Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

Dear bkratz01,

It depends what you mean by the terms "industries" and "competition".

But as an initial shortlist I'd suggest the following:

Mining (diamonds, gold, copper, silver, bauxite, platinum, palladium).
Big Pharma.
Oil and gas.
Government.

Of all of these probably the industry with the most clout and with the most control over the extraction, market distribution, price, and availability for sale of its goods is the diamond trade, led mostly by just two companies: De Beers of South Africa, and Alrosa of Russia.

Control the extraction or manufacture and you control the supply. Control the supply and you command the market. Command the market and you can set your own price.

Simple. Brilliant. Ruthless. And profitable? More than you can possibly imagine.

Rough stones are allowed out into the market as and when
De Beers and Alrosa say so or deem it necessary.

At diamond sales around the world, buyers of rough are essentially given a box of stones when the suppliers deem it necessary and the buyers are then given a simple choice: buy what they're given,
at the price set. Or walk away with nothing.

As a marketing strategy, this approach rather tends to focus the buyer's attention!

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

I was feeling generous. A moment of madness. I blame the sun.