The Exxon Way

A revealing article in this Sunday's New York Times showcases the perspective of Exxon Mobil, the largest company in the world. If Wal-Mart is the greatest elaboration of the low-cost, low-price model for retailing, Exxon Mobil seems to be the epitome of a closed-loop corporate culture literally strapped to an economic IV of fossil fuels.

Exxon Mobil still believes that oil is the future and with company assets that rank between Austria and Greece in a ranking of world economies you wonder about their ability to impose this vision of the future on the rest of us. In fact, the article paints an eery picture of low-level recruits trained in the Exxon way that disregards dissent in a ruthless push for efficient extraction of oil and natural gas. These recruits get infected with the Exxon DNA that reminds one of the Borg in the The Next Generation Star Trek series. A recent suggestion at a shareholder's meeting that maybe the company should think about a carbon-free future was quickly dismissed.

Perhaps the most interesting fact in the article is that with its vast cash reserves and completely clean credit sheet, the company is well-positioned for all kinds of extracurricular activities that have nothing to do with oil extraction, such as lobbying federal agencies, influencing, through various means, the affairs of developing countries, and manipulating financial markets in more dubious ways than through rollercoaster gas prices.

The Exxon way is described as patience, determination, and long-term vision -- all qualities that in an of themselves are admirable. They have worked together to create a well-oiled (excuse the pun) organizational model and culture uniquely suited to the era of globalization. These values applied to the movement for a carbon-free economy might prove equally useful. Still, the inefficiencies not allowed by the Exxon Way are often the source of innovation. Unproductive muddling becomes the source unprecendented invention. When the earthquake comes, in the form of peak oil, rigid companies like Exxon Mobil will likely be the first to fall.