Endron International

Greater Sudbury -x- Houston -x- Rio de Janeiro -x- Seattle

Corporate Motto

Printed in neat block lettering on white paper, the following motto is found in nearly every high-level Endron executive's workspace:

"The cost of the fine is always less than the cost of compliance."

Introduction

Endron is big business at its finest -- and at its worst. Hundreds of thousands of people, if not more, draw their paychecks from Endron or one of its direct subsidiaries. Within their ranks are saints and frightening sinners (albeit more and more of the latter every day), and thousands upon thousands of absolutely, utterly normal people. But mixed within the serried ranks of Endron employees are a few who, regardless of their relative position, are somehow a bit more effective at doing the Wyrm's work than others. They are just a bit more in tune with their inner corruption, a bit more adept at getting the firm to do their bidding, a bit less human than even their peers.

History -- The Kennedy Files

In the beginning there was Premium Oil. Founded, like the American oil industry as a whole, in the state of Pennsylvania, Premium rapidly metamorphosed into the corporate giant called Pentex. Along the way, however, it lost focus. With assets to snap up, competitors to crush and politicians to buy -- not to mention inhuman agendas to address -- the oil business began to suffer. Even worse, operations had been focused exclusively on the Pennsylvania oil fields, which while accessible, were also accessible to a great deal of Premium's competition, and which where thus getting tapped out at an alarming rate.

In 1916, the moment of truth arrived. Pentex' oil dealings were at a crisis level, and unless something were done, the entire operation could conceivably go under. Faced with the prospect of losing its cornerstone business, Pentex did the smart thing. Recognizing that the parent corporation could no longer do the business justice or give it the attention it needed. Pentex spun Premium's original assets off into a new, publicly owned corporation. The public offering of stock in Endron gave the struggling firm the shot of capital it needed, and the danger passed.

Needless to say, Pentex maintained a majority interest in the firm. As the years have passed and additional capital crises have forced additional stock sales, Pentex' shares in Endron have dropped below a majority, but it still owns the largest single voting block. Furthermore, with Endron stock performing well, the Board has quietly begun a buyback.

The next year, new alliances (corporate and otherwise) that Pentex made finally allowed Endron to expand its operations, and the company was well on its way to re-establishing itself as a major player in the petroleum field.

Hiram Bollingsworth

Endron's first president, Hiram Bollingsworth, was a man of large appetites. Barely five and a half feet tall, he weighed nearly 300 pounds and had a thick spade beard that led one observer to call him "Lincoln, stepped on by a giant." Bollingsworth also had a wife, a devout Spiritualist named Hattie, who insisted on dragging her husband along to all sorts of seances, table rappings and the like. Inevitably, she hauled Hiram, who was a stolid, able executive, to one seance too many. A rather nasty Bane answered the call and took an almost obsessive interest in Hiram's doings. Slowly he -- and his company -- fell under its sway. When Hattie began to express concerns about the direction Hiram was moving in, he introduced her to some of what she'd been looking for over those many years.

The funeral, needless to say, was lavish, and witnesses remarked that Hiram was bearing up remarkably well.

It was under Bollingsworth's leadership, then, unencumbered by mortal distractions, that Endron really took off. Indeed, Bollingsworth was so successful that he made several Board members, including Zettler, nervous. They arranged for a fatal accident in 1959, and then rammed through multiple re-organizations that made sure that Endron could never have a strong president again. It was also around this time that "They" made their first appearance, though whether this was a coincidence, a sideways maneuver by the Bane that had sponsored Bollingsworth or a move by a member of the Board is unknown. Since then, Endron has run steadily, in not explosively. It has always been profitable, and has been considered a solid investment for years. Nothing anyone currently in power is liable to do with change that, either. Once again, Endron is the rock that Pentex is built upon, and this time it's been built to last.

Corporate Diversification

Diversification has come relatively late to Endron, though the company has embraced it with a vengeance. The large-scale refining operation did not open until the 1930s, and the gasoline stations until almost ten years later. Endron's corporate strategy has always been a conservative one: "See if an industry has legs, let others make the first mistakes, then jump in with both feet and a massive amount of capital." As a result of this policy, Endron's history of growth is one of fits and starts, with brief periods of rapid expansion flanked by long years of stability and slow growth.

Corporate Policy

Endron corporate policy is very simple: "Make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, with as little overhead as possible." This hell-bent-for-leather profitability grab makes the stockholders happy and ties in neatly with the Wyrm's ambitions. After all, in the petroleum industry, "as little overhead as possible" means as few environmental safeguards and considerations as possible. In means as little maintenance on the tanker fleet and as few smokestack scrubbers as they can get away with, as little environmental repair to areas that have been torn up for drilling and as much sidestepping of environmental regulations as is humanly possible.

Of course, Endron cannot openly flout this policy of environmental disdain. After all, it is bad publicity. Instead, the company funds think tanks and lobbyists, along with publicity campaigns designed to make the public think that it really is no big deal if the spotted-owl (or the bald-eagle, or the the lower two-thirds of the Snake River) gets it in the figurative neck. Coming out and saying: "We don't give a damn about the environment" has proven to be ineffective, so instead Endron mounts the campaigns that say: "Sure, we can save a little more wilderness -- but at the cost of how many jobs? Or we can make sure that we absolutely won't have any oil slicks, but think about how much that will add to the cost of a gallon of gasoline." Slowly they turn public opinion, and inch by inch they roll back the limits of what's acceptable in terms of corporate responsibility. At the same time, Endron make high-profile but low-content gestures in the direction of responsibility, all to add to the smokescreen.

In the end, though, it all comes down tot he almighty dollar. How many can Endron pull in this quarter, how low can overhead be kept and what's up for next quarter? All the rest is commentary, though it behooves the Werewolves who have an interest in Endron to go and learn it.

Who sets Corporate Policy?

Outside of Endron headquarters, literally no one knows who make Endron policy. This is not a canard, but rather the frightening state of affairs. All important decisions need to be passed up the chain to corporate HQ to be decided on by the movers and shakers of the company. The question of who those individuals might be remains a mystery. No one outside the inner-circle knows. Rather, employees half-jokingly refer to the unseen decision-makers as "Them." All responsibility and power ultimately rests with "Them," whoever they might be -- the average Endron employee honestly has no idea. Mind you, the names and faces of corporate officials appear in annual reports and the like, but everyone from middle management on down knows that those men and (rarely) women are not the real powers that be. "They" keep themselves well hidden from even their own.

"Them"

The men and women who actually run Endron are well hidden. They have titles like "Senior Adviser on Energy Exploration" and "Assistant Financial Officier."' They have offices in Endron HQ, but not corner offices. They make a fair bit of money, but not an ostentatious amount -- at least, not in any way that can be traced or taxed. They are scattered throughout the corporate structure with seeming randomness, though there is not a department or operation to which they don't have some connection. Most have plaques on their office walls thanking them for 10 or 15 or 25 years of good service to Endron, and their work-spaces are generally so banal as to arouse no comment, no suspicion and no interest.

That is exactly how "They" want it. Hidden in plain sight, they are effectively invisible. After all, they seem to have no power, no ambition and no say. It is only the very keenest observer who will note that the head of R&D seems to stop by that one accountant's office more than would seem necessary, or that certain upper-mid-level executives always seem to have lunch just before a major policy shift is made. If an observer of this sort keeps his head down and his eyes open, sooner or later he may be approached to become one of "Them." If he talks, or tries to raise suspicions, or even lets on that he knows, he vanishes. That is the way that "They" work.

Endron Corporate Presidency and the Board of Directors

In theory, Endron is run by its president, Max Carson, with the able assistance of his COO, Nicholas Morgan, and his CFO, Justin Chen. The three climbed their way up from the ranks together, starting as junior executives in the petroleum exploration and drilling division, and clawing their way up. The three exert and iron control over Endron headquarters and the organizational framework of the corporation as a whole. What they don't realize is that this is all they control.

The other elements of "official" authority at Endron is the Board. In practice, the Board has the ability to remove the President and his chief advisers at will. In practice, this is all they have the authority to do because they, like the President himself, have been defanged. Of course, "They" make sure that both President and Board feel properly empowered, and that serves to hide "Their" existence.

Whose Who at Endron International

Most Endron employees, be they "petroleum transfer engineers" or district managers or field geologists, have no idea and no concern for the ultimate direction of their employer. They do their jobs and get steady paychecks, and that is what matters to them. Over half can probably name Carson, simply because all of the memos have his name on them, but few could identify him in person, or pick Chen or Morgan out of a police lineup. Remember, Endron is absolutely huge, employing millions of people in one capacity or another worldwide. Very few are in on Endron's larger goals; most wouldn't know what to think if they master plan were laid out in front of them. But then again, the individual cells of the body do not need to know what the mind truly wants; they just need to perform their individual tasks.

In the meantime, the average Endron employee is polite, well-groomed and friendly to the public. He wears a sharp, clean uniform and receives better than industry average compensation. He does his job well and efficiently, or else he is fired. After all, Endron maintains one of the most extensive QA departments in the petroleum industry, at least so far as the parts of the company that the public sees are concerned. After all, if the public gets good service at an Endron station, they will come back, buy more gas and accelerate the company's ultimate agenda. That, in every sense, is the bottom line.

Board of Directors {13}

• -- Enzo Giovanni -- Giovanni Elder of Houston and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Endron. {Houston} "Deceased"
• -- Francesco Abandonato -- Director of South American Operations. He is Werewolf elder and opponent of Enzo Giovanni. {Rio de Janeiro}
• -- Kathryn Mollett -- A shrewd mortal business woman, now in her sixties; primarily she keeps the peace between Enzo and Francesco. She was among the wounded in the attack on the theater and is currently recuperating in the hospital. {Seattle}
• -- Cecilia Essert -- Director of EU Operations. {Berlin}
• -- Roza Maksimov -- Director of Russian operations. {Moscow}
• -- Theunis Adi -- Director of Indonesian operations. {Jakarta}
• -- Gwladus Vaughan -- Director of Australian Operations. {Perth}
• -- Pierrick Delacroix -- Director of Quebecois Operations. {Quebec City}
• -- Vigdís Hilmarsson -- Director of North Atlantic Operations. {Reykjavík}
• -- Anaru Moana -- Director of Pacific Operations. {Honolulu}
• -- Kirstine Pallesen -- Director of Canadian Operations. {Greater Sudbury}
• -- Hafiz Abdulrashid -- Director of African / Middle-Eastern Operations. {Cairo}
• -- Xiang Wu -- Director of Chinese Operations. {Hong Kong}

Endron Chief Corporate Officers

• -- Max Carson -- CEO (chief executive officer). {Houston} "Deceased"
• -- Nicholas Morgan -- COO (chief operating officer). {Houston} "Deceased"
• -- Justin Chen -- CFO (chief financial officer). {Houston} "Deceased"
• -- Allison Kerrey -- Executive Assistant to the President. {Houston}

Subsidiaries

• -- R.A.V.E. -- Recreational Automotive Vehicle Engineering,Inc.
• -- G.S.R. -- Greater Sudbury Refineries,Inc.