Seizing the Middle: Chess Strategy in Business

# · ✸ 79 · 💬 50 · 2 years ago · fs.blog · feross · 📷
John D. Rockefeller infamously used the strategy of seizing the middle to control the oil industry throughout the nineteenth century. Rockefeller recognized early on that railroads were the lifeblood of the oil industry because oil had to be shipped, and thus he sought to gain control of them. Railroads were to the oil business what the middle of a chessboard is to a player-without dependable, controlled access to them, a company could make precious few moves. As he loathed competition, Rockefeller sought to eliminate it-and one of his maneuvers to reduce his competition in the oil business was making sure no one else could transport it around the country. Once Standard Oil became the largest oil refining company in the United States, Rockefeller was in an excellent negotiating position with the railroads. Although controlling access to the railroads was a key element in seizing the middle territory of the oil business, Rockefeller had many more pieces in play. With the lion's share of the market and profits to match, he could get credit for almost unlimited loans, giving Standard Oil a further advantage over competitors and a dominance over the oil territory.
Seizing the Middle: Chess Strategy in Business



Send Feedback | WebAssembly Version (beta)