Publications

June 2012 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Marc Rich and Global Commodity Trading

By: Geoffrey Jones and Espen Storli

Examines the career of Marc Rich, the world's leading commodity trader before his criminal indictment in the United States in 1983. The case surveys the historical growth of commodity trading, especially in metals, from the late nineteenth century, and its evolving... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Natural Resources; Metals and Minerals; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; Europe; Middle East; North and Central America; Israel; South Africa; Iran

01 Mar 2024
News

Case Study: Testing the Waters

Illustration by Christina Spano Endurance training was nothing new to Lauren Picasso (MBA 2014), who’d raced through her younger years as a cross-country runner and swimmer. In 2017, when she was director of marketing at Jet.com and looking for a physical challenge,... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

Profile

Mollie Breen

contest. But Girl Starter did get Mollie started in the interdisciplinary world of business. "In the show, every episode ended with a pitch," Mollie explains. "I focused mine on data and algorithms. Then I realized I didn't... View Details

Keywords: Tech; Nonprofit/Government/Education

16 May 2024
News

On the Job

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Dan Morrell: Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. We all have early memories of on-the-job learnings—those moments that had a lasting impact on how we see the world of work and our place in it. This... View Details

Keywords: first job; leadership; life experience; career lessons; Mining; Mining; Mining; Mining

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

16 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Does Competition Make Us More Creative?

a professor of mine once put it, you want to scatter your seeds widely to see what sprouts,” says Gross. “But you ought not try to make a thousand flowers bloom, or else they will all turn out weak. To get a few beautiful blossoms, you... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

for market manipulation (and) used as payment method for online crime.” Bitcoin does not have a future as a currency, Turnbull said, because of the cost of operating sufficient computers to collectively document every single transaction. “When (digital) View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

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

Fast Answer

Article databases: Which to choose?

regulations, and other government information. ProQuest TDM Studio Yes Yes Yes TDM Studio is a text / data mining tool Allows researchers to run... View Details

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, Berkeley, View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

27 Mar 2024
Blog Post

Video: Inspirational Women in Business

Debbie Lovich, partner at Boston Consulting Group. Her case focused on how you balance a demanding career, as well as commitments at home. Aastha Bhardwaj: Cynthia Carroll of Anglo American Mines in South Africa. The case was about the... View Details

Portrait Project

Sumit Malik

sweat in a brick kiln enabled the first in our family to go to college. I am indebted to my grandfather. His sacrifice is not mine to waste. I can’t pay him back, but I will pay it forward. In his footsteps, I will measure wealth in... View Details

28 Jan 2016
Blog Post

Why Get an MBA?

element of an MBA is whether you learn true, hard skills. How can you teach accounting and finance through the case method? A mentor of mine put it best when he said “HBS will teach you how to think about accounting as a CEO.” Don’t... View Details

12 Sep 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Climate Entrepreneurs Circle: Taking Climate Solutions from Idea to Action, Faster

containing a small black nugget of rare earth minerals. He is focused on decarbonizing and on-shoring the production of minerals just like this. Part of that work uses waste from mines, called mine tailings. The woman sitting next to him... View Details

08 Sep 2020
Blog Post

2+2 Where Are They Now Spotlight: Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes (MBA 2017)

out really well for me! Where are you currently working? Can you describe your role? I graduated from HBS in 2017 and have since raised ~$100M and co-founded three companies: one battery metals mining company and two oil and gas... View Details

September 1998 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Petrolera Zuata, Petrozuata C.A.

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Mathew M Millett

Petrozuata is a proposed $2.5 billion oil-field development project in Venezuela. The case is set in 1997 as the project sponsors, Conoco and PDVSA (Venezuela's national oil company), are planning to meet with various development agencies and rating agencies regarding... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Valuation; Project Finance; Capital Markets; Investment; Projects; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; Venezuela