Target, a high-end discount department store, hoped to continue to expand and add to the company's 1,752 stores by purchasing 200 Zellers stores, located in Canada. One of Target's long-standing goals was to expand into Canada, and after a decade, the company made a leap across the border (Shaw, 2011). Since many thousands of Canadians own a Red Card, Target's rewards card, Target hypothesized that this would be a successful expansion, increasing the amount of U.S. brands comprising the Canadian market. Target spent a year converting the Zeller stores, modifying and renovating them to become Target Canada, a subsidiary of Target (Shaw, 2011). They opened 124 stores across Canada, hiring just 1% of former Zellers employees, eager to give the department store chain a fresh start (Target Refused Zellers Workers). John Kotter, an organizational change expert, conducted thirty years of research and concluded that because companies don't fully investigate the big picture when it comes to change, seventy percent of companies fail because they don't follow through with the change. all the way. Since many businesses fail for this reason, he created an eight-step process to help businesses succeed and move forward with their change (the 8-step process). The goal of this article is to explain Kotter's change process and connect it to Target Canada's decision to open in Canada, discussing which decisions went well and which ones resulted in failure. The first step in Kotter's 8-step process has to do with the reason or sense of urgency for why a company is making the change (the 8-step process). In Target's case, there was no urgent need for change, but they had a good rea...... middle of paper ......international -. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/changestepsShaw, H. (2013, April 16). 'Price complaints were alarming': Target Canada's backlash could negatively impact retail chain's prospects. The Financial Post firms' complaints about prices were alarming. Target Canada's negative reaction could drag comments from potential customers of retail chains. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/16/target-canada-price-backlash/Shaw, H. (2011, May 18). Target Canada. www.canada.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.canada.com/business/Target+Canada/4106808/story.html?id=4106808Target Refused Zellers Workers, Hired Tory-Linked Lobbyist: Group. (2013, June 12). The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/12/target-canada-protest-zellers-tory-lobbyist_n_3423899.html