Custom «Great Lakes» Essay Paper Sample

Great Lakes Chemical Corporation was established to deal on oil and petroleum exploration. It later diversified its services into other fields by acquiring other companies that dealt with chemical and bromine business. Some of the products manufactured by this company include chemical products for water treatment, retarding flames, stabilizing polymers, and cleaning household items. One of its important branches was known as Octel Associates. It dealt with the production of tetraethyl lead (TEL), a substance used as an additive to the gasoline. This was the branch which was responsible for almost half of the corporation`s revenue. The company has the world’s largest bromine production plant in southern Arkansas.

Demographically and socially, the study shows the need for an important decision to be made by the corporation due to the social effect that is caused by their production. As much as the products are important, the effects on the people are very lethal. The need for the Great Lakes Corporation to stop production of TEL is important irrespective of the shortages that it may bring to the countries of use. When it comes to the issue of technology, Great Lakes is concerned that the developing countries have no adequate technology to deal with the production of unleaded gas. The best decision so far would be to partner with these consumer countries to establish the required technological know-how. This will ensure that unleaded gasoline is available at the consumer countries cost effectively.

The economical effect has to be felt by the Great Lakes Corporation. The study finds out that their Octel Associates branch is the world’s largest TEL producer. Giving in to the environmental concerns would mean that the main source of the corporation’s revenue would be affected. The profitability would only be affected for a period of time. This has a potential to change to the better in the long run. It is, therefore, important for the decisions that would ensure that TEL production is stopped at the expense of cutting down the profit. The environmental and geographical concerns are also very serious. The by-products of the leaded gasoline have been found to be responsible for the brain damages in babies and respiratory complications in the elder persons. People are exposed to the dangerous substance through polluted air. They have no option but to give in to the pressure from the environmentalist. It will be ethically necessary for the Great Lakes Corporation not to put profit before the lives of those who are living in the developing consumer countries.

At present, there exist many industries in the United States that deal with lead additives. This has brought up much competition in the sector. Most of these industries are large in size. The lead additive manufacturing industry has very much grown due to the demand for their products as source of fuel. To ensure that such industries keep up their profitability and their attractiveness, there are competitive forces that need to be put into consideration. These forces also help in making of important decisions by the managers. These are discussed below.

There is always a risk of entry of other competitor firms. Due to the pressure of limiting the amount of lead worldwide, the existing industries are forced to change their line of production to keep up with the demand. The possibility of new firms joining this industry mostly depends on the ability to have a strong capital base, economies of scale, and regulation by the government. Another factor is the brand loyalty. The existing companies have already become the household names. Establishing new ones would require more time in order to confidence of the consumers. Rivalry among the existing firms is also an issue in the United States. This has been very much depended on the regulation of prices by the government bodies.

Bargaining by the buyers of the products who later supply them to various destinations has also worked to be a threat to different firms. They manipulate the industry by making profits out the lowered prices. Due to the demand for unleaded fuel, the buyers only concentrate on those firms that provide such products. The situation has been worsened by the existence of very many sellers but few buyers. It is worth noting that, most of these products are standardized, something provides no alternatives. In the same note, another force is the bargaining power of the suppliers. The fact that raw materials and products used in this industry are always definite, the firms responsible for this sometimes tend to increase their prices due to a few substitutes that exist. This makes switching cost very high for the industries. Therefore, bargaining power on these suppliers threaten the integration of this industry in the United States.

The need of substitutes for the unleaded products has also affected the lead additive industry. The global environmental concerns have led to the search for the replacement to the use of petroleum products. There has been much campaign for the adaption of green energy use. This has very much affected the demand for the petroleum products. However, the impediment to this has been the cost factor. The buyers’ willingness to switch to the alternative products to the fuel based ones has very much depended on the cost of switching.

For a long time, Great Lakes Corporation has had monopoly on the production of TEL for gasoline. The study also shows that it has a major market in the developing countries. With the main production at the Octel Associates branch, it has effectively controlled the market in the United States. However, the coming of Ethyl corporation slightly reduced the monopoly. Due to its massive size and capacity, the competition has not had any effect in its activities. Demographically and socially, the study shows the need for an important decision to be made by the corporation due to the social effect that is caused by their production. As much as the products are important, the effects on the people are very lethal. The need for the Great Lakes Corporation to stop production of TEL is important irrespective of the shortages that it may bring to the countries of use. When it comes to the issue of technology, Great Lakes is concerned that the developing countries have no adequate technology to deal with the production of unleaded gas. The best decision so far would be to partner with these consumer countries to establish the required technological know-how. This will ensure that unleaded gasoline is available at the consumer countries cost effectively.

It is, therefore, important for the decisions that would ensure that TEL production is stopped at the expense of cutting down the profit. The environmental and geographical concerns are also very serious. The by-products of the leaded gasoline have been found to be responsible for the brain damages in babies and respiratory complications in the elder persons. People are exposed to the dangerous substance through polluted air. They have no option but to give in to the pressure from the environmentalist. It will be ethically necessary for the Great Lakes Corporation not to put profit before the lives of those, living in the developing consumer countries.

At present, there exist many industries in the United States that deal with lead additives. This has brought up much competition in the sector. Most of these industries are large in size. The lead additive manufacturing industry has very much grown due to the demand for their products as source of fuel.