Preview

John D. Rockefeller's Strategy

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1265 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
John D. Rockefeller's Strategy
Many associate the name Rockefeller with success and riches. However, John D. Rockefeller, the richest man of his time, may not be all that he was believed to be. Looking back into his life and his involvement in the oil business of the 1800’s, I am appalled to see the strategies and tactics he used in order to achieve such success. Although much can be learned from his tremendous business abilities, I do not agree with the methods Rockefeller used in order to gain so much power and riches. From a Christian ethics standpoint, I believe that his strategies were immoral because he destroyed independent companies, had secret operations, and used his riches for philanthropy in order to appear humble and justify the means.
John D. Rockefeller was very determined to become the most powerful man in the oil industry and in his attempt to become such a man he brutally destroyed any other independent companies who owned oil refineries. In the late 1800’s the main source of light were kerosene lamps. These were originally powered by whale oil which soon became too expensive for the common household. During this same time an abundance of oil was found in the northeast land of the United States. The oil was free and up for grabs to anyone who wanted to make a living out of it. The only main cost they incurred was for transportation of the oil. Rockefeller was known to have a mind for business and became very interested in the unstructured, limitless industry. He purchased his first oil refinery in 1965 and soon after began purchasing more and more. As he saw the riches that the industry was producing for him, he sought to buy out many of his competitors. It came to a point where he would simply approach independent refiners, show them his financial records, and convince them to sell because they didn’t stand a chance against his low prices. South Improvements was the name of his refinery. Not only did he want to have control of the refineries, he wanted to unite the four

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    APush

    • 589 Words
    • 2 Pages

    10. John D. Rockefeller- founded a company that would come to control most of the nation's oil refineries by eliminating its competition.…

    • 589 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Often in novels, the author is able to personify and use the setting as an imperative aspect of a story such that it could almost take the form of a character. For Homer Hickam Jr. (Sonny), Coalwood was not only his hometown, but it became his motivation to continue building and launching his rockets. Every house in Coalwood was occupied with families of coal miners, and for someone to participate in another activity besides football was rare and often discouraged. “Only coal mining was more important in Coalwood than high school football. Sputnik, and anything else, was going to always come in a distant third” (Hickam Jr. 27). It was known that if a male student didn’t receive a football scholarship, than they were either going to join the…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rockefeller would found Standard Oil company in 1870. This company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, which would become the base of all his operations. Cleveland would become a top five refining center and Standard Oil would become the most profitable oil business. Rockefeller had some unorthodox means of doing business with competitors. He was once called "Reckafellow" by Carnegie which symbolizes how far Rockefeller would go to increase the wealth of his business. One of his illegal means of getting a cost advantage came from secret rebates from the railroads bringing oil into Cleveland. Other competing refiners wanted similar rebates but by the time they were recognized, Standard Oil would become one of the largest shippers of oil and kerosene in the country. By 1877, Rockefeller would control 95 percent of all the oil refineries in the United…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John D Rockefeller was a genius businessman. He had a natural knack for it. He reduced the competition by inventing new ideas such as quantity discount, where he would charge less if the customer bought more. This way he could make people buy his oil instead of competitors because it seemed cheaper, and he was making the customer buy more because it seemed like a good deal. Rockefeller also saved money by demanding lower transportation costs, which he could do because he was dominating the business and without him, there would be no business. Soon his competitors were paying five times as much in transportation costs. Rockefeller at one point just eliminated the…

    • 625 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With this borrowed money and the money he had made with his other business, he bought the largest oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio and started Standard Oil. Rockefeller formed Standard Oil with his younger brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, and a group of other men. John was the company’s president and the largest shareholder. Over the next few years, Rockefeller made new partners and grew his business interest in the growing oil industry. In 1882 these companies combined to form the Standard Oil Trust. This trust would soon control about 90% of the nation’s refineries and pipelines in America. One of the reasons Standard Oil was so successful was that they bought rival companies and started companies for distributing and marketing their products. “In order to exploit economies of scale, Standard Oil did everything from building it’s own barrels to employing scientists to figure out a use for petroleum by products.” Because of Rockefeller’s enormous wealth and fame, he was often the target of people spreading rumours about how he ran his business and how he became successful. As the New York Times reported in 1937: “ He was accused of crushing out competition, getting rich on rebates from railroads, bribing men to spy on competing companies, making secret agreements, coercing rivals to join the Standard Oil Trust under threat of being forced out of business, building up enormous fortunes on the ruins of other men, and so…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ida Tarbell

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages

    3. As a result of Ida Tarbell, there was a report filed against Rockefeller, accusing him of creating and organizing a Monopoly. He went to Supreme Court; they ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company ruling it in violation of the Sherman antitrust act. The court forced Standard Oil to break into thirty four independent companies spread across the country.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Spindletop In Texas

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Spindletop in Texas is a historic event that changed the oil industry forever. January 10, 1901 was the day of an enormous explosion of oil that reached a height of more than 150 feet and produced 100,000 barrels a day. A gusher of this magnitude was unheard of since it was way more powerful than anything else in the world. This caused a booming oil industry that grew to record highs and many of the oil companies in America such as Gulf Oil, Texaco, and Exxon. The Spindletop is a place where those companies can say they began.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Business is a fascinating topic to research and no one is more fascinating that John D. Rockefeller. This paper answers the age old question of any successful businessman: where did he get his start? I will answer that question with a paper about John D. Rockefeller’s early life. It will also explain how he became one of the first great business leaders for America and some of the major influences in his life and what he did after he…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gospel of Wealth: Carnegie’s philosophy that the millionaire had a duty to distribute wealth while still alive.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rockefeller was a captain of industry who helped to make America strong. Although, he did spy on other companies to better his own business, that didn’t stop him from being a generous and caring man. Rockefeller had a positive effect on America because he gave away money to charities, built great industries and donated lots of money to churches and schools. John d. Rockefeller was the founder of the University of Chicago, (a university that opened in a church in 1892), and the Rockefeller University, (an institute of medical research in New York City), that was charted in 1901. He was also the founder of the General Education Board, (established in 1902), as well as the founder of the Rockefeller foundation, (charted in 1913 to promote peace throughout the world) (Unknown). He was a very rich person who funded many universities. He funded the establishment of Central Philippine University (where Philippines could study). John D. Rockefeller was a person who was well known for his philanthropic contributions and charitable contributions. According to the New York World, in 1880, the Standard Oil Company was “…the cruelest, impudent, pitiless, and grasping monopolies that ever happened in a country”. The text supports how Rockefeller used cruel, ruthless, business practices to not only enrich himself but others. Rockefeller and his associates owned a lot of different operations. Each one operated in just one state. In 1882, Rockefeller’s lawyers created a form of…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    During the 18th and 19th centuries many industrial revolutions took place and modernized the American way of life. Advances were made that forever remodeled the landscape of American economics, industry, and politics. These innovations and advancements, however, did not come without much strife and toil. The innovators of the American Industrial Revolution were visionaries of their time. John D. Rockefeller was a true innovator and industrialist, one of the most recognized of his time. John Rockefeller’s field in which he shined was that of oil drilling, refining, and storing. His work would forever change the livelihood of the American people so much, that the effects of his work are still reminiscing today.…

    • 3007 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Carnegie has a very unique perspective pertaining to the wealth in America and its distribution. Not only is he concerned about how much money is put to good use, but when; such as if the person donating the money is in life or after death. The “Gospel of Wealth” brings perspective of the nation’s money recirculation and the worth of a man by his generosity while living.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Robber Barons

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many people consider Rockefeller a robber of industry because of his forcible ways of gaining his monopolies. Rockefeller was fond of buying out small and large competitors. If the competitors refused to sell they often found Rockefeller cutting the prices of his Standard Oil or in the worst cases, their factories mysteriously blowing up. Rockefeller was obsessed with controlling the oil market and used many of undesirable tactics to flush his competitors out of the market. Rockefeller was also a master of the rebate game. He was one of the most dominant controllers of the railroads. He was so good at the rebate that at some times he skillfully commanded the rail road to pay rebates to his standard oil company on the traffic of other competitors. He was able to do this because his oil traffic was so high that he could make or break a section of a railroad a railroad company by simply not running his oil on their lines. Another one of Rockefellers earlier mentioned but not explained tactics was his horizontally integrated monopoly. Rockefeller used this horizontal monopoly to set prices and force his competitors to merge with him.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the age of 19, Rockefeller and one of his associates opened up their own trading corporation where they would net $450,000 their first year 9 (“A). In 1863, John and his new associates went into the oil industry and opened their own company named “Standard Oil.” Within the first year they made around 40% profit (“John). This is when John knew that matters must be taken into his own hands in order to further expand his reach and his profits, so the next year, John bought out almost all of his associates and he gained majority control of the corporation (“John). By 1882, Standard Oil would produce 90% of the…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the industrial boom

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Oil had mainly been used for lighting lamps and was not very cheap. After John Rockefeller became an oil tycoon, the price of oil was nearly cut in half because it was easy to find and also to manufacture. Almost every home in America would soon have the luxury of having lights and fuel for their homes. The production of oil also developed and the oil could now be made into many different products such as, kerosene, crude oil, and gasoline. The easy extraction and manufacture process also made oil go down in price.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays