about you, sorry.
Can some one enlighten me and tell me how BAs are adding value - what a waste of resources, I'd let them all go
Do not use personal names, they (admins) are deleting threads with personal names
specialists and baits haven't been placed and can't until the freeze is over. same goes for promotions. source: TSS
Except Keri jones-- she got a promotion during this freeze...
I love the Matt Burt comment. The person who posted this original message has major $%&* for brains.
they aren't placing anyone right now.
Is love to see what happens to the company if they fire the ba's. Good luck! There is a TON that we do that a system cannot. That being said, we do desperately need upgrades to help with efficiency. Let's put Matt Burt on a permanent special project to continue automating. That guy alone has saved the company millions.
Walmart has merchandise planning analysts.
They did cut new ba hires and aren't placing any baits...
That's kind of a good thing - fresh blood, fresh ideas.
Anyone know the areas they tested in?
Rest of the retail and business world has a very different view or definition of a business analyst. Isn't a fresh out of college gig that has the keys to the company like at tgt
How is this true when people in these posts are saying they were hired on as BAs to start in June?
Already tested and proven at other retailers. ie walmart. wouldn't require long test period
Hm, maybe this could work for a commodity business, and if so, yahoo for actually getting a system that works up in the hizzouse. Hope they aren't assuming this would work for A&A.
I am not a BA but this seems impossible. Maybe ordering but you couldn't implement the allocation piece of this without long running test periods and a lot of expensive support. Sounds like a nightmare to already taxed dc's
Confirmed. Any depts involved in the test were confirmed to be kept on to troubleshoot any systematic issues.