Publications

July 1989
Supplement

Inland Steel Co. Product Policy (S): Organization of Inland Steel Co.--1989

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Steel Industry

November 2019
Case

Chile: Unrest in the Copper Nation

By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong

For decades, Chile was heralded as South America’s pillar of stable economic growth. Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and enjoyed a long period of over 30 years of world demand for its resources. In 2013, the commodity boom ended and was replaced by a... View Details

Keywords: Copper Production; Protests; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Metals and Minerals; Production; Price; Mining Industry; Chile

Web

James Sharpe | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Transcript (PDF) James “Jim” Sharpe, HBS 1976, spent the early part of his career at General Electric, where he eventually had P&L responsibility for $15 million in sales and 100 employees. He then joined Hoover Universal, where he had... View Details

10 Oct 2023
Blog Post

Policy Drivers for Environmental Justice: What Businesses Need to Know

In the summer of 2023, Initiatives intern Skye Bluestein conducted important research with the BEI on the intersection of environmental justice (EJ), policy, and business. The resulting paper posted below provides an interesting View Details

March 1982
Supplement

British Steel: Interview with Sir Monty Finniston (Abridged), Video

By: John P. Kotter

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Steel Industry; United Kingdom

May 1988 (Revised October 1989)
Teaching Note

Alloy Rods Corp., Teaching Note

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for (9-586-046). View Details

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Industrial Products Industry

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Morgan Brothers' Reverse Convertible Notes (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In August 2011, Morgan Brothers Bank was issuing a $2.5 million reverse convertible note with payoffs linked to the price of Molycorp's common stock. These financially engineered securities were just one of many kinds of structured notes available in the retail market.... View Details

Keywords: Structured Products; Reverse Convertible Notes; Replication; Option Pricing; Bond Pricing; Financial Engineering; Valuation; Metals and Minerals; Debt Securities; Finance; Investment; Mining Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California

September 1974 (Revised October 1981)
Background Note

Brief Description of Steelmaking

By: Paul W. Marshall

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Steel Industry

June 1988 (Revised February 1989)
Case

Amalgamated Aluminum Pigments Division: The Technical Service Conundrum

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Manufacturing Industry

April 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Background Note

Note on the Aluminum Industry in 1983

By: Michael E. Porter

Keywords: Metals and Minerals

Believing that aluminum was the metal of the future, R. S. Reynolds devoted his metal company’s efforts to its production, despite slow growth of the product in the 1910s. However, because of Reynolds’... View Details

Keywords: Metals

October 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Alcoa's Bid for Alcan (A)

By: Paul Healy and Penelope Rossano

In spring 2007, Alcoa CEO Alain Belda was concerned about the company's market position in light of increased competition from developing markets. China's recent entry into the aluminum market was affecting both supply and demand. Furthermore, downstream and upstream... View Details

Keywords: Acquisitions; Strategy; Aluminum; Accounting; Financials; Alcoa; Rio Tinto; Alcan; Metals and Minerals; Competition; Consolidation; Emerging Markets; Acquisition; Financial Statements; Manufacturing Industry; Canada; China; Russia

January 2020
Teaching Note

Chile: Unrest in the Copper Nation

By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong

For decades, Chile enjoyed the stability of being the world’s largest producer of copper. Keynes would have advised that this period of growth would have been the time for the government to save, that “the boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the... View Details

Keywords: Copper Production; Protests; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Metals and Minerals; Production; Economy; Emerging Markets; Chile

A corporate lawyer by training, Wingate took over the helm of the Canadian mineral company in the middle of an expansionary period. Wingate presided over the construction of several new nickel-mining facilities as well as the unveiling of... View Details

Keywords: Metals

Ambrose Monell

Monell led International Nickel through a major re-capitalization program in 1910. Through this effort, he laid the foundation for building a vertically integrated metal processing operation. Under his leadership, Monell produced a... View Details

Keywords: Metals

Robert C. Stanley

A talented engineer, Stanley spearheaded numerous technological innovations in the production and refining of metals at International Nickel (Inco) and continued to grow the... View Details

Keywords: Metals

Howard O. Beaver, Jr.

Beaver spent his entire professional career with Carpenter, building it into one of the largest suppliers of specialty metal products in the United States. During his tenure as CEO, he nearly tripled revenues from roughly $150 million to... View Details

Keywords: Metals

April 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Aluminum Smelting in South Africa: Alusaf's Hillside Project

With prices at all-time lows at the beginning of 1994, South Africa's sole primary aluminum producer--Alusaf--is considering building the world's largest greenfield smelter. Using cost estimates in this case, students can evaluate the relative cost position of this... View Details

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Analysis; Markets; Profit; Capital; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa