Publications

Research Summary

Book in progress

Expanding on my work on BP, I am starting a new book on the transformation of the major international oil companies since the 1970s. Prior to that, the oil majors largely controlled the international flow of oil, which was channelled through their vertically... View Details

September 2011
Case

China Development Bank

By: Li Jin, Matthew Preble and Aldo Sesia

In May 2011, Chairman Chen Yuan of the China Development Bank (CDB) was thinking back on CDB's financing of a major project between Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Brazil's state-owned oil and gas producer and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), one... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Emerging Markets; Energy Sources; Banks and Banking; Energy Industry; Brazil; China

December 2014 (Revised March 2018)
Case

John D. Rockefeller: The Richest Man in the World

By: Tom Nicholas and Vasiliki Fouka

By the late nineteenth century scale and managerial hierarchies had extended to several major industrial sectors of the U.S. economy. Although the precise mechanisms often varied, this process mainly involved horizontal integration, some form of legal or administrative... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Wealth; Business History; Vertical Integration; Consolidation; Personal Development and Career; Energy Industry; United States

April 2009
Article

Sovereign Wealth in Abu Dhabi

By: Rawi Abdelal

By the turn of the century, oil had already made the tiny emirate of Abu Dhabi rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. A sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), has invested extra oil revenues abroad for more than thirty years and amassed a... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Financial Management; Investment Funds; Sovereign Finance; Wealth; Diversification; Abu Dhabi

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January 2013 (Revised April 2017)
Supplement

Maxum Petroleum, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

Maxum seeks an oil-price hedging strategy that yields substantial cash during oil price spikes, is affordable under ordinary circumstances, and is easily managed. It is striving to avoid a repeat of the challenging situation encountered in 2008 when spiking oil prices... View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Options; Commodities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Strategy; Volatility

09 Oct 2015
Blog Post

Students, Alumni, and Colleagues Gather to Discuss Leadership in the Energy Industry

The energy industry has been shaken over the last year as oil prices have dropped from over $110 to below $50, with OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) promising no relief to the supply glut and American producers... View Details

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

really pay off when companies need that goodwill from the public? In a recent working paper, No News Is Good News: CSR Strategy and Newspaper Coverage of Negative Firm Events, Oberholzer-Gee set out to test the insurance hypothesis using the real-world example of the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

February 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Supplement

Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Aldo Sesia

The BP Mexican Gulf Oil spill requires BP to recognize or at least disclose investor-relevant information. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Accounting; Natural Disasters; Pollutants; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; North America

16 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

To Fight Climate Change, Should Green Investors Reconsider Big Oil?

Should eco-conscious investors support a company that’s developing innovative solutions to climate change—even if that company is also a major polluter? The market’s answer to this question has been a resounding “no,” as evidenced by the investment policies that... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy

October 2021 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil

By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski

ExxonMobil, the world's fifth largest source of carbon emissions, remained committed to aggressively expanding its oil & gas business despite global warming. During the COVID pandemic this strategy resulted in massive losses as the price and demand for oil declined. ... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Global Warming; Impact Investment Funds; Hedge Fund Activism; Leadership Development; Business Model; Renewable Energy; Resource Allocation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards

17 Jun 2015
News

Porter on U.S. energy production

11 Mar 2020
News

The U.S. President faces a triple threat of crises

September 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Doing Business in Argentina

By: Rawi Abdelal, Amy C. Edmondson, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Gustavo A. Herrero and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

An imaginary oil company is invited to participate in a potentially lucrative investment in a large oil field just as the Argentine government is taking actions that seem to jeopardize private property rights within its borders. This case highlights the risks and... View Details

Keywords: Business Evaluation; Fieldwork; Emergent Countries; Emerging Market Finance; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Argentina

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

There is nothing small about the research practiced by Harvard Business School professor Benjamin Esty. He studies the financing of some of the largest projects in the world: the Eurotunnel, Hong Kong Disneyland, and the Airbus A380, to name three. Not only are the... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

13 Jul 2018
Video

Mavath R. Chandran CEM Full Interview (Private Link)

February 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

MW Petroleum Corporation (B)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman, Peter Tufano and Barbara Wall

Amoco Corp. is negotiating to sell a wholly-owned subsidiary, MW Petroleum, to Apache Corp. MW owns large reserves of oil and gas comprising many properties at different stages of engineering, development, and production. The proposed acquisition is a large one for... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

March 2008
Supplement

Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (C)

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Alok Patel, the founder and chairman of a Gujarat-based, privately held edible oils processor, is considering long-term liquidity opportunities for the company and its investors. He could list the company on one of the Indian exchanges, opt for a trade sale, or acquire... View Details

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Opportunities; Chemical Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Gujarat

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2015
Article

Aid and the Rise and Fall of Conflict in the Muslim World

By: Faisal Z Ahmed and Eric D. Werker

The conflict following the Arab Spring is not the first wave of civil war in the Muslim world in recent time. From the mid-1980s to the end of the century, an average of one in 10 predominantly Muslim countries experienced violent civil war in any given year. We... View Details

Keywords: War; International Relations; Religion; Energy Sources