Strategic Management Project Background
Overview
The intention of the Strategic Management Project is to provide practical experience with the elements of strategic management. The project is spread across the five-week period of the course. Weeks 1 – 4 provide an opportunity to put key terms into practice by appraising the strategic planning elements of Caterpillar Inc. through documentation in the Strategic Management Research Journal. The Week 5 concluding assignment will showcase your understanding of strategic management and improvement in the formulation of a presentation to Caterpillar Inc. leadership.
For purposes of the Strategic Management Project, you will operate as if you are a new hire at the Caterpillar Inc. headquarters in the role of Assistant Strategic Development Analyst.
Assistant Strategic Development Analyst Job Description
· Maintain a Strategic Management Research Journal in which you:
o Appraise Caterpillar Inc.’s corporate data, competitors, and associated business information.
o Document background information to include previous and current strategic management of Caterpillar Inc.
· Assess the strengths and weaknesses of strategic management of Caterpillar Inc., based on your analyses, and provide information in a presentation to Caterpillar Inc. leadership.
· Recommend strategic management actions to ensure future success in a presentation to Caterpillar Inc. leadership.
About Caterpillar Inc.
The following is derived from the Caterpillar Inc. website:
Caterpillar Inc. is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives Caterpillar’s enterprise strategy focuses on solutions to help customers build a better world and allows the company to deliver profitable growth for their shareholders. The company’s 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. Caterpillar’s global presence, product breadth and financial strength enables the company to be competitive in today’s global marketplaces.

Familiarize yourself with the following terms and concepts discussed this week in preparation for completion of this assignment: strategic management, competitive advantage, strategic plan, mission statement, vision statement, core values statement, AFI.
Create a strategic management journal. You will use information from this entry in your presentation due in Week 5.
Respond in your journal entry in 700- to 1050- words to the following prompts:

Determine how AFI strategy framework acts as an integrative facilitator for strategic management planning.
Identify the guiding principles used for preparing effective statements that describe the mission, vision, and the core values of an organization.
Review the mission statement in Chapter 1 of Strategic Management: Concepts (p. 13), and determine whether the Caterpillar Inc. mission statement conforms to the description in the text. State the reasons the mission statement conforms or does not conform.
Research public information, such as news releases, financial reports, and marketing analyses. Based on your research evaluate the alignment between what Caterpillar is currently doing and their mission, vision, or values statement.

Must be in APA paper format. When using info from research or text make sure to properly cite in paper and include reference on reference page in APA format