Chapter 2 - Analyzing the External Environment of the Firm
SWOT Analysis: Maersk’s APPEC Conference Announcement (September 2025)
Strengths
Proactive Market Intelligence
Maersk’s oil‑trading division, led by CEO Emma Mazhari, is actively monitoring global indicators, demonstrating strong analytical capability and responsiveness.
Forward-Looking Strategy
The acknowledgment of an expected surge in the supply of low‑carbon bunker fuels post‑2030 reveals a strategic pivot toward decarbonization and investment in sustainable maritime fuels—positioning the company well for long‑term regulatory changes and demand shifts.
Weaknesses
Exposure to Oil Price Volatility
Increasing OPEC+ production and sluggish demand could depress oil prices, potentially reducing margins for Maersk's oil‑trading arm.
Transition Timing Risks
While planning to ramp up low‑carbon fuel supply after 2030 is commendable, the extended timeline may leave Maersk reactive rather than proactive if competitors move faster.
Opportunities
Growing Demand for Sustainability
The shift toward cleaner fuels aligns with global climate goals and regulatory momentum. Maersk can capitalize on this by scaling investments in dual‑fuel and alternative energy ships.
Technology and Market Leadership
Early positioning in the low‑carbon bunker fuel market can help Maersk become a frontrunner in maritime decarbonization and capture new business from environmentally-focused customers.
Threats
Market Uncertainty
If oil prices decline sharply, there may be short- to mid-term financial pressures, particularly if hedging or protections are insufficient.
Competitive Acceleration in Green Fuel Adoption
Other shipping lines, such as Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), are exploring LNG, methanol, and wind propulsion. If they outpace Maersk in adopting green technologies, Maersk could lose its first-mover advantage.
Policy and Regulatory Shifts
Unexpected changes in fuel regulation or subsidies might disrupt Maersk’s projected fuel transition roadmap.
Source: Oil price outlook weak on rising supply, tariff impact, executives say | Reuters. (n.d.). https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-price-outlook-weak-rising-supply-tariff-impact-executives-say-2025-09-09/
Chapter 3 - Assessing the Internal Environment of the Firm
Overview of the Event
In April 2025, Maersk (via its APM Terminals division) acquired the Panama Canal Railway Company, which operates the 76 km rail link between Balboa (Pacific side) and Colón (Caribbean side), offering a strategic land-based alternative to the canal that is especially critical during droughts or congestion.
Value Chain Analysis
1. Inbound Logistics
Rail Acquisition: Maersk now controls a vital intermodal node that complements its inbound flows to/from the canal region.
Buffer Against Suez or Canal Delays: By owning the railway, Maersk can route cargo via land when canal transit is restricted, enhancing stability in input flows.
2. Operations
Seamless Transshipment: Maersk can directly align rail schedules with port operations, lowering container dwell time and boosting terminal utilization.
Synergy with Terminals: The railway integrates with Maersk’s port operations, enabling streamlined cargo transfers and improved turnaround.
3. Outbound Logistics
Alternative Routing: With the railway, Maersk can efficiently move containers between ocean legs or inland hubs, even during canal disruptions.
Enhanced Reliability: Customers benefit from a more dependable delivery chain, enabling smoother post-canal distributions.
4. Marketing & Sales
Distinct Value Proposition: Maersk can market the railway-enabled service as a more resilient, faster, and diversified routing option.
Competitive Edge in Crisis: Businesses sensitive to delays, such as time-critical or high-value shippers, may prioritize Maersk’s offerings.
5. Service
Improved Customer Experience: Control over rail scheduling allows Maersk to provide more accurate ETAs and reduce delay risks.
Resilience Communication: Maersk can reinforce trust by emphasizing its ability to bypass lower canal capacity or environmental constraints.
Source: Wright, R., & Telling, O. (2025, April 2). Denmark’s Maersk buys Panama Canal Railway. Subscribe to read. https://www.ft.com/content/cb460c62-b587-4900-a0c5-722f6c2548d4?utm_source
Chapter 5 - Business-Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages
Maersk is actively pursuing business-level strategies to create and sustain competitive advantages in the global shipping and logistics industry. A recent example is its partnership with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) to advance decarbonization across global supply chains. This collaboration enhances CATL's logistics capabilities while supporting Maersk’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. By integrating sustainable practices into its operations, Maersk positions itself as a leader in environmentally responsible logistics, appealing to customers and stakeholders who prioritize sustainability.
Additionally, Maersk is expanding its presence in the intra-Asia trade route, the world’s largest container shipping market, by adding roughly 100,000 TEU to its capacity. The company is also testing innovative fuel technologies, such as a blend of Brazilian ethanol and marine diesel, to reduce carbon emissions. These initiatives demonstrate Maersk’s focus on sustainability, regional market growth, and technological innovation as key drivers of competitive advantage in the highly competitive shipping industry.
Chapter 7 - International Strategy: Creating Value in Global Markets
Maersk is actively implementing international strategies to create value in global markets by expanding its logistics capabilities and forming strategic partnerships. For example, in Brazil, Maersk has entered into a long-term agreement with DP World to enhance maritime services at the Port of Santos. This collaboration involves launching new services and increasing weekly vessel calls, aiming to accommodate growing trade demands in the region. DP World is investing significantly to expand container-handling capacity, which will further support Maersk's operations and strengthen its presence in the Latin American market.
In Europe, Maersk has opened its first warehouse in France, located in the Hauts-de-France region. This 75,000 square meter facility is part of Maersk's extensive European logistics network and serves as a key hub for strengthening supply chain solutions in the region. The warehouse's strategic location and modern infrastructure aim to improve logistics efficiency and create local job opportunities, contributing to the revitalization of Denain's industrial land and enhancing regional connectivity.
Chapter 9 - Strategic Control and Corporate Governance
Maersk is currently refining its strategic control and corporate governance structures to navigate the complexities of the global logistics industry. In March 2025, the company held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), where shareholders re-elected board members Marc Engel, Kasper Rorsted, Bernard L. Bot, and Amparo Moraleda for another two-year term. Xavier Urbain, former CEO of CEVA Logistics, was elected to the board, bringing valuable supply chain expertise to Maersk's leadership. These governance decisions highlight Maersk's commitment to maintaining an experienced board to guide the company in a strategic direction.
The AGM also highlighted Maersk's evolving strategic approach, emphasizing the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into its core operations. The company has transitioned from a conglomerate to an end-to-end logistics provider, focusing on sustainability and digital innovation. This strategic shift is supported by a governance framework that ensures ESG considerations are central to decision-making processes, aligning with stakeholder expectations and enhancing long-term value creation.
Chapter 11 - Strategic Leadership: Creating a Learning Organization and an Ethical Organizations
Strategically, Maersk demonstrates a commitment to being a learning organization by investing heavily in employee development and fostering a culture of continuous growth. For example, the company offers executive education in partnership with institutions like MIT, helping leaders better understand innovation and supply-chain dynamics. In a recent internal story, a leader reflected on how Maersk’s learning culture allowed her to take on new roles, access global training programs (like generative AI foundations), and consistently grow over her 13-year career. This kind of leadership encourages experimentation, knowledge sharing, and adaptability, showing that Maersk values learning not just at the individual level, but as a core organizational capability.
On the ethical side, Maersk’s leadership embeds strong ethical principles into its governance and daily operations. The company’s Code of Conduct clearly outlines expectations around integrity, human rights, and legal compliance, anchored in Maersk’s internal “Commit” framework. To manage ethical risk, Maersk runs a robust compliance program: employees undergo regular anti-corruption and sanctions training, and third parties are vetted carefully. Maersk also promotes a “speak-up” culture through its whistleblower system, ensuring that concerns about unethical behavior can be raised safely. Furthermore, as data and AI increasingly drive its operations, Maersk has established a Data Ethics Program guided by principles like transparency, respect, security, and innovation, and overseen by a cross-functional ethics committee.
Source: https://www.maersk.com/sustainability/our-esg-priorities/data-ethics
Chapter 4 - Recognizing Maersk’s Intellectual Assets: Moving Beyond Tangible Resources
As global trade grows more complex and digitized, Maersk is shifting its strategic focus from traditional tangible assets, like ships and ports, to intellectual assets such as digital infrastructure, employee expertise, innovation systems, and strategic partnerships. This shift is evident in recent initiatives that aim to build long-term competitive advantage through knowledge and technology.
A notable example is Maersk’s partnership with Inmarsat Maritime to provide satellite connectivity across its fleet of over 340 vessels. This upgrade will turn ships into “floating offices” by 2027, improving crew communication, operational efficiency, and customer transparency. These benefits are largely intangible, strengthening Maersk’s human capital (better working conditions, real-time decision-making), structural capital (fleet-wide digital infrastructure), and relational capital (stronger service reliability and trust with clients) (source: Nasdaq, 2025).
Additionally, Maersk is investing in AI-driven logistics, such as predictive routing, warehouse optimization, and digital customs handling. These technologies reflect a shift from physical assets to data and systems that support faster, smarter operations. Maersk is also contributing ESG-related patents to an innovation pool, signaling its commitment to sustainable logistics through intellectual property.
While these assets are harder to measure than ships or terminals, they are increasingly vital for resilience, adaptability, and differentiation in a volatile supply chain environment. Maersk’s long-term value creation now depends as much on what it knows and builds internally as on what it owns physically.
Source: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/ap-moller-maersk-partners-inmarsat-maritime-enhance-satellite-communications-across-global?
Chapter 6 - Corporate-Level Strategy: Creating Value through Diversification
A.P. Moller–Maersk is actively pursuing corporate-level diversification strategies to create value through expanded service offerings beyond its usual container shipping operations. In September 2025, Maersk acquired LF Logistics Holdings Limited, a leading omnichannel fulfillment contract logistics company in the Asia Pacific region. This acquisition enhances Maersk's capabilities in contract logistics, enabling the company to provide integrated end-to-end supply chain solutions to its customers.
Additional to this merger, Maersk has invested over USD $500 million to expand its supply chain infrastructure in Southeast Asia. This investment includes the addition of approximately 480,000 square meters of warehouse capacity by 2026, as well as plans to build green fuel infrastructure and introduce electric vehicles by mid-2024. These initiatives support Southeast Asia's emergence as a global production and consumption hub and align with Maersk's strategy to strengthen its footprint across warehousing, distribution, air, inland logistics, ocean, and terminal services.
Source: https://investor.maersk.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ap-moller-maersk-expands-its-contract-logistic-capabilities?utm_source
Chapter 8 - Entrepreneurial Strategy and Competitive Dynamics
Maersk is embracing an entrepreneurial strategy to drive innovation and maintain a competitive edge in the logistics industry. The company is leveraging its Maersk Innovation Center to develop advanced technologies such as predictive analytics, machine learning, and computer vision. These innovations aim to address challenges like labor shortages, supply chain resilience, and climate-neutral solutions. By collaborating with startups, venture capitalists, and research institutions, Maersk accelerates the commercialization of new products and services, positioning itself as a leader in supply chain innovation.
In addition to technological advancements, Maersk is actively pursuing strategic partnerships to enhance its market position. The company has entered into the Gemini Cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd, a long-term operational partnership that began in February 2025. This collaboration covers seven global trade routes and offers 26 mainline services, centered around 12 key hub ports. By combining resources and expertise, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd aim to improve operational efficiency and better serve their customers in a competitive global market.
Chapter 10 - Creating Effective Organizational Designs
Maersk is undergoing a major organizational redesign to become more agile, innovative, and customer-centric. The company has adopted an agile platform operating model, where engineers, not just managers, drive key decisions. Leaders are increasingly acting as enablers, removing roadblocks to empower teams, and Maersk is fostering a culture of experimentation, “failing fast,” and learning.
On the operational front, Maersk is investing in technological platforms and a global innovation center to align its structure with its strategy of becoming a fully integrated logistics provider. Its technology teams use automation, IoT, and data analytics for real-time visibility across the supply chain. These changes reflect a strategic redesign that tightly links Maersk’s organizational structure, culture, and long-term goals.
Source: https://www.maersk.com/news/articles/2021/05/18/what-grassroots-innovation-means-to-maersk
Chapter 12 - Managing Innovation and Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship
Maersk’s strategic leadership in innovation is evident in its establishment of the Maersk Innovation Center, where “emerging technologies” are used to pilot and scale new logistics solutions. According to Maersk, this hub is designed to take “ideas from inception to impact and develop new tools for the workforce that improve operational processes.” By bringing together data scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and startups, the center “embraces new technologies, uncovers new ways of driving productivity, and develops new solutions that stand the test of time.” This kind of structured innovation incubator helps Maersk manage risk while encouraging experimentation, a core element of corporate entrepreneurship.
On the operational side, Maersk’s technology strategy reinforces its entrepreneurial ambitions. The company’s technology page explains that it uses “automation, IoT, and data analytics” as part of a broader platform-operating model that enables quicker rollout of new functionality. Furthermore, Maersk taps into external partnerships to accelerate development: for example, its Innovation Center has teamed up with MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics to conduct research on supply chain challenges and talent development, particularly in warehousing. These efforts align with corporate entrepreneurship, because they allow Maersk to act like a startup within itself, testing new business models, scaling successful pilots, and investing in human capital to sustain long-term innovation.
Sources: https://innovation.maersk.com/about-us / https://www.maersk.com/it-it/news/articles/2023/05/16/maersk-innovation-center-opens-to-accelerate-supply-chain-innovation-at-an-enterprise-level