Strategic Management Project

MGT/498: Strategic Management Research Journal Part 1

Strategic Management Research Journal Part 1

The guiding principles needed to prepare an effective statement describing the mission, vision and core values of an organization lay the very foundation of the company and its approach to accomplish the business at hand. The mission statement must outline the company’s goals. This denotes the who we are and what we do. The vision shares what company wants to accomplish in the future. This should outline where we want to go. The core values outline the expected behavior and ethical standards the company and its employees are tasked to uphold.

Caterpillar Inc. has embodied all of the guiding principles. According to Caterpillar Inc. (2021) they have published the following:

· Mission: “We build thriving communities by investing in the skills people need to join the modern workforce, and the natural and vital infrastructure they rely upon.”

· Vision: “The Caterpillar Foundation is transforming communities to be stronger, more resilient, and more sustainable.”

· Core Values of Caterpillar have been upheld since its founding in 1925. They embody integrity, excellence, teamwork, commitment and sustainability.

The mission of Caterpillar Inc. is being upheld, as of 2019-year end data found on the website, they are building a thriving community by having over 100k full time employees and have invested over $770M in communities around the world. They offer financial services solutions for their customers and dealers. They also have a strong global CAT dealer network that enables digital solutions as well as they work to make it possible for their customers to profitably and safely mine and harvest natural resources.

Caterpillar Inc. is currently executing their tasks to fulfill their vision. They have an operating and Execution Model which allows them to make choices today to create profitable and sustainability for tomorrow.

The vision of Caterpillar Inc is to transform communities, make them stronger, more resilient and sustainable. This is done by using data to determine which industries have the most need and what parts of their business is creating the most value for the areas in need. They have made strong strides in growing the services division. Services growth is a core focus and they have a hefty goal in place to double their Machinery, Energy and Transportation services to $28B by 2026 from their 2016 baseline of $14B (Caterpillar Inc., 2021).

Caterpillar’s current top ten competitors are: Terex, Deere & Company, Volvo CE, Komatsu, JCB, SANY, Liebherr Group, XCMG, Hitachi, and Yanmar. According to The CSIMarket Company (2021), for Q3 2020 Caterpillar Inc. had a net margin of 6.79%, which was a higher profitability than its competitors. They have a strong competitive advantage due to reputation for high quality equipment and product service well beyond purchase. They have a significant investment in research and development as well as offering financial services for customers and dealers which allows a one stop shop for equipment from financing to end product servicing. The intentional aim of customer solutions throughout the lifecycle of their products is a main line of advantage for Caterpillar Inc. With the infusion of ever improving technological advances, they are able to help their customers become more successful. Their disadvantage would be inventory turnover issues and possibly the downturn of current the economic state.

Caterpillar Inc. (2021) https://www.caterpillar.com/en/company/strategy-purpose.html

CSIMarket Company. (2021) https://csimarket.com/stocks/compet_glance.php?code=CAT