Marathon petroleum Corp is a multi- national company that deals with exploration, refining, transportation and sale of petroleum products and gas. The company whose main offices are located in Findlay, Ohio has been in business since 1998 after its formation from Ashland Inc. and marathon Oil Company. It operates and owns over eight thousand miles of pipeline used to transport its refined products (Plunkett, 2008). The fact that marathon petroleum Corp has invested in operations in all aspects of petroleum production adds value to its finished products and gives is a comparative advantage over its competitors who mainly specializes in specific operations. However, external factors and stiff competition from other multi nationals threaten the operations and success of the company by scrambling its market share. This paper analyses some of the company’s corporate cultures and structure which acts as its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
The company has invested in all operations in petroleum production. This gives it a comparative advantage over other companies and reduces the cost of production which in turn increases the profit margin. It produces, refines, transport and sells it products which ensures that external factors like high cost of transportation do not affect it operations. Its effective operations in refining and the wide range of products boost its revenue. This calls for diversity in terms of the workforce and employee’s specialization. The company offers training to new employees as a way of ensuring there is well managed result oriented job entry. The company’s diversification of its operations makes it command a huge market share because it offers consumers a wide range of products.
Marathon petroleum Corp has invested highly in production equipment and facilities. It understands that to be a leader in the petroleum industry it has to cut on cost because the price of crude oil which is its main raw material is always on the rise. This has seen the company invest in pipeline system which helps in distribution of its petroleum products across the United States of America. It currently own and operate over eight thousand miles of pipeline system. It has also invested heavily in refinery and currently owns seven refineries across the country. This aids in production and the company refines millions of liters of crude oil on a daily basis.
Weaknesses
Marathon petroleum Corp has a great weakness in terms of capacity of its oil reserves. Due to increased operations over the years the reserves are fast declining. This calls for swift measures to be carried out as it threatens the operations of the company. The company is also faced with poor and lack of scale as well as litigations. The management of marathon petroleum Corp has dwelt so much on building a strong workforce in terms of mentoring, training on cultural diversity, integration and team work as a way of serving the huge client base it commands and maintain the revenue levels. This has seen other operation sectors being forgotten. For instance, the company should be working on ways of venturing into other markets in order to withstand the huge competition in the petroleum industry.
Marathon oil Corp’s corporate culture and structure gives it an edge over its competitors in the petroleum industry. The company embraces diversity and promotes team work and integration in its operations by offering training to its staff on matters of cultural diversity awareness and inclusion. It also deals and stress on mentoring which creates an ideal internal environment in terms of strong workforce that contribute to its success.
References
Havaldar, K. (2005). Industrial Marketing: Text and Cases. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Plunkett, J. (2008). Plunkett's Energy Industry Almanac 2009 (E-Book): Energy Industry Market. Houston: Plunkett Research Ltd.
Dibb, S. & Simkin, L. (2008). Marketing planning: a workbook for marketing managers. New York: Cengage Brain.
