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Charles Peyton, vice president for international supply, currently spends part of almost every day before the management committee, telling which countries he is routing tanker shipments to and why, since that has become politically sensitive. Is the decision his or the committee's? It is impossible to say.
Sometimes committee members merely listen and go on to another topic with out explicitly approving Peyton's plans; sometimes they start a discussion, after which the destination of a tanker may or may not be changed.
The system might appear designed to make Exxon a slow-moving debating society -a kind of centipede with ar thritis. In fact, Exxon has an enviable reputation for being nimble. The main reason is that the New York headquarters still grants considerable autonomy to subsidiaries and affiliates in the field.
Independent Texas oilmen, for instance, often ask to lease wells that major oil companies are not operating. Some companies refer all bids to corporate directors, who may take years to answer; Exxon's local executives can usually return a yes or no answer within two weeks. Independent oilmen, indeed, almost unanimously give Exxon credit for not only swift but fair dealing. Many say that Exxon will not sign a sale, purchase or lease contract unless its officials are convinced that the transaction is good for both parties.
John D.'s Legacy. The company certainly did not always enjoy such a sound reputation. In fact, in its early days under John D. 'Rockefeller, it was a ruthless monopoly. Rockefeller opened a refinery in Cleveland in 1863, combined it with several others under the name Standard Oil in 1870, and set up the Standard Oil Trust in 1882. Standard Oil bribed many politicians and cut prices to the marrow in order to drive out competitors. One of John D.'s favorite techniques was to negotiate secret rebates from railroads, which were eager to carry Standard's petroleum; he handed them so much business that they frequently gave him kickbacks on the shipments of rival firms as well. He then slashed prices still further, and bought up ruined rivals. By 1884, Standard Oil was selling more than 80% of the oil that flowed out of U.S. wells. Though no body today defends his tactics, historians still debate whether Rockefeller did more harm or good. He organized a chaotic industry into a coordinated and efficient network of wells, pipelines, refineries, tankers and marketing facilities, establishing vertical integration, which is the' dominant form of the industry to this day.
Rockefeller's influence is still felt in Exxon. He began selling overseas when the industry was still a handful of wells in Pennsylvania turning out a product that was refined mostly into kerosene burned in lamps (gasoline was then an unwanted byproduct). Early on, Stan dard Oil boasted that