Publications

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December 1997 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Franco Bernabe at ENI (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Jennifer Suesse and Mara Willard

Describes Franco Bernabe's ascent to leadership at ENI, Italy's national oil and gas company. Illustrates Bernabe's early career experiences in academia, as the chief economist at Fiat. Then describes his arrival at ENI during the early 1980s, where he became first the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Personal Development and Career; Management Teams; Management Style; Strategic Planning; Crisis Management; Privatization; Italy

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

The Future of Iraq Project (A)

By: Noel Maurer and Sogomon Tarontsi

In March 2009, the government of Iraq decided to hold its first oil field auctions. The auctions were for service contracts on the country's southern oil fields; the winner would obtain the right to produce oil above a certain target for a fixed fee. The bidders... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Auctions; Production; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Iraq

June 2014
Case

Airgas, Inc.

By: Eric Van den Steen and Jason Karl

In 2013, Airgas was the market leader in packaged industrial gas distribution. Recent acquisitions had made it into a larger player in upstream gas production as well, where it competed with Praxair and Air Products. Should Airgas continue building a position in gas... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Competency and Skills; Value Creation

07 Jun 2014
Video

Thomas Scambos - Making A Difference

Web

Business and Climate Change Course | HBS Online

on greenhouse gas emissions rise and different industries’ contributions Consider the implications of imperfect markets Understand command, control, and market-based mechanisms... View Details

November 2003 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Creating Global Oil, 1900-1935

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Daniel Wadhwani

Taught in the elective MBA course entitled The Evolution of Global Business. Examines the development of an international cartel in the oil industry in the 1920s and 1930s. Focuses on the decisions and actions of the leading multinational oil companies—particularly... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Alliances; Cooperation; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry

November 1993 (Revised September 1995)
Supplement

Block 16: Management's Perspective

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Susan E.A. Hall

Supplements Block 16: Conoco's Green Oil Strategy (A). Reviews the environmental challenges facing the oil industry throughout upstream and downstream operations, and oil companies' competitive responses. Reviews Conoco's and Du Pont's environmental initiatives in more... View Details

Keywords: Local Range; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Perspective; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

earnings with a legacy of coal and gas fired power plants against its futuristic vision. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/718414-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 517-009... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 2003
Case

Sunk Costs: The Plan to Dump the Brent Spar (A)

This case explores the conflict between Shell Oil and Greenpeace over Shell's plans to sink the aging Brent Spar oil platform in the North Atlantic. It details the tactics Greenpeace employed and examines Shell's responses. View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Crisis Management; Environmental Sustainability; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; North America

16 Oct 2013
Op-Ed

Response to Readers: Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

supply contamination, etc.), as long as production takes place in a state or other legal jurisdiction with a history of sensible oil and gas production regulations View Details

Keywords: by Joe Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

March 1998 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (Abridged)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

Describes the privatization of YPF Sociedad Anonima and the company's dilemma of whether to acquire a troubled U.S. oil company as a way of becoming a global oil company. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Privatization

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01 Feb 1998
News

Women at the Top

19th-century textile mogul Francis Cabot Lowell, oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, and technology titan Bill Gates. "It was a great way to start the program, because it gave us a background View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso and Susan Young

July 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Société Internationale de Plantations et de Finance (SIPEF)

By: David Hawkins

Management of a company with extensive palm oil tree plantations questions the usefulness to management and investors of IAS41's requirement to value palm oil trees at their fair value. View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; International Financial Reporting Standards; International Accounting Standards; Biological Asset Accounting; IAS41; Historical Cost; Equity Valuation; Financial Ratios; Plant-Based Agribusiness; International Accounting; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Fair Value Accounting; Equity; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

10 Jun 2022
Blog Post

New Venture Competition 2022: Business and Environment Ventures

The ResourceAyanda Heita, MBA 2023The Resource aggregates and curates the best secondhand fashion online. Our vision is to eliminate fashion waste. Clean Energy, Buildings, & Transportation Contestants AGAPEGraeme Johnson, MBA 1995... View Details

September 1995 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (B)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

YPF, a recently privatized and restructured Argentine-based oil company now turns its attention to international expansion and faces an opportunity to acquire Maxus, a troubled U.S. oil company. The case discusses whether the company should go ahead with the proposed... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Non-Renewable Energy; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Privatization; Natural Environment; Expansion; United States; Argentina

05 Dec 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, December 5, 2017

Harvard Business School Case 717-056 The U.S. Shale Revolution: Global Rebalancing? The American shale revolution has upended oil and gas markets for nearly a decade. Prices... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

CPP Investments—The Road to Zero

By: Vikram Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In February 2022, Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, the investment management organization that managed funds for the CPP, one of the biggest pension plans in the world, announced a net-zero commitment for its portfolio by 2050. Under its CEO, John Graham, it... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Asset Management; Investment Portfolio; Leading Change; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California