The departure of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel last week had many proclaiming that it was because of the massive data breach the retailer suffered late last year. It's important to note, however, that there were other factors at play, such as Target's recent performance as a business.

''It sends a very loud and clear message that nobody is indispensable, and CEOs have to mind the store in every respect,'' said Howard Gross, at Boyden Global Executive Search in New York in a Bloomberg Business article. ''After something like this, a lot more CEOs will be taking a hard look at their security.''

Target's data breach that resulted in the loss of over 100 million personal customer records, including 40 million credit cards, certainly hasn't helped the company's image in recent months, but it's not the only rough patch for the No. 3 U.S. retailer.

As Lydia Depillis writes in the Washington Post, "A longer-term look at Target's fortunes, however, reveals more serious problems than hackers installing malware in its payment system: The business model isn't working anymore, and it's going to take a serious overhaul to bring up to speed, when competitors are already far ahead."

The recession hit Target hard, just as it sucked profits across the economic board. Customers shopped less and Target's business model of having buyers pick up slightly high-end items while picking up basics was especially hit hard. Then there's also "omnichannel," which Depillis describes as the consumer buying habit of picking up things in the most convenient manner (read: mostly online shopping and delivery-based services). Needless to say, despite Target expanding its offerings, the bulk of its business is still within brick-and-mortar walls.  

Make no mistake, however, the data breach certainly played a part in Steinhafel's departure. Both the ex-CEO and Target released statements following his resignation that mentioned the data breach, implying it as a topic of discussion.

"From the beginning, I have been committed to ensuring Target emerges from the data breach a better company, more focused than ever on delivering for our guests," Steinhafel said. "We have already begun taking a number of steps to further enhance data security, putting the right people, processes and systems in place. With several key milestones behind us, now is the time for new leadership at Target."

Still, in the frenzied aftermath of the data breach, it became easy to point at the largest theft of retail data in history as the main reason for Steinhafel's exit. It becomes even easier after noting that Target's CIO Beth Jacobs left in March because of the breach. However, remember, there are always many sides to a business, not just cybersecurity.

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