Caterpillar
Caterpillar has been around for a long time and the company has been through a lot of ups and downs, but for some strange reason they have still held their ground in the heavy equipment industry. We have been hearing about Caterpillar; some of us can even remember having little toy tractors and cranes that we played with as kids that had that infamous Cat engraved on the sides. In this analysis, I will focus on the CEOs, Board of Directors, mission Identification, intent, corporate level strategy, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, buyers, suppliers, and new entrants.
CEOs and Board of Directors
Through out the case, three CEOs were mentioned George Schaefer, Dan Fites and Glen Barton. Mr. Schaefer was the CEO that helped with the comeback of Cat in terms of his human relations oriented leadership style. Mr. Schaefer came along at a very good time for the Caterpillar Company. He had very good people skills which helped him when he dealt with employees. He was once called the best manager the construction industry has ever had by one analyst in the case. Mr. Fites had a much different style than that of Schaefer but was also successful as a leader. Fites was described as very determined and combatable; he was a hard liner who was feared by employees. He was very familiar with Japanese business practices and was instrumental in establishing Japanese type work teams in the company. Mr. Barton was the new guy, faced with the challenges of continuing the company’s success. He was a 39 year veteran that had seen the company go through good times and bad times, and had first hand experience learning from two of the best CEOs Caterpillar had ever had in Mr. Schaefer and Mr. Fites.
Mission Identification
Caterpillar’s mission is to make profits selling their products and make progress possible around the world in terms of economics. When speaking of making progress, Caterpillar machines help build the world infrastructure thru construction (ex. highways and airports). Caterpillar engines provide power for developing nations and standby power for hospitals. Caterpillar has a network of over 200 dealers worldwide, with sales in over 200 countries.
Intent
Cat intended is to be the leader in providing the best machines, engines, and support services for its customers. Their objective, is to empower its employees to facilitate the cross utilization of employees, innovation, and teamwork.
Resources
Caterpillar’s management team – Schaefer, Fites, and Barton- was one resource, another intangible asset for Cat was its network of dealerships; Cats relationships with its dealers were very valuable. Cat’s employees were instrumental to its success during its reorganization period. In 1999, Cat employed 67000 people. The expansion and upgrades to their IT system was a valuable resource, which allowed Cat to monitor inventories and control cost.
Corporate-Level Strategy
Caterpillar implemented a distribution and dealership network that contributed to the company’s worldwide success. The network included independent dealers, strategically located around the world, which sold and serviced [next page]