Diversification

Tractors

John Deere is a very diverse multinational business.  They sell everything from tractors, trucks, atv's, engines, and even gun safes and toys.  John Deere realizes that they need to try and get into emerging markets as well as keep inovating in their cash cow markets.

In2010,  John Deere divested their wind energy department "John Deere Renewables" to Exlon Enterprises.  They realized that this business was not their strong point and by divesting it they gained much more then they would have had they continued to try and make the business profitable.

John Deere focuses on internal growth.  They are constantly innovating and control or own most of

Engines

their suppliers.  They make their own parts and tools so that they rely on very few people to keep their company profitable.  

They are very concerned with global growth.  By the year 2018, John Deere has goals to reach 50 billion in their mid-cycle sales.  They also want 50% of their growth to be outside the US and Canada.  In order to reach 50billion, they realize they need to improve their profitability.  By 2014, John Deere wants to have a 12% mid-cycle margin and a 30% operating return on operating assets rate.

These are all very large goals.  John Deere focuses on internal supporting businesses to help them reach these levels of excellence.  They use their financial services, power systems, worldwide parts,

ATV's

and intelligent solutions group, to add value to their equipment and give the customer a better experience.  Having these businesses all internal also helps to promote their brand and improve in the quality they can provide because these support businesses are tailored to fit their products.  The people who work in these businesses also are very knowledgeable about the products that John Deere's customers are using and can access a lot of essential information that the customer may not know at the time.

By focusing on internal development, John Deere can capture the value created by their own innovative activities without having to "share the wealth" with their competitors.  They are large enough to use their financial and global leverage to finance their research and to continue to provide supporting businesses to add value to their main product lines.