This 10 page paper examines the heavy equipment machinery company Caterpillar. The paper is based on the case study provided by the student and examines the internal and external influences with the use of a SWOT analysis looking at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In the last part of the paper recommendations are made future strategy based on the analysis.
Name of Research Paper File: TS14_TEcaterpill.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
there have been periods of profit and periods of loss, periods of good employment relationships and periods of conflict with the unions and the ability to benefit and suffer from
global trends. Different styles of leadership, with different macro-environmental conditions have changed the way in which the company operates enforcing change in order for the company to survive. To consider
the position of the company and the way it may develop in the future the internal and external influences can be examined through a SWOT analysis looking at the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the business. With an understanding of the business and its environment it is possible to determine some of the options the business has for
its future development building on strengths, seizing opportunities was minimising or mitigating weaknesses and threats. 2. Internal Factors 2.1 Strengths Throughout the entire
history of Caterpillar there has been strong leadership, each leader have had different strengths and developed different parts of the operation; Scheafer was able to develop employee relations and add
value to the operations as a result of increased co-operation, wearers his successor; Fites took a broader approach to operational aspects but did not appreciate the value of a positive
employment relationship. However, in all cases there has been strong leadership even if the focus of that leadership has been different. Co-operative Agreements Caterpillar has had a number corporative
agreements which have helped the company grow, generate new business and increase savings. Three types of corporative agreements exist; full-scale joint ventures sharing production, joint ventures to share technology, and
joint ventures with local manufacturers to gain access to local markets. Caterpillar has been active in all areas, as evidenced with the joint-venture with Mitsubishi, the technological joint-venture between Komatsu