Strategic Management Journal Part 4
Write a 1,500- to 2,000-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:
Identify Caterpillar Inc.’s short-term and long-term goals.
Evaluate how mergers and acquisitions in the last 3-5 years have contributed to Caterpillar Inc.’s performance and affected its organizational goals.
Determine the most critical merger or acquisition that has contributed to Caterpillar’s performance and success in achieving organizational goals. Defend your choice.
Evaluate the effectiveness of Caterpillar’s operational plan for Internal strategies (international, multi-domestic, global-standardization, or transnational). Include supporting research or data.
Grading Rubric
Your assignment will be graded based on the following rubric:
Category | Unacceptable (0-1) | Needs Improvement (2-3) | Good (4) | Excellent (5) | Total Possible Points |
Organization (x3) | There is no apparent organization to the answers. They shows some coherence but ideas lack unity. | There is some level of organization though digressions, ambiguities, irrelevance are too many. Transition evident but not used throughout the paper. | Answers are coherent and logically organized with transitions used between ideas and paragraphs to create coherence. Overall unity of ideas is present. | Answers show high degree of attention to logic and reasoning of points. Unity clearly leads the reader to the conclusion and stirs thought regarding the topic. | 15 |
Content (x3) | Answers lack evidence of critical thinking. Writer uses superficial, simplistic, or irrelevant reasons and unjustifiable claims. Makes illogical, inconsistent inference. | Answers are primarily opinion without valid support. Little critical thinking is evident. Follows existing evidence to obtain conclusions. | Ideas are logical and reasoned, but demonstrate lesser degree of originality. Follows evidence and reason lead to obtain justifiable, logical conclusion. | Writer develops logical and reasoned independent ideas that go beyond predictable outcomes or the conclusions of researched materials. Follows where evidence and reason lead in order to obtain defensible, thoughtful, logical conclusions or solutions. | 15 |
Grammar & Mechanics(x2) | Sentences are unclear and many grammatical errors in structure make answers virtually unreadable. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and vocabulary usage contain major flaws that impede readability. | Most spelling, punctuation, and grammar correct allowing reader to progress through the answers. Some errors remain. | Answers have few spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors allowing reader to follow ideas clearly. Very few fragments or run-ons. | Answers are free of distracting spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors; absent of fragments, comma splices, and run-ons. | 5 |
Strategic Management Journal Part 4