Publications

23 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Oil Price Fallout: What Happens Next?

horizontal drilling and uses highly-pressurized water jets to force fossil fuels like oil and natural gas up from otherwise-unreachable rock beds. This new technology has enabled U.S. companies to access... View Details

Keywords: Re: Richard H.K. Vietor; Energy; Utilities

April 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Fleet Oil Company: An Exercise

The exercise, which adapts a famous experiment by experimental psychologist Thomas Gilovich, is designed to show both the ubiquity of analogy or associative thinking more generally and its potential perils. Students are presented with a scenario in which an oil company... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Crime and Corruption; Decisions; Non-Renewable Energy; Cost; Production; Performance Productivity; Research and Development; Energy Industry; Atlanta; Houston

04 May 2021
News

Legacy, Leadership, and Transformation at America's National Ballet Company

Keywords: Arts, Entertainment

August 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Background Note

Oil: History, Present and Future

By: Jurgen Weiss

This background note is intended to provide context for a discussion of the strategies for big integrated oil companies in light of both oil’s current role in the global energy system and the uncertainty about changes going forward. View Details

Keywords: Oil; Energy Markets; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Decarbonization; Non-Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries

October 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

C16 Biosciences: Lab-Grown Palm Oil

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

Synthetic biology start-up C16 Biosciences wants to solve a big problem: replace palm oil, a major contributor to deforestation and climate change, with a lab-grown substitute. CEO Shara Ticku has ambitious plans to supply her lab-grown palm oil to food manufacturers,... View Details

Keywords: Science-Based Business; Environmental Sustainability; Social Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Product Positioning; Venture Capital; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry

06 Dec 2011
Working Paper Summaries

What Impedes Oil and Gas Companies’ Transparency?

Keywords: by Paul Healy, Venkat Kuppuswamy & George Serafeim; Energy; Utilities

November 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Supplement

BMW's Project Switch (B): Importers vs. National Sales Companies

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Laura Winig

BMW is faced with potential channel conflicts across several EU country markets. The case concludes the (A) case's exploration of BMW's approach to redesigning the channel in Greece. The case provides details on both headquarter and country head perspective on BMW's... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Business Headquarters; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; European Union

May–June 2021
Article

Case Study: What Role Should a Company Play in a National Crisis?

By: Christopher J. Malloy

The article presents a fictionalized case study asking what type of role should a company play in a national crisis, specifically a tsunami hitting Indonesia, similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Topics include how disasters can impact family-owned companies, the... View Details

Keywords: Emergency Preparedness; Disaster Relief; Natural Disasters; Crisis Management

September 1983
Case

National Dairy Development Board Oilseeds and Vegetable Oil Wing: Restructuring India's Oilseed Industry

By: Ray A. Goldberg

21 Apr 2021
Video

Legacy, Leadership and Transformation at America's National Ballet Company

20 Jan 2011
News

Oil Spill Solution

SOAKING IT IN: Scott Smith has proven the absorbency of his firm's Opflex polymer foam at major oil spills in the Gulf and China. Last April’s Gulf of Mexico disaster was back on the front pages in early January when the View Details

April 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Exercise

Raptor Oil Company: An Exercise

The exercise, which adapts a famous experiment by experimental psychologist Thomas Gilovich, is designed to show both the ubiquity of analogy or associative thinking more generally and its potential perils. Students are presented with a scenario in which an oil company... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cognition and Thinking; Prejudice and Bias; Strategy

September 1983 (Revised February 1989)
Background Note

The Oil Tanker Shipping Industry in 1983

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes the international oil tanker shipping industry both historically and in 1983. Designed to provide a vehicle for practicing industry analysis in a volatile commodity business, and for formulating strategy in such an environment. Also can be used to examine... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Globalized Markets and Industries; Goods and Commodities; Volatility; Vertical Integration; Supply and Industry; Shipping Industry

September 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

BMW's Project Switch (A): Importers vs. National Sales Companies

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

BMW is faced with potential channel conflicts across several EU country markets. The case highlights BMW's approach to redesigning its channel in Greece. The case provides details on both headquarter and country head perspective on BMW's channel strategy. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; European Union; Greece

July 1996
Case

Trans National Group

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Takia Mahmood

Starting as a classic entrepreneur,Steve Belkin, CEO of Trans National (TN), drives the company through two businesses--one in group travel and another in financial services--before deciding to step back and act as a general manager whose focus and attention is on... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Management; Growth Management

27 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes

Harvard Business School professors often travel into the field to conduct business research, but it's a safe bet none have had the experience of Professor Robin Ely. She and coauthor Debra Meyerson of Stanford University took helicopter trips to deep-water View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

18 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Will Global Demand for Oil Peak This Decade?

Is the globe’s thirst for oil finally topping out? A major international energy watcher says yes, predicting last month that demand for global oil for transport will peak around 2026, plateau for all uses by 2028, and possibly hit a zenith by the end of the decade.... View Details

Keywords: by Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette; Energy; Industrial Products; Auto; Green Technology

June 2025
Case

Live Nation and Ticketmaster

By: Eugene Soltes and Thales S. Teixeira

In 2010, entertainment company Live Nation and event ticketing company Ticketmaster merged to form Live Nation Entertainment. Faced with a consent decree, the companies were to avoid becoming a monopoly, yet a 2024 Department of Justice decision determined that they... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Management; Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States