Mining (except Oil and Gas) - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 May 2024
What Do You Think?

Have You Had Enough?

out: Twenty-four years and 287 columns on a variety of management-related topics, my record as of this month. This month marks my last column in this long-running series for Working Knowledge. I’ve always ended my columns with the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Face Value: Do Certain Physical Features Help People Get Ahead?

features align with the average features of all people of the same gender, race, and approximate age. Average faces tend to be perceived as more attractive—though they’re not always the most charismatic. The researchers View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

for a fully built-out prototype. The customer won’t know that you are working behind the scenes to simulate the experience. A former student of mine with a software engineering background resisted the temptation to code a solution View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

March 2024
Case

From “BIG” Ideas to Sustainable Impact at ICL Group (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

In the summer of 2023, Eduard (“Eddie”) Croitoru, Vice President (VP) of ICL Group (“ICL”) Corporate Initiatives, was reflecting on ICL’s internal ideation program, the Business Innovation for Growth (BIG) Accelerator. When Raviv Zoller became the CEO of ICL in 2018,... View Details

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22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Restoring a Global Economy, 1950–1980

in mining and petroleum. During the first global economy, much of the growth had been driven by the exchange of manufactured goods made in the developed world for the resources found elsewhere. The emergent... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

June 2023 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Lima, Peru

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Max Hancock

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Peru. It highlights Peru's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2024 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Mining Industry; Peru; Latin America

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25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

organize this project, I was struck by James Truslow Adam’s 1929 book Our Business Civilization, which argued that, unlike prior countries in history, “business” had come to dominate American society, politics, and culture. At the time he... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

21 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Do TV Debates Sway Voters?

assistant professor of business administration. “But we find that debates don’t have any effect on any group of voters.” Pons and co-author Caroline Le Pennec-Caldichoury, a doctoral candidate in economics at the University of California,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

18 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

How Economic Clusters Drive Globalization

oil and ecotourism Giacomin draws on two very different cases to analyze that phenomenon, first examining the evolution of the rubber and palm View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Agriculture & Agribusiness

18 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

'Likes' Lead to Nothing—and Other Hard-Learned Lessons of Social Media Marketing

a bit of listening and data mining on social to get a feel for public sentiment. Nike can track whether people are talking about the company in relation to sweatshops, how expensive its products are, or if... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Advertising; Technology

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Getting the Message: How the Internet is Changing Advertising

explains it like this: "If you and I went to the same page of the same Web site at the exact same moment, we would likely see different ads—yours relevant to your areas of interest and View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

16 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Does Competition Make Us More Creative?

Competition can bring out the best in salespeople, athletes, and participants in hot dog eating contests—but can it make employees more creative? A recent working paper by Daniel P. Gross finds that competition can motivate creative types... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Failure Analysis

may color the perceptions of those most directly involved in the failure. After experiencing failure, people typically attribute too much blame to other people and to forces beyond their control. If this tendency goes unchecked, it... View Details

Keywords: by Amy Edmondson & Mark D. Cannon

April 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

American Barrick Resources Corporation: Managing Gold Price Risk

By: Peter Tufano

Managing the risk of changing prices of gold is central to the business strategy of American Barrick Resources Corp., one of North America's largest and most successful gold-mining firms. The case contrasts this firm's hedging policies with those of its rivals that do... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Business Strategy; Mining; Mining Industry; United States

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13 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Company Reviews on Glassdoor: Petty Complaints or Signs of Potential Misconduct?

Corporate scandals often follow a pattern: Whether it’s Theranos and its fraudulent blood testing technology, Wells Fargo and its fake financial accounts, or Volkswagen and its... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

October 2013
Supplement

Alcoa's Bid for Alcan (B)

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: Strategy; Acquisitions; Alcoa; Alcan; Rio Tinto; Aluminum Industry; Accounting; Financial Analysis; Consolidation; Market Participation; Financial Statements; Acquisition; Mining; Mining Industry; Canada; United States

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08 Feb 2021
Book

How to Make the World Better, Not Perfect

fisheterian.” I knew the word “pescatarian,” but I was making a very bad attempt at humor. After the talk, the cognitive psychologist Doug Medin approached me. Before I tell you what he said, it’s important to know that Doug is a friend of View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

January 2010
Background Note

In the Spotlight: The Market for Iron Ore

By: Aldo Musacchio, Tarun Khanna and Jenna Bernhardson

This note discusses the structure and functioning of the market for iron ore. This market has traditionally functioned using a benchmark pricing mechanism, in which large steel mills in Japan (now in China) negotiate the benchmark price with the largest of the big... View Details

Keywords: Industry Structures; Mining; Price; Valuation; Business Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Mining Industry; China

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Research Summary

Supply Chain Inventory Planning

My work studies management decision-making in demand and supply planning contexts with a focus on forecasting and inventory planning decisions. I examine these decision-making processes from both a supply chain (i.e. across firm) and an... View Details

March 2015
Case

Statoil: Transparency on Payments to Governments

By: George Serafeim

The Statoil case describes the challenge of increasing transparency, in extractive industries, around host county government payments. The case describes Statoil's reasoning behind voluntarily disclosing host country government payments, and the events that led to this... View Details