Divisions

As suggested by its name, Khan Industries encompasses a wide variety of business activities. Recognizing diversity as one of the keys to running a successful, profitable corporation, Shere Khan has encouraged his company to branch into as many fields and enterprises as possible. Corporate operations and small affiliate businesses bearing the Khan Industries name can be found in Cape Suzette and elsewhere around the globe, specializing in everything from electrical production and manufacturing to trade and finance.

Since the Great War, air transport has become Khan Industries' leading division. Squadrons of Khan Industries cargo planes transport merchandise and valuables across the civilized world to destinations including Khan's own warehouses and retail stores. Outside clients may hire Khan transport planes to ship their goods, placing Khan Industries in competition with countless independent shipping firms in Cape Suzette and other ports. Not many private entrepreneurs boast the superior security Khan Shipping offers, however, as Khan transport planes are heavily armed and occasionally escorted by fighter planes flown by Khan's elite pilots.

Manufacturing and design, another lucrative area of Khan Industries, ties in with aviation as well. Huge factories work around the clock assembling automobiles, heavy machinery, and other manufactured items, including airplanes designed by Khan Industries' aerospace division. Known for producing military fighters such as the vaunted Khan Industries "Tiger" fighter-interceptor as well as private planes and transports, Khan Industries prides itself on supplying the Cape Suzette defense squadron and other coastal patrol forces with advanced fighter planes — in return for exclusive privileges granted by indebted city governments.

Khan Power, the company's energy division, operates and maintains hundreds of coal-burning power plants in numerous cities, providing electricity to all of Khan's businesses as well as thousands of civilian homes. However, due to rising costs and air pollution concerns, the Khan Power division is exploring alternative means of generating clean, efficient power. Hydroelectric power plants are currently undergoing tests, and at least one top-level Khan Industries research project has been devoted to developing a new "limitless" source of electricity.

Khan Industries' twin gas companies, Khanoco and Khan Gas, dominate much of the market for gasoline and petroleum goods. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil arrive each week at Khan refineries, where the coarse liquid is processed into heating oil, petrol, and other essential modern resources. Having few competitors, Khanoco provides almost every drop of automobile and aircraft fuel available in Cape Suzette, giving Khan Industries a great deal of control over citywide gasoline prices. Many profitable price fluctuations are conveniently blamed on supply shortages caused by alleged Air Pirate attacks on oil tankers, or other unforeseen problems.

Mining and mineral exploration are the concerns of Khan Enterprises, a special division of the corporation which supervises Khan Industries' oil wells, silver mines, and other natural resource operations. Khan Enterprises owns several small mining communities and towns, routinely hiring employees from local areas to run them. These workers, many of whom have never even met Shere Khan in person, submit regular reports and ship resources to headquarters in exchange for a considerable measure of administrative freedom. Khan Enterprises also manages foreign trade, arranging business transactions with other countries and negotiating exclusive delivery agreements between Khan Industries and friendly governments outside Cape Suzette.

A leader in the world of finance, Khan Industries has several departments dealing with investments, stocks, and other money matters. One of the most influential forces in the Usland stock market, Khan Industries sets the pace many in the economic world follow. Khan financial executives each receive budgets of twenty thousand dollars which they may invest in a business or growing industry of their choice. Shere Khan rewards bright company investors who show exceptional initiative and make smart investments, but rarely tolerates foolish, wasteful expenditures resulting from certain employees' excess zeal.

Above: Khan financial executives Benson, Harmond, and Walter.

Khan's most ambitious financial undertaking to date has been the establishment of Khan Bank, a new banking enterprise located in the heart of Cape Suzette. Although the bank's opening day garnered little attention from reporters, Shere Khan promises his new bank will afford the community great fiscal opportunities and further stimulate the thriving Cape Suzette economy. Rival banks meanwhile wonder if Khan is merely seeking to tighten his already powerful grip on the people of Cape Suzette.

There are innumerable other companies and industries represented within the Khan Industries empire. Khan-owned grocery stores carry only the finest foodstuffs and imported spices, using market-cornering strategies to squeeze every penny they can from consumers. Khan supply shops and department stores offer assorted goods and merchandise, ranging from survival equipment and clothing to antiques and jewelry. Electronics, originally a modestly profitable field for Khan Industries, has gained new interest in the corporation as telephone, radio, and phonograph technology promises to become the "wave of the future."

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