Strategic Management Techniques of Caterpillar Inc.
Strategic Management Techniques of Caterpillar Inc.
Introduction
Headquartered in Peoria, Ill. Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. It is a fortune 100 company, ranked number 1 in its industry, with more than $26 billion in assets. It is a U.S. based competitor, recording half to its sales to overseas customers; Caterpillar has maintained its position as a leading U.S. exports in excess of $5.2 billion in 1999. The company directly employees approximately 70, 000 people in the U.S. and abroad.
The company is a growth oriented, diversified high technology business. The company is strong, resilient and definitely focused on the future. Glen A. Barton, Chairman and CEO, stated “Caterpillar continues to demonstrate an ability to achieve success and generate reasonable profits even when many of the markets served are at their weakest level in year.” The company remains committed to profitable growth, fully leveraging the benefits of its newly designed e-business and is pursuing improvements in quality through 6 Sigma in an effort strengthen it leading global position.
Global Leadership
Caterpillar products and components are manufactured in 42 plants in the U.S. and 49 other plants located in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, China, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Sweden. Marketing operations are headquartered in most of the major cities in these countries. Caterpillar's dealer network is the company's most important competitive edge. They deliver superior customer service through an extensive worldwide network of 220 dealers, which as of June 30, 2001, was composed of 63 dealers inside and 157 outside the United States. Caterpillar dealers operate more than 1,840 branch locations around the world with 643 Cat Dealer Rental Stores.
Creating Shareholder Value
“Caterpillar is committed to generating attractive returns for its shareholders. Strategic growth initiatives involving its machine, engine, and service businesses are expected to drive these returns over the next several years.” According to a recent article. Since 1993, Caterpillar has increased cash dividends in eight consecutive years, boosting the quarterly dividend to $.35 per share. Since June 1995, they have repurchased approximately 63 million shares, or about 15 percent of all outstanding shares.
Financial Data 2000 ...