CATERPILLAR INC.-CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Caterpillar Inc.-Change Management

Caterpillar Inc.-Change Management

CASE SUMMARY

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network.[1][3] Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. With more than USD $67 billion in assets, Caterpillar was ranked number one in its industry and number 44 overall in the 2009 Fortune 500. Caterpillar stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Founded in California in 1925 as the Caterpillar Tractor Co., the company re-organized itself as a Delaware corporation in 1986 under the current name, Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar's headquarters are located in Peoria, Illinois, United States.

As of the first quarter of 2006, 44% of Caterpillar's sales are to overseas customers. Caterpillar products are sold in nearly 200 countries. The company has a worldwide network of 220 dealers: 63 dealers in the United States and 157 in other countries. Caterpillar products and components are manufactured in 51 plants in the United States and 59 plants in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, the People's Republic of China, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Sweden. Caterpillar also licenses the manufacturing of Caterpillar-branded clothing, hats, footwear, and other consumer products.

Caterpillar's historical manufacturing home is in Peoria, Illinois, where its world headquarters and core research and development activities are located. Although Caterpillar has "farmed out" much of its local parts production and warehousing to outside firms, it still has four major plants in the Peoria area: the Mapleton Foundry, where diesel engine blocks and other large parts are cast; the East Peoria factory, which has assembled Caterpillar tractors for over 70 years; the Mossville engine plant, built after World War II; and the Morton parts facility.

Caterpillar has a corporate governance structure where the Chairman of the board also acts as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Board of Directors is fully independent and is made up of non-employee directors selected from outside the company. Several group presidents report to the CEO, and multiple vice presidents report to each group president. The board has four committees: Audit, Compensation, Governance, and Public Policy. The behavior of all employees is governed by a Code of Worldwide Business Conduct, first published in 1974 and last amended in 2005, which sets the corporate standard for honesty and ethical behavior. Management employees are retested on this code annually.

Caterpillar came close to bankruptcy in the early 1980s, at one point losing almost $1 million per day due to a sharp downturn in product demand as competition with Japanese rival Komatsu (who at the time used the internal slogan "encircle Caterpillar") heated up. The company also suffered when the United States declared an embargo against the Soviet Union after they invaded Afghanistan, causing the company to be unable to sell millions of dollars worth of pipelaying equipment it had already ...