Multinational oil companies such as HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil" \o "ExxonMobil" ExxonMobil, HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell" \o "Royal Dutch Shell" Royal Dutch Shell, or HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP" \o "BP" BP are active all the way along the supply chain from locating HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crude_oil" \o "Crude oil" crude oil deposits, drilling and extracting crude, transporting it around the world, HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refinery" \o "Refinery" refining it into petrochemicals such as HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline" \o "Gasoline" gasoline, to distributing the fuel to company-owned retail stations, where it is sold to consumers.To gain this complete control of the various resources needed to product oil and gas, the companies had to have engaged in _____ mergers.
A)acquired
B)combination
C)horizontal
D)functional
E)vertical

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Vertical mergers are when a company acquires or merges with another company at a different stage of the same supply chain, allowing for control over multiple stages of production and distribution, as described for the oil companies.

Multinational Oil Companies Such as HYPERLINK "Http://en