MGMT 479 - STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Case Study #1: "The Comeback of Caterpillar‚ 1985-2002." Synopsis: In the early 1900 ’s the heavy steam tractors of farmers of the delta in the San Joaquin Valley‚ California‚ consistently sunk into the moist soil. Their attempts at bigger wheel to solve the problem proved futile. Benjamin Holt‚ a combine maker‚ replaced the tractor wheels with tracks‚ distributing the tractor ’s weight more evenly over a broader surface that gave the tractors more traction
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Caterpillar Case Study 1. As one of America’s major exporters‚ Caterpillar has been under the microscope of the American dollar in terms of the company’s profitability. In the 1980s‚ Caterpillar suffered at the hands of Komatsu‚ a Japanese company who was able to undercut the American company’s prices. Because of the status of the U.S. dollar in the 1980s in comparison to the Japanese yen‚ Komatsu was able to capture the market share in the United States and the U.S.’s clients. The decline of Caterpillar’s
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Caterpillar 1. What were some of the key steps that led to Caterpillar’s becoming the industry leader in earth-moving machinery? Caterpillar produced over 300 different kind of machinery for sales around the world. Its products give solution to eight industries such as residential‚ nonresidential‚ industrial‚ infrastructure‚ mining and quarrying‚ energy‚ waste and also forestry. Besides that‚ the use of Caterpillar’s trademark farm treads on the Army tank in World War 1 and World War 2. The
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Caterpillar Case Analysis EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Global . In 1915‚ the British military invented the armor tank and modeled it after Benjamin Holt’s steam tractor‚ Caterpillar. Also during World War I‚ the United States and its allies used Holt’s track-type tractors to haul artillery and supply wagons. Shortly after it formation‚ during World War II‚ Caterpillar served as the primary supplier of bulldozers to the US Army. Although it was a successful company for many years‚ for three consecutive
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strategic planning and foresight. B. Distinguishable edge: Its focus on excellence and quality for their product and services as well as their customer service. C. Competitive edge: Caterpillar dominated almost all market segments supported by a large geographic base and many product lines. Supporting Case Observations: A) * “In our business‚ the lead times are long. It takes ten years or more to develop and introduce a new product. To us‚ short terms planning means the next five years”
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KMART: STRIVING FOR A COMEBACK COMPANY: Kmart Corporation is facing a serious problem with regards to the problem of bankruptcy protection that had allowed it to continue its operation even though it had been delinquent on obligations of more than $4.7 billion owed to creditors‚ vendors and leaseholders. The bankruptcy< which was filed in January 2002 was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. retailing history and was the culmination of decades of poor strategy execution that resulted in an overall
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qualified resources is a critical factor in quality of service delivered especially if we are taking about pure service contracts such as CSA‚ caterpillar should identify major recruitment agencies which usually have contacts of highly qualified technicians and engineers specialized in differed well known equipment. In case qualified resources needed‚ caterpillar can help their dealers to obtain required competences. Usually such demands occur at high load time and such resources can be hired for short
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II. Introduction The caterpillar was failure and lost many of money. The major competitor was Japanese company called Komatsu. The caterpillar faced global challenge‚ So it must to reinvent itself‚ or die. By George Schafer and Donald Fits between1985 – 1999‚ caterpillar improved itself. It improved all the structure for the company. In 1999 the CEO was Glen Barton. After that the company declined in sales and earnings. Caterpillar produce earthmovers‚ road building was by Benjamin Holt‚ when he
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*CASE ANALYSIS* A New Caterpillar Emerges Caterpillar was a low-cost manufacturer in the construction equipment industry until the beginning of 1980’s‚ but in 1982‚ competition from the Japanese biggest construction equipment manufacture i.e Komatsu‚ Kubota‚ and Hitachi‚ threatened its position. Caterpillar’s functional approach was outdated‚ and structural changes were needed to remain globally competitive. To this end Caterpillar quickly moved to change its organizational structure. The
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ALL ANSWERS ASSUME A TAX RATE OF 35% Even though the tax rate appears to be 1720 / 6725 = 25.57% In answering the following questions‚ please refer to the financial statements of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and the relevant Notes to these statements at the end of this write-up. 1. What could be the cause(s) for the shift in LIFO-based inventory from 70% at December 31‚ 2010 to 65% at December 31‚ 2011? A decrease in the replacement cost for Cat’s inventories‚ or an increase
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