Executive SummaryEvery company must have a vision, mission, and strategy that would allow it push forward as well as aid it attain both the short and long-term goals. At Caterpillar, the vision is to create a world where the basic needs of the customers are met in a way that sustains the environment. Precisely, the organization wants to improve the environment within which it works and operates. As its mission, Caterpillar intends to spur economic through the development of infrastructure and energy sources as well as offer solutions to communities with different needs. Without a strategy, a company cannot attain its vision and mission (Mohasseb, 2017). By providing appropriate work environments, products, and solutions, the firm believes that it will manage to move in the right direction.
The company also understands the importance of technology and innovation in improving sustainability performance as well as the quality of its products and services. The organization believes that it can only achieve sustainable progress by designing improved systems that will help in the optimization of life-cycle benefits. Such systems would also allow the organization to substantially reduce economic, environmental, and social ownership costs (Mohasseb, 2017). Through the application of operational goals, product stewardship strategies, and sustainability principles, Caterpillar knows that it will manage to remain relevant in the industry for quite some time.
Core Strategies
Any business idea is meant to steer a company or organization towards the achievement of both its mission and vision statements. This means that there needs to be well-defined and drafted strategies whose implementations will steer the business towards success. However, not all business strategies will be regarded in the same way during their execution and implementation. In this category, the core business strategies must take precedence in their rolling out. Caterpillar as a designer, developer, and manufacturer of products aims at being the market leader as well as maintaining the environment within which it operates. The company strategy focuses on the future where it wants to be recognized as market leader in every part of the world where it operates. It also aims at creating products and services that will provide its customers with the solutions they need. Like its rivals, Caterpillar intends at gaining a competitive advantage in its distribution system by developing a world-class supply chain. Successful strategies depend on developing business models. The organization knows this, and it shows in the kind of people it employs (Mohasseb, 2017). The firm has also created a system that helps its clients develop a more sustainable world.
Caterpillar’s strategic goals focus on three major areas. Through these goals, the company wants to attain superior results to that of its competitors. It understands that by securing a long-term investment with its shareholders. It also recognizes that obtaining these results would require it to gather the best team. Once it brings this team together, it provides the safe and inclusive working conditions. Finally, Caterpillar wants to become a global leader and to reach this goal, it will need to develop some relationship with its customers at the expense of its business rivals (Mohasseb, 2017). The company also considers its code of conduct a vital element for renewing its strengths.
Marketing Strategies
The company also adopts the 4Ps of marketing to develop its marketing mix. The company’s products have helped it in its marketing strategy because it produces a broad range of goods that even its closest rivals cannot match. The fact the company manufactures more than 400 products is a feat that many organizations cannot match. The place element has also acted as an important component in the Caterpillar marketing strategy because the organization has many subsidiaries spread in various locations in the world. The affiliates help in marketing the company’s products by ensuring their availability whenever consumers want them.
Caterpillar has also used its pricing strategy as a means of making its products and services more appealing to its customers. Unlike its competitors, the corporation adopts a premium pricing strategy that ensures that the price is affordable to the consumers, but the company can still obtain substantial revenue. It has maintained such a pricing strategy without interfering with the quality of its products. The organization has also benefitted from the advancements in technology to improve its promotional methods. The company has extensively used the social media to increase the global presence of its products and services. Apart from using the social media, the company has managed to increase its brand awareness by continuously improving the quality of its products through enhanced manufacturing techniques (Mohasseb, 2017). Due to the number of subsidiaries it has, the company has managed to adopt different promotional techniques through these divisions.
Analysis of the Strategic Plan
Analyzing a strategic plan involves many issues that aim at determining whether the scheme designed by an organization would enable it to attain its vision and mission. It is a procedural process that ensures that helps a company to reevaluate its strategies to ensure that they will meet the required standards. The first step involves assessment of the strategic issues. It includes evaluating the plan to make sure that it discusses the critical problems that affect the company. Caterpillar being a manufacturing company, it must focus on the major issues that affect firms in that industry.
Since Caterpillar is a manufacturer, environmental issues are crucial to its success. The blueprint must, therefore, state the plans the organization has in place to ensure that it operates in a sustainable environment. The next procedure involves conduction of a competitive analysis of the industry to identify the various tactics the organization has in place to handle its companies. It must mention the issue of price, quality, technology, and diversity. While dealing with the competitors, a strategic plan must also mention the external factors that affect its business operations. By assessing these elements, the company would ensure that it knows its opportunities and threats. The next step involves identification of strengths and weaknesses. Once it identifies these issues, it could use the strengths and opportunities to counteract the effects of weaknesses and opportunities.
While evaluating any strategic plan, it is imperative that the business also considers its market segmentation as well as the strategies it will adopt to promote its products. The company also has to define its marketing mix and the manner in which it will make it work in a business situation. Finally, the evaluation of a strategic plan ends with developing a SWOT analysis.
SWOT Analysis
The company’s strengths stem from the strong brand it enjoys. The large-scale assets, as well as global distribution network brought by the subsidiaries, has made the organization strong for its competitors. Despite these elements, Caterpillar has glaring weaknesses. Low innovation rates, as well as reduced connections in the new markets, have made the company in the eyes of its competitors. However, the company can take solace from its growth opportunities which it can use to grow and expand. It has used its massive revenue to explore the new markets in the Asian region (Mohasseb, 2017). Aggressive competition and imitation of its rival’s innovative activities have threatened to limit the growth of this company into those emerging markets.
- Mohasseb, S. (2017). The Caterpillar’s Edge: Evolve, Evolve Again, and Thrive in Business. New York: Rugged Land.
- Vision, Mission, Strategy, & Principles. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.caterpillar.com/en/company/sustainability/vision-mission-strategy.html
