"And while the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department." -Andrew Carnegie Since the 1930’s when Sir Ernest Oppenheimer established the Central Selling Organisation, De Beers Consolidated Mines have controlled the selling and marketing of approximately 80% of the world’s rough diamond production (Capon, 1998). However, in 1996, Australian company, Argyle, stunned the world by announcing that …showed first 75 words of 1141 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1141 total…hoovers.com/capsules/46508.html [1999, May18]. McTaggart, D., Findlay, C. and Parkin, M. 1999, Microeconomics, 3rd edn, Addison Wesley Longman Australia Pty Ltd, Melbourne. Newland, F. 1998, ‘On the rocks’, Marketing Week, [Electronic] vol 21, no. 20, p. 34-37, Available: ABI Inform, Business [1999, May 19]. Ryan, B. 1997, ‘You win some, you lose some’, [Online], Available: http://www.fm.co.za/97/0815/invest/jot.htm [1999, May18]. Treadgold, T. 1999, ‘Mines and marketing: Cheeky Argyle dazzles De Beers’, Business Review Weekly, vol 21, no. 10, p. 75-76