Publications

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April 2008 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Ti-Tech (A)

By: Benson P. Shapiro, John T. Gourville and Craig E. Cline

This case concerns the selection and scheduling of orders by a small industrial titanium fabricator that recently has been plagued by poor deliveries and a lack of capacity. At the time of the case, Ti-Tech must decide which of four orders to accept, with capacity... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Metals and Minerals; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply Chain Management; Performance Capacity; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

May 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Case

The Offshore Drilling Industry in 2011

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Kenneth Corts and Joseph McElroy

After booming in 2007 and early 2008, the offshore drilling industry slumps in 2009. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates--the prices paid for a rig's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Metals and Minerals; Demand and Consumers; Price; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Mining; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

29 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 29

strategist to develop the optimal strategy without a comprehensive optimization. And it derives some broader organizational implications. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-102.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsHeavy... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 1980 (Revised September 1985)
Case

British Steel Corporation: The Korf Contract

By: John P. Kotter and John M. Stengrevics

Traces a complex resource allocation decision facing British Steel in 1975. Students study the influences on the various managers involved in making the decision. View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Decision Making; Management Teams; Metals and Minerals; Steel Industry; United Kingdom

06 Apr 2017
News

From Lobster Traps to Border Fencing

an expanded metal wall,” says Jim Knott Sr. (OPM 17, 1991), president and CEO of Riverdale Mills Corporation. In a recent interview with the Voice of America News, Knott noted that Riverdale’s security... View Details

Keywords: Donald Trump; homeland security; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing

December 2003 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Alusaf Hillside Project

By: Kenneth S. Corts and John R. Wells

The aluminum industry has suffered from long periods of depressed prices and profits interspersed with relatively short-lived price and profit peaks. The case investigates why this has occured, focusing on the decision Alusaf must make on whether to invest in a major... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Business Cycles; Financial Crisis; Metals and Minerals; Financial Strategy; Investment; Price; Profit; Demand and Consumers; Industry Structures

Fast Answer

Commodities

yields and prices for agricultural commodities throughout the world. See also USDA Foreign Agricultural Service PSD Online. Consult the Baker Library Research Guide on Agribusiness Consult the Guide to Food View Details

01 Dec 2013
News

A Safer, Smarter Future for Tech Trash

being the cost of it. That was the inspiration." Since its founding, BlueOak has been developing plans for mini-refineries that use proven, capital-efficient refining processes to extract precious metals and... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman; recycling; Mining (except Oil and Gas); Mining (except Oil and Gas); Mining (except Oil and Gas); Mining (except Oil and Gas)

March 2011
Supplement

Gold in 2011 (CW)

By: Robin Greenwood

Courseware for case 211095. View Details

Keywords: Price; Price Bubble; Metals and Minerals; Data and Data Sets

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 11 Dec 2014
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Leadership Lessons from the 2010 Chilean Mine Rescue

Professor Edmondson will explore teaming as a dynamic response to the demands of knowledge intensive businesses. Organizations that do it well have a competitive advantage, because teaming is how organizations learn how they anticipate and respond to shifts in the... View Details

1993
Chapter

Minerals: Eroding Oligopolies

By: L. T. Wells Jr.

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Mining Industry

April 2009 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Petrobras in Ecuador (A)

By: Aldo Musacchio, Lena G. Goldberg and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

On October 18, 2007, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa announced his intention to migrate Petrobras' existing participation contracts to exploit oil reserves in Ecuador's Blocks 18 and 31 to servicing agreements under which Petrobras would be paid a production fee and... View Details

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Government Administration; Taxation; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Public Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Brazil; Ecuador

01 Jun 2007
News

Saving the Steel Industry

Ron Bloom (MBA ’85) played a key role in helping to save the U.S. steel industry in the 1990s, writes the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (March 4, 2007). Bloom spent five years at Lazard Freres before starting a firm that advised unions about buyouts View Details

Keywords: Primary Metal Manufacturing; Primary Metal Manufacturing

March 2010 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Chile's Copper Surplus: The Road Not Taken (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Dante Roscini and Renee Kim

In 2008, Andres Velasco, Chile's Finance Minister, was under mounting criticisms over his fiscal policy. As the world's largest copper producer, Chile was benefiting from the rise in copper prices, which had more than tripled since 2003. Copper revenues translated into... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Metals and Minerals; Investment Funds; Policy; State Ownership; Wealth; Chile

October 1991 (Revised August 1993)
Case

Acid Rain: Burlington Northern, Inc. (A)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Burlington Northern (BN) hauls low-sulfur coal from the northern Great Plains to electric utilities in the Midwest. Acid rain legislation may affect the geographic scope of BN's markets. Railroad managers need to assess the economic effects of acid rain controls and... View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Government Legislation; Natural Environment; Policy; Metals and Minerals; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Rail Industry; United States

2010
Case

Vander Mining Partners, IPADE

By: Roberto Charvel

In 2010 Vander Mining was trying to raise one of the few private equity funds specialized in mining. This was difficult among other things because institutional investors did not have a private equity team specialized in mining and emerging markets. View Details

Keywords: Real Assets; Business Startups; Business Plan; Economics; Metals and Minerals; Mining; Assets; Private Equity; Public Equity; Goods and Commodities; Emerging Markets; Market Participation; Mining Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America