Caterpillar Tractor Co.

Christopher A. Bartlett

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 1985 (Revised September 1988)

Caterpillar Tractor Co.

Abstract

Describes the structure and evolution of the earth moving equipment industry worldwide in the post war era, particularly focusing on developments in the 1960s and 1970s. Describes Caterpillar's strategy in becoming the dominant worldwide competitor (industry market share exceeding 50%). Includes details on CAT's manufacturing, marketing research and development, and organizational policies. Concludes with a description of some environmental changes occurring in the early 1980s, and raises the question of how these might effect Caterpillar Tractor Co.'s record 1981 performance and require changes in its highly successful strategy.

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;

Language: English

Format: Print

21 pages

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Citation:

Bartlett, Christopher A. "Caterpillar Tractor Co." Harvard Business School Case 385-276, February 1985. (Revised September 1988.)

Describes the entrepreneurial leadership of Jack Manning Bancroft (JMB), a young Indigenous Australian university student who created the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), a nonprofit organization he formed to respond to the problem of Indigenous high school students completing high school at less than half the rate of non-Indigenous students. The case traces the strategic, organizational, and cultural challenges JMB faced in building an organization that eventually offered mentoring partnerships to 8,000 Indigenous students in 350 high schools throughout Australia. Furthermore, the AIME students were completing school and going on to university at the same rate as non-Indigenous students. The case concludes as JMB contemplates taking his successful, sophisticated model to the United States.

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Caterpillar Tractor Co.

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