The following is derived from the Caterpillar Inc. website: https://www.caterpillar.com/en/company.html
 
Caterpillar Inc. is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Caterpillars enterprise strategy focuses on solutions to help customers build a better world and allows the company to deliver profitable growth for their shareholders. The companys corporate governance program ensures they serve the interests of stockholders and other stakeholders with the highest standards of responsibility, integrity, and compliance with all laws. Caterpillars global presence, product breadth, and financial strength enable the company to be competitive in todays global marketplaces.
 

Strategic management includes an analysis of a businesss current state. Continuing with your research of Caterpillar, Inc., you will leverage the business SWOT tool to identify and drive organizational strategic decision-making and evaluate problem-solving strategies for the company.
 
Create a Word doc and title it Strategic Management Research Journal Part 2.
 
Write a 500-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:

Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Caterpillar, Inc. Each SWOT quadrant must contain 7 items, (this is not included in the 500-word count).
Analyze Caterpillars strengths and include specific examples based on your SWOT analysis findings.
Evaluate the weaknesses and threats for any common themes that might be a risk.
Compare Caterpillars weaknesses against its opportunities.

Propose problem-solving strategies to address Caterpillars weaknesses or threats that could be mitigated by a business opportunity or business decision

While attending Santa Clara University, Ginny Erickson had a sales internship with a large radio corporation. Her job focused on selling advertising to untapped resources around the Bay Area. To find new business, she was advised to look for small, local companies that hadn’t thought of advertising on the radio. The company’s informal philosophy for its sales staff, as she learned from others on staff, was, ‘Do the best for us, not for the client.’Ginny struggled with the company’s motto. The radio station had a young audience base, yet they were asking her to convince family-owned restaurants and other small business owners to advertise with them. The station was willing to do anything to make a profit. Ginny knew that these family-owned restaurants and other targeted companies shouldn’t be interested in placing ads with such a young audience, but she was told to convince them anyway. To her, this philosophy was just dishonest.
Ginny was also told to “use whatever incentive, whatsoever.” For a young female, this included pushing the limits of accepted, respectable business attire to attract customers. She had a target to reach and, as a low-ranking member within the company, Ginny didn’t voice her concern about the business practices to any of her superiors. With the lofty quotas they set, she felt she had no choice but to use their unethical practices. Besides, she needed the sales experience and a good reference to put on her resume.
Ginny was your student in Business Ethics last semester. She just called you seeking your advice. What would you tell her, and why?