Caterpillar Inc.’s goals are directed to maintain its sustainability and profitable growth. The short-term goals for Caterpillar Inc. are water consumption, workplace injury rates, and by-product materials (Caterpillar, 2019). Its long-term goals comprise green emission intensity, energy intensity, and an increase in alternative energy source use (Caterpillar, 2019). As a new hire to the firm, I will use these goals, to help Caterpillar Inc. provide leadership in improving product sustainability through innovation and technology and enhancing the safety of employees handling its products (Caterpillar, 2019). Moreover since 2013, the company has purposed to increase managed fleet hours by 100 percent (Caterpillar, 2019). I will use the goals, both short- and long-term, to help the organization achieve its anticipated profitable growth and sustainability.
How Recent Mergers and Acquisitions have Contributed to Organizational Goals
Organizations achieve their goals by merging and acquiring other firms. Crunchbase (n.d.) shows that Caterpillar Inc. has acquired 30 companies throughout its history, and the last three have occurred in the last five years. On March 28, 2017, Caterpillar Inc. acquired Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp; on May 5, 2017, the Yard Club was acquired, and on June 29, 2020, acquired Marble Robot Inc. was acquired by Caterpillar Inc. (Crunchbase, n.d.) With the Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp acquisition, Caterpillar Inc. widened its product range, which helped it enrich its product portfolio in the market (Caterpillar, n.d.). Lawler (2017) shows that with Yard Club’s acquisition, Caterpillar Inc. got the help to advance its technology, which contributed to the firm’s fulfillment of organizational goals. through Marble Robots’ acquisition, Caterpillar Inc. gained an opportunity to leverage technology to assist it in making essential improvements to offer it consumers with solutions (Caterpillar n.d.). Caterpillar Inc. has strengthened its market position through its acquisitions, solidifying its institutional performance and contributing to its organizational goals.
The Most Critical Merger or Acquisition
The 2011 acquisition of Bucyrus International was the most critical acquisition for Caterpillar Inc. Through the procurement, the acquisition significantly contributed to Caterpillar Inc.’s organizational goals by impacting the firm’s success in its goals. Hitt et al. (2020) argue that a company is better positioned to lower its operation costs, increase its differentiation, and minimize its competitive intensity through mergers and acquisitions. Pope (2019) shows that for Caterpillar Inc., acquiring Bucyrus International created an opportunity for the firm to weaken pressure on its competition, especially Komatsu. Further, Pope (2019) shows that the acquisition was significant for Caterpillar Inc. since it allowed it to increase its product differentiation by adding large mining equipment to its production line. Additionally, the acquisition was friendly, positively contributing to Caterpillar Inc.’s attributes.
Caterpillar Inc.’s Operational Plan Effectiveness for Global Strategies
Since Caterpillar Inc.’s operational plan helps it achieve its institutional objectives, it can be considered adequate. When marketing their products at the international level, multinational companies can consider four global strategies; multi-domestic, transnational, global-standardization, and international (Hitt et al., 2020). Based on the above international marketing strategies, Caterpillar Inc., uses the transnational strategy and I know this since the company combines high-cost reduction pressure with high local responsiveness. To demonstrate this, Caterpillar Inc. acts as a local organization in international markets, which helps it add domestic characteristics to its products (Hitt et al., 2020). Further, according to Pope (2019), Caterpillar Inc.’s internal plants operating and dealer network in different regions aid in its ability to minimize operating costs. The strategy’s effectiveness lies in how it helps Caterpillar Inc. maintain its market position as a leading manufacturer of heavy equipment.
References
Caterpillar. (n.d.). Caterpillar acquires Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp: Expanding cat well service suite of product offerings. Cat.com. Web.
Caterpillar. (2019). 2019 Sustainability Report. Web.
Crunchbase. (n.d.). Caterpillar. Crunchbase. Web.
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2020). Strategic management: Competitiveness et globalization, concepts and cases. 13th ed. MA Cengage.
Lawler, R. (2017). Caterpillar acquired Yard Club, a marketplace for construction equipment. Techcrunch.com. Web.
Pope, S. (2019). Caterpillar Innovates as Competition Escalates. Morningstar, Inc. Web.