Standard Oil Company Business Model | Business Model Navigator

Overview:

Standard Oil Co. Inc. was an American oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refinery in the world of its time. Its history as one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations ended in 1911, when the United States Supreme Court, in a landmark case, ruled that Standard Oil was an illegal monopoly.

Industries:

Industrials

Business Model Patterns:

Integrator

How they do it: Standard Oil Company’s successful, but illegal, integrator strategy ultimately lead to its demise. In a landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled it in 1911, as it was ruled to be an illegal monopoly. Standard Oil dominated the oil products market initially through horizontal integration in the refining sector, then, in later years vertical integration alongside the value chain, streamlining production and logistics, lowering costs, and undercutting competitors.

Razor And Blade

How they do it: Standard Oil Company is considered a pioneer of the Razor and Blade pattern. It sold cheap petroleum lamps alongside expensive oil to be used in the lamps as a consumable.

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