Caterpillar Inc.’s Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

Strategic Management Part Four – Caterpillar, Inc.
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October 11, 2021
Understanding the various goals of a successful organization is essential for any future leader. It allows him to have a better insight into how these companies could achieve strategy and efficiency by laying down their essential principles and implementing them using strategic organization. In this article, the author would like to focus on Caterpillar's short–term and long–term goals that helped in its consistent development as one of the largest companies around the world. Overall, the author believes that knowing the importance of these goals and knowing how to apply them in the future is essential for the pursuit of success.
Caterpillar Inc's Goals
One of the main differences between short-term and long-term goals is their time frame. On the one hand, short-term goals are usually easier to execute and thus have a time frame of around 6-months to five years.
On the other hand, long-term goals would take a more extended period of 3 to 5 years (or more) due to the difficulty of achieving the same. In line with this, the company's short-term goals based on its 2020 report are to produce facilities that would reduce its energy emissions by about 50%. The company aims to do this by redesigning or changing some of its work protocols in line with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), one of the gold standards in determining the 'environmental-friendliness of one's facility CITATION USGnd \l 1033 (US Green Building Council, n.d.). In addition to this, the company is also aiming to reduce its carbon footprint and its resource consumption in the production of its products while also improving its production capabilities and revenues.
On the other hand, the company's long-term goal is to develop a sustainable and profitable production and distribution method. Since the company is mainly a producer of construction equipment, they aim to develop new technological advances and production methods to achieve these long-term goals. In fact, they have committed themselves to continue developing products that would be more sustainable than any previous iterations in line with their New 2030 Sustainability Goals CITATION Fin21 \l 1033 (Yahoo Finance, 2021).
Mergers and Acquisitions
Caterpillar Inc. has engaged in various Mergers and Acquisitions with various companies to maintain its competitive advantage and reduce the chances of it being overtaken by its competitors. Notably, reports said that for the past 3 to 5 years, the company was able to acquire a total of 3 companies which increased its total acquisition to 37 companies ever since its establishment CITATION Mer21 \l 1033 (Mergr.com, 2021). Accordingly, most of these acquisitions are done on companies from various nations and mostly on related industries such as machinery and electrical equipment. These acquisitions are said to improve the company's competitive advantage by reducing its competition, increasing its reach, and even benefiting from its subsidiary's resources and suppliers, among others.
Most Critical Merger or Acquisition
One of the most critical (and largest) acquisitions that Caterpillar ...