Create a PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes for Caterpillar Inc. leadership in which you summarize your key findings, propose recommendations, and provide rationale for your recommendations. Use enough slides to address all of the assignment.
Respond to the following prompts:
- Summarize your evaluation of the alignment between what Caterpillar Inc. is currently doing and their mission, vision, or values statement. Would you propose any changes to Caterpillar Inc.’s mission, vision or values statements? Why or why not? (Refer to Wk 1, Bullet #4.)
- Summarize your assessment of whether Caterpillar Inc. is leveraging the appropriate value and cost drivers for their business strategy. Would you propose any changes? Why or why not? (Refer to Wk 2, Bullet #3.)
- Summarize your analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Caterpillar Inc’s competitive advantages. Based on your analysis would you propose any changes? Why or why not? (Refer to Wk 2, Bullet #4.)
- Summarize your assessment of whether Caterpillar Inc. is using the appropriate measures to verify its strategic effectiveness. Based on your analysis would you propose any changes? Why or why not? (Refer to Wk 3, Bullet #1.)
- Summarize your evaluation of Caterpillar Inc.’s competitive position and how they have responded to shifts in the external and internal environments. Would you propose any changes in how Caterpillar Inc. responds to shifts in the external and internal environments? Why or why not? (Refer to Wk 3, Bullet #5.)
- Summarize your evaluation of how mergers and acquisitions in the past 5 years have contributed to Caterpillar Inc.’s performance. Would you propose that Caterpillar Inc. pursue mergers and acquisitions in the future? Why or why not? (Wk 4, Bullet #2.)
- Summarize your assessment of Caterpillar Inc.’s global strategy. Based on your assessment would you propose any changes? Why or why not? (Refer to Wk 4, Bullet #3.)
Week 2, 3, and 4 assignments are attached for references to the questions on this assignment. All answers are in these papers.
Running head: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT RESEARCH JOURNAL 1
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT RESEARCH JOURNAL 2
Strategic Management Research Journal
Shawn Cyr
MGT 498
13 December 2019
Mr. Sell
Strategic Management Research Journal
Describe the role of strategic planning in achieving a competitive advantage.
Strategic planning is an organisational process of defining direction or strategy and making vital decisions on resources allocation to pursue the strategy. Strategic planning can also extend to the control measures for guiding and controlling the implementation of the strategy. Strategic planning could be a perplexing process. With perseverance, persistence, and a resilient team efforts, strategic planning can be the start of a predictable and improved results for an organization. Sometimes when business practices get off track, strategic planning can help in directing the recovery process (David & David, 2019). When an organisation treat strategic planning as a continuous process, it will help the organisation in attaining a competitive advantage. Strategic planning will act as an aggressive assurance of a better and improved day-to-say implementation of business activities and practices.
Assess Caterpillar Inc. to determine whether their top focus is accounting profitability, shareholder value creation, or economic value creation.
Caterpillar Inc. is an American corporation that designs, engineers, develops, manufactures and sells engines, machinery, insurance and financial products to consumers through an international dealer network. Caterpillar Inc. is the largest building equipment manufacturer in the world (Caterpillar.com). The company’s top focus is shareholder value creation. The company intends to create shareholder value by investing more in the company’s strengths, and offering better value for its customers, to make sure they are more effectively using the company’s products and services. Caterpillar’s employees are also key to the customers’ success. The company always focuses on empowering its global team and promoting an inclusive and positive environment.
Assess whether Caterpillar Inc. leverages the appropriate value and cost drivers for their business strategy.
We can define a value driver as a capability or an activity that adds value/worth to a product/service or a company. In other words, they are activities that increase profitability, promote growth, and reduce risk, according to strategic goals. A cost driver, on the contrary, is an activity that results in changes in the activity’s cost. Caterpillar Inc. leverages appropriate cost and value drivers. The company leverages an information-driven approach to guide the company’s decision-making process. This usually positions the company on sustained profitable growth. The company is always devoted to understanding the customers’ needs, hence delivering the leading products/services in the industry.
Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Caterpillar Inc’s competitive advantages.
There are several aspects and factors that add to the corporation’s competitive advantage. These factors make the corporation noticeable irrespective of the endless competition in the industry. Caterpillar’s competitive advantage includes its strong and sound brand image and its strong world-wide distribution network, to name a few. The corporation’s strong and sound brand image has enabled the company to increase its customer base. It has also allowed the company to introduce new products/services easily and has enhanced customer loyalty. Strong world-wide distribution network has ensured that the company’s products/services reach all customers, hence increasing its profitability. However, the company is less innovative (Paugam et al., 2016). This weakness makes the corporation vulnerable to opponents that invest in the technology aggressively. The company also has limited connections in emergent markets. This weakness prevents the company from maximizing profits and revenues.
Evaluate the influence of ethics, social responsibility, and legal considerations on strategic planning.
Setting an organisational vision, values, and strategies is the starting point of any business. Building the strategies with a strong sense of ethics, aligning the strategies with all the legal requirement, and arranging them in line with the well-being of every stakeholders and the society at large is an essential part of strategic planning. Integrating ethical consideration on strategic planning means relying on society’s norms and standard of what institutes right or wrong as the basis of the organization’s policies and plans. Ethics will shape the actions and decisions of every individual in a company. On the other hand, strategic decisions of companies have the potential to affect many people across the universe. Therefore, failure to consider the social issues in strategic planning may lead to negative effects for the surrounding communities, the environment, and the shareholders. Legal consideration, on the contrary, ensures that the company is in line with all the rules and regulations.
Discuss the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and determine if Caterpillar Inc.’s CSR meets those values.
Corporate social responsibility is how organizations manage their practices to produce a general positive effect on society at large. It covers social impact, ethics, and sustainability. The five pillars/values that make up CSR include: community, marketplace, environment, governance and communication, and workplace. Different organizations can decide to focus on different areas. Caterpillar Inc’s CSR meets those values. Caterpillar Inc has adopted several philanthropic practices to show its dedication to the community. One of the practices is the development of the Caterpillar Foundation. The company normally uses the foundation to aid, direct money, and resources to the community. The company is also involved with the United Way, a collaboration of charitable organizations in America.
Analyse the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing Caterpillar Inc.’s strategic plan while considering stakeholder needs and agenda.
Social responsibility and ethics play a significant part in developing a strategic plan for a company. Ethics governs the action of Caterpillar’s employees (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). Considering social issues in developing the company’s strategic plan ensures that the company’s strategic decisions do not have a negative impact on the community. Caterpillar has many responsibilities to its stakeholders. The organisation must consider the needs and agendas of the stakeholders to make possible and appropriate decisions. This means that the company should not take an unethical decision that is risky to the company and affects its reputation in society. The company performs ethical responsibilities that satisfy the agendas and needs of the stakeholders.
References
Caterpillar.com. Who we are. Retrieved from: https://www.caterpillar.com/en/company/who-we-are.html
David, F. R., & David, F. R. (2019). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases. Pearson.
Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson Education.
Paugam, L., André, P., Philippe, H., & Harfouche, R. (2016). Brand valuation. Routledge.
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