Late last year, Target Corp. started giving detailed guidance to store employees about how to act. The 10-4 rule, as the company calls it, directs them to smile, make eye contact and wave when a shopper comes within 10 feet. If they come within four, they should engage verbally by asking whether they need help or how their day is going.

Starting this summer, the retailer will enforce a new mandate about how employees should dress: blue-colored denim or khakis with plain red shirts. No more of this pink or maroon business, and large logos and graphics are forbidden unless worn under a company vest. Store leaders will have to trade in their shorts for pants. (The company is providing a free T-shirt and additional discounts to help employees meet the requirements.)

Dress codes and uniforms have long been used by companies to signal an identity: A tie conveys seriousness, a hoodie rejects hierarchy, a lab coat signals authority. But in this case, there is a very specific image that Target is trying to project to investors and customers with its wardrobe crackdown: of a company that's re-asserting control of a struggling business by exerting greater control over its employees.

In March, Target reported its 13th consecutive quarter of sluggish or declining sales, a month after Chief Executive Officer Michael Fiddelke took the job.

Starbucks Corp., a fellow retailer also in turnaround mode, has made parallel moves. Last year, its baristas were instructed to write personalized messages on patrons' cups ("you're amazing," "seize the day," or a simple smiley face). A few months later, store workers were directed to wear only a solid black shirt under their green aprons.

All the new rules and decrees are in line with the current zeitgeist in corporate America: Bosses are in their........

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