Familiarize yourself with the following terms and concepts discussed this week in preparation for completion of this assignment: vertical integration, taper integration, backward vertical integration, forward vertical integration, strategic alliances, global strategy, international strategy, innovation.

Create a 700 to 1,050-word entry in your strategic management research journal. You will use information from this entry in your presentation due in Week 5. Respond to the following prompts in your journal entry:

• Identify Caterpillar Inc.’s short-term versus long term goals.
• Evaluate how mergers and acquisitions in the past 5 years have contributed to Caterpillar Inc.’s performance.
• Assess Caterpillar Inc.’s global strategy (international, multi-domestic, global-standardization, or transnational).
• Discuss the types of innovation Caterpillar Inc.’s uses such as radical incremental, disruptive, and architectural innovation. Identify types of innovation Caterpillar Inc. has used over time.