John Deere Background

John Deere has seen many changes since its founding in 1837. It began with a polished piece of steel that became a plow, and from that humble beginning an agricultural powerhouse was formed. John Deere has created many tractors and farming instruments that have made farmers lives easier. John Deere has delivered superior products to the world of agriculture. Agriculture has improved immensely due to product technology and innovation. (expand)

John Deere is a man who has changed the life of an Illinois farmer. His success in that lead to even more success like his very own company. John Deere innovated plows and made an impact on society by helping over one thousand farmers succeed in their jobs with his improved plow while showing people that persisting can lead to a solution.

This paper thoroughly examines Deere & Company from multiple perspectives. First, a review of the company’s history, products and service offerings, corporate strategy, and a summary of the agricultural and construction equipment industry will be provided. Next, the Deere and Company’s current financial position will be examined. This includes reports of John Deere’s earnings, cash flows, assets and debt management, profit margins, and future projections. These financial statistics will then be compared to the primary competitors of John Deere in order to show the company’s financial viability. After the analysis is complete, a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) will be conducted in order to identify key success factors and driving forces. Based on the analysis, strategic recommendations that Deere and Company should leverage in order to avoid potential threats and to maintain its position as an industry leader.

John Deere is an iconic one hundred and seventy-seven year old company and maker of agricultural machinery headquartered in Moline, Illinois. What started as a small business operation has sprung into a multibillion-dollar global operation. In 2013 alone, the company boasted sales of $37.80 billion. Founded in 1837 by a blacksmith, the company originally only built plows, and did not assemble their first tractor until they purchased a small tractor company, Waterloo Boy, in 1918. Now the green and yellow machinery is recognized around the world.

In 1847 John Deere promised, "I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that I have in me." For more that 157 years John Deere has remained true to that commitment -- building their reputation by building value into every machine that bears their name. So you can count on equipment that's as productive as possible. Up and ready to work when you are. And designed to minimize your daily operating costs. Nothing Runs Like a Deere™

In 1837, John Deere, who was founded the Deere & company. The Headquarter of company is in Moline, Illinois. John Deere, who built a manufacturer about agricultural equipment, which are farm and forestry equipment. Also, company produces construction, commercial and consumer equipment. In 2015, the company has employee around 57,180 people (Statista, 2015). The company has expended business in over 110 countries. In addition, the company has become one of the world’s largest and most recognized manufacturers equipment in term of agricultural, construction, turf, and forestry equipment. In 2011, the financial performance had reported the company’s income at $2.8 billion in net

On his talk show Paul Harvey had one famous speech “So God made a Farmer.” In the speech he describes a farmer as firm but caring, He says, “. . . It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow…So God made a Farmer.” John Deere has helped farmers accomplished many of those things he listed seeding, weeding, and plowing. Plowing might be last on the list for Paul Harvey, but it is the first accomplishment of John Deere which turned into to a big and outstanding company. John Deere created the first steel plow in a little blacksmith shop in Illinois.

In 1976, Deere & Company was among the world’s leaders of farm and industrial equipment. The majority of Deere’s success was attributed to the light crawler tractor market with over 50% market share. It was at that time Deere earned a reputation for manufacturing reliable small tractor equipment. Deere evolved into producing and manufacturing the larger industrial equipment in phases, beginning in small forestry operations. As farmers and smaller operators sought to diversify their businesses, Deere offered newly innovative attachments and crawlers, and was now seeking to integrate into the large tractor market in phase five. In this phase, Deere introduced the JD750 bulldozer, a heavy contracting

John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 7, 1804. He was born to William Rinold Deere and Sarah Yates Deere. John had three brothers, Charles Francis, Francis Albert, and another that died as a baby. He also had six sisters, Jeanette, Ellen Sarah, Alice Marie, Frances Alma, Emma Charlotte, and Mary Frances. In 1805, the family of twelve moved to Middlebury, Vermont. Three years later, William, John's father, boarded a boat for England. He hoped to come back to America as a wealthy man. After he left, he was never heard from again and was assumed to be lost at sea. John and his 8 living siblings were raised by a single mother on a small income. His education was probably not the best and was limited to the public schools

This paper explores the marketing strategy for John Deere and discusses how the company could expand its consumer marketing to sell products/services to new retirees, home and acreage buyers with different ethnicities, and females, while keeping the current consumers that are traditionally Caucasian males. The paper considers the brand personality of John Deere and the different characteristics of the three new segments and identifies areas of opportunities. It includes recommendations on the changes that John Deere could make in its marketing mix to be a preferred premium brand that represents quality, innovation, and prestige, among these new segments.

The steel plow was made by John Deere who was a blacksmith from Detour, Illinois ("John Deere's Plow"). The first steel plow was made from an old saw mill blade that had broken, John noticed that after a while the farmers would have to stop and clean the dirt off of the iron blade and he knew that the dirt would not stick to to smooth, polished steel ("John Deere's Plow"). The first plow was tested many times and was changed in it's shape to make it the most ideal and efficient plow on the market. The design: "is essentially a parallelogram, curved in a concave fashion" ("John Deere's Plow"). The polished design allowed farmers to get through the fields a lot faster and spend less time. In 1849 over 2000 steel plows were sold started a new business that was expanding rapidly ("John Deere's Plow"). The plow grew and grew going from 1 to 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 bottom plows. The 5 and 6 bottom plows had to be operated with a steam tractor which opened up new business and helped the thrive, such as Case ("John Deere's Plow"). The new invention helped make agriculture what it is today and is still used on farms to this date. In order for the plow to be put to work we need farmers. Rulon Gardener a Olympic wrestler grew up around agriculture on his family

8. John Deere’s steel plow, as well as McCormick’s mechanized reaper, allowed farmers to get more harvested a t a faster pace and without the strenuous amount of labor usually needed. Eli Whitney also created the cotton gin as well as interchangeable parts which would be easier, faster, and cheaper to replace than regular machines.

By the 19th century, American frontiersmen were moving west. The farmers experienced much heavier and stickier soils than they had been accustomed to in the east. The soil would stick to the moldboard and a man would have to stop and scrape it off every few steps. (Anderson) “A strong man using a modern spade still took an estimated ninety-six hours to till an acre of land” (Drache 2). The cast iron plows with a wooden moldboard had worked great in the light, sandy soils of New England, but something different was needed in the west. This is where John Deere had to step in.

While the economic downturn slowed business activities worldwide in 2009, Caterpillar Inc. and John Deere continued to deliver strong financial results in 2010. Caterpillar and John Deere stayed true to their mission and vision and business strategies to achieve solid results as they go through 2010. Sales, profit margin, and earnings per share have increased for both Caterpillar and John Deere in 2010.

It is very important the company focuses on the product features such as fuel efficiency, improve mechanical, and tires. Improving product features will help the company grow and produce quality products.