Publications

April 2002 (Revised November 2003)
Case

World Oil Markets

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Rebecca Evans

Summarizes world markets for oil and natural gas from 1980-2001. Examines the rise of OPEC, two oil shocks, Gulf War efforts, and recent pricing issues facing Saudi Arabia. View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Asset Pricing; Markets; Organizations; Saudi Arabia

January 2015
Case

Chevron Under Fire

By: George Serafeim, Rebecca Henderson and Christine Snively

Oil giant, Chevron, faced numerous challenges on environmental, social and governance (ESG) grounds in the first decade of the 21st century, including some major lawsuits and actions by NGOs. The case describes those challenges and raises questions about what is the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Tax; Oil And Gas; Environment; Drilling; Governance; Business or Company Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Sources; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

12 May 2016
News

What Ernest Shackleton has in common with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk

world to move on from its modern energy sources the way that it once moved on from whale oil. Entrepreneurs like Bezos and Musk, whom I admire for their creativity and initiative, want to profit from... View Details

06 Sep 2004
What Do You Think?

How Do We Prepare for a World Without Cheap Oil?

advantage on firms and countries and a convenient, inexpensive, and relatively clean source of carbon energy on the world's consumers. As a result, there is a race to consume it as fast as possible, a race... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; China

01 Sep 2017
News

Starting Lineup: Power Plays

Grana (MBA 2009) and Paul Gibbs (MBA 2011); Founded 2011 Its HelioScope software simplifies design and sales for solar systems—an energy source whose US installations doubled between 2015 and 2016. The... View Details

Keywords: Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

March 1995 (Revised December 1995)
Case

Dividend Policy at FPL Group, Inc. (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Craig F Schreiber

A Wall Street analyst has just learned that FPL (the holding company for Florida's largest electric utility) may cut its dividend in several days despite a 47-year streak of consecutive dividend increases. In response to the deregulation of the electric utility... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Corporate Strategy; Policy; Competitive Strategy; Financial Strategy; Fluctuation; Energy Sources; Emerging Markets; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Florida

Research Summary

Overview

By: Goran Calic

What makes some organizations more innovative than others? Innovation follows from strategy and structure. A good strategy allows individuals to impose their own imagination towards organizational goals in a coordinated way. Good structure adds incentives that... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Resource Allocation; Strategy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Canada; United States; Europe; Croatia; Serbia and Montenegro

December 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Supplement

Decarbonizing Shipping at A.P. Møller-Maersk (B)

By: Willy Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

This is a (B) case supplement to 624-049 Decarbonizing Shipping at A.P. Møller-Maetsk View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Shipping; Biofuel; Ship Transportation; Energy Sources; Shipping Industry

June 1991 (Revised July 1992)
Case

Standard Oil Co.: Combination, Consolidation, and Integration (Abridged) (A)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

The rise of Standard Oil and its relation to the development of the American oil industry and new form of business organization. View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business History; Industry Growth; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; United States

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Standard Oil Co.: Combination, Consolidation, and Integration (Abridged) (B)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

The rise of Standard Oil and its relation to the development of the American oil industry and new form of business organization. View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business History; Industry Growth; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; United States

2012
Working Paper

Unobserved State Fragility and the Political Transfer Problem

By: Faisal Z. Ahmed and Eric Werker

Autocrats experiencing a windfall in unearned income may find it optimal to donate to other countries some of the windfall in order to make the state a less attractive prize to potential insurgents. We put forward a model that makes that prediction, as well as the... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Non-Renewable Energy; International Relations; Economics

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August 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

T.G.S. Transportation: Battery Electric or Hydrogen?

By: Willy C. Shih

Peter Schneider, the President of T.G.S. Transportation, Inc., faced a choice. His company operated drayage trucks that moved containerized cargo between the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to customers across the State of California, with a focus on the... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Clean Technology; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Truck Transportation; Transportation Industry; United States; California

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

Find at Harvard

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2011
Working Paper

Sustainable Fleet Operations: The Collaborative Adoption of Electric Vehicles

By: Vanessa Chocteau, David F. Drake, Paul R. Kleindorfer, Renato J. Orsato and Alain Roset

Keywords: Fleet Management; Carbon Regulation; Sustainable Operations; Collaboration; Environmental Sustainability; Transportation; Cooperation; Energy Sources; Manufacturing Industry; Green Technology Industry; Service Industry; Auto Industry; France

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01 Jun 2001
News

But It's All Right Now (In Fact, It's a Gas)

somehow revive the dormant business, stated a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal (March 13, 2001). Seeking a new source of supply, Shearer eventually settled on Trinidad and Tobago, better known as the calypso capital of the... View Details

Keywords: Natural Gas Distribution; Utilities

19 Jun 2014
News

Turning "Black Gold" to Green

says he loved the idea of boosting domestic energy production while recycling existing sources of CO2, because he had come to HBS looking to merge his interests in business, energy, and the environment. The... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli; Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining

2010
Comment

'Urgency and Betrayal: Three Attempts to Foster Private Investment in Argentina's Oil Industry,' by Nicolas Gadano

By: Louis T. Wells

Keywords: Investment; Private Sector; Government and Politics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; Argentina