Historical Analysis Of Caterpillar ( Cat )

Caterpillar’s main industry of machinery has many barriers to entry which makes it difficult for new organisations to enter the market. It is a mature and highly competitive industry with few dominant competitors who have cemented their position over the decades. Furthermore, these corporations have sustained a competitive advantage over any new entrant that tries to enter into the industry.

The original business strategy, which is still not fully implemented or thought out, is still intact and being somewhat utilized. Part of getting from where we are now to where we want to go, is to put together a comprehensive business and growth strategy plan that, brings about the most results. The original business strategy resembled that of a small business that had the most growth with the least risk. With little risk also means little or no technology. The company has changed, the competition is more intense and the economy is weakened. A new strategy that aligns with technology is essential in order to be successful. As business and technology have become increasingly intertwined, the strategic alignment of the two has emerged as a major corporate issue. With the emergence of IT from the back room to the forefront of business brings the alignment issue under the spotlight like never before. And as

Describe strategic planning techniques used to formulate alternative strategies designed to achieve stated business goals.
Create a plan to implement a firm’s strategy and manage the change from current operations. Analyze strategies for exerting the internal leadership needed to drive the implementation of strategic initiatives and improve operating excellence.

Today’s market demands organizations to have a strategic plan. The purpose of the strategic plan describes where the organization wants their organization to go. A strategic plan is a document used to communicate goals, and the actions needed to achieve those goals. In order to remain competitive every organization needs to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. They need to develop new products and services with increasing frequency. The design of these new products and services must meet, or exceed, customer expectations and at the same time, they must generate an acceptable financial return for the organization. However, any business that does not realize the importance of developing new products will not last very long as a consequence

Although Caterpillar must overcome the weaknesses mentioned above in order to continue to be successful, there are opportunities out there for them. Developing economies such as China and India are experiencing annual growth of 8.5 and 5.4 respectively in 2009.(6) Infrastructure development and construction activities are excelling in these countries. Also, Asia continues to be a very large growth opportunity for Caterpillar, and is an area in which Caterpillar is focused on increasing the company’s presence. Population rise in Asia will impact the construction industry significantly. Caterpillar, Inc. has a strong presence in the construction equipment market and is positioned to take advantage of the opportunity to grow in this segment.

Caterpillar Inc. is a global company headquartered Peoria, Illinois. They specialize in the manufacturing and selling of construction, mining, and farm equipment. Caterpillar Financial Services is a subsidiary company that offers financing options to their customers. I currently work of a construction company and I specialize in the accounting management of the company’s assets. Approximately 80% of the company assets are from Caterpillar and 70% of the assets that are financed are through Caterpillar Financial Services. The stability of Caterpillar Inc. is important to the company I work for.

Caterpillar's legacy started in the late 1800’s when Benjamin Holt built his first ever combined harvester. In the early 1900's, Holt tested what would become the first steam-powered track type prototype, and two years later he would introduce a gasoline engine. Caterpillar became a trademark name in 1910 bringing with it a track type tractor capable of completing a job that took more than four horses to do. The history of Caterpillar is all about creating change one breakthrough at a time by building new infrastructures, problem-solving, innovating, and testing new equipment (Caterpillar Inc, n.d). In this writing, we will explore how Caterpillar Inc. uses symbolism to stimulate energy throughout the workplace. Symbolism gives meaning both inside and outside the workplace. Caterpillars

Caterpillar has come a long way from its beginnings. What started as two competitors, Benjamin Holt and Daniel Best, working to improve farm equipment has turned into an international corporation committed to making progress possible and employing more than 132,000 people. From providing the power that brought us Neil Armstrong’s first words from the moon to enabling construction of the tunnel under the English Channel, their rugged yellow machinery has been breaking ground and moving mountains for more than 85 years. Over those years, Caterpillar people have followed in their founders' footsteps, introducing breakthrough solutions for the purpose of enhancing their customers' success (Caterpillar, 2014).

With 2004 sales revenue in excess of $30 billion and profits of $2.03 billion Caterpillar is the worlds leading manufacturer of construction, mining and earth moving equipment. Caterpillar operates in three key areas; machinery, engines and more recently financial products. Mature product markets are an aspect of all product lifecycles once the initial rapid growth stage is complete sales will continue to rise but however at a much slower rate. Problems associated with mature markets include; slower cost recovery, increased risk of competitors capturing market share and the threat of products moving into the decline stages

For the last 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. continues making growth possible while promoting constructive change throughout the world. However, customers turn to Caterpillar for the assistance of expanding infrastructure, energy, and natural resources. Sales and revenues for 2014 were $55.184 billion netting $3.695 billion, which were just below 2013 numbers of $55.656 billion resulting in $3.789 billion. Caterpillar is the front-runner for the manufacturing of “construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives” (Caterpillar, n.d.). Caterpillar mainly functions through its three product divisions of construction industries, resource industries and energy, and transportation (Company, n.d.).

Caterpillar is a corporation that designs, manufactures and sells diesel and natural gas engines, construction, and mining equipment. Since the year 1905 Caterpillar has been a corporation that has evolved by making significant improvements to its machinery by taking advantage of the available technology, and it has had the ability to adapt to the dynamic changes and demands of the construction industry. Many significant events have occurred in this business to make this company what it is nowadays, a very prestigious and successful company around the world. In the year 1906 in San Francisco California, when one of the most significant earthquakes took place, the company made a remarkable use of its

This report is a direct response to the concerns of CEO and the management of company, about the ongoing strategic issues. The current strategic matters and problems in the organizational system are thoroughly analyzed. Purposed strategic changes are presented which address directly to the identified issues, and the tactics for successful implementation are also discussed for welfare of company.

In the book “Good Strategy and Bad Strategy”, Richard Rumelt illustrates examples of success and failure of business management to explain the true meaning of the strategy, and tells companies how to develop a correct strategy and adhere to core of management strategy. He also emphasizes the central role of strategic management as to remind the readers to understand the huge difference between a good strategy and bad strategy. This book has three sections: good and bad strategy, sources of power, and thinking like a strategist. I will be evaluating strengths and weaknesses under these topics. After finish reading the book, I had gained a better understanding of what a good strategy means to the success of a company. According to Rumelt, a good strategy is coherent, where companies pursue multiple objectives that are connected with each other. Rumelt points out that a good strategy consists of three elements: diagnosis, guiding policy, and coherent action. (71) First, diagnosis means to define the obstacles and challenges that the companies are facing, and guidelines help the people to overcome the obstacles. Lastly, coherent action is the activities or actions that company did to be consistent with its guiding policy. Today, many of us lost the focus of the strategy, which results in the downward of businesses and organizations. Rumelt has defined the strategy as acknowledging the main problems and take coherent action to overcome the problems. Moreover, he illustrates

A strategy is said to be a plan that is made for the long term success of a product or brand. It is extremely important to have a strategy in order to figure out a direction towards which any company is able to focus all its resources efficiently and achieve desired outcomes. Formulating effective strategies is a considerably long process in itself that combines analysing several factors, situations and issues that are already present in a company and looking to improve on them alongside trying to implement various innovations and ideas to collectively create a direction towards which they can move and direct the resources available to them.

It is important to comprehend general definition of corporate strategy in context of management. Grant (2010) describes strategy as “the pattern of objectives, purposes, or goals and the major policies and plans for achieving these goals, stated in such a way as to define what business the company is in or is to be in and the kind of company it is or is to be.” (Grant, 2010, p.17) Corporate generally undertake planning and strategy through using SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) where inner strength and weakness and outer opportunity and threats are identified using framework. There are advantages and disadvantages that SWOT analysis is embedded with. (Johnson, 2007, pp.100-102)