Publications

October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

1993
Chapter

Regulating the International Trade in Hazardous Pesticides: Closing the Accountability Gap

By: L. S. Paine

Keywords: Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Accountability; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry

21 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: Feb. 21

Business School Case 112-064 Dow Chemical is one of the few major American industrial corporations founded in the late 19th century that is still in existence. From its origins producing bromine out of the brine underneath Midland,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2019
Case

Shell: A Company of Opportunity?

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Emer Moloney

The Opportunity Hub was a cloud-based platform that enabled managers to market projects they were working on and associated resourcing needs as “Opportunity Owners” and employees, or “Opportunity Seekers,” to browse these statements of need and engage when they had... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Change Management; Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Energy; Energy Sources; Non-Renewable Energy; Renewable Energy; Human Resources; Employees; Retention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Labor; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Performance Productivity; Strategic Planning; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Technology Platform; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; United Kingdom; Netherlands

02 Apr 2019
Research Event

Women Pay a Higher Career Price in Today's Always-On Work Culture

Ely says. “In fact, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that it’s going to undermine the quality of the work.” A chemical reaction When Ely’s team suggested to the consulting firm that its employees worked an unnecessary number of hours,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consulting; Service

06 Aug 2001
Research & Ideas

Go Global—or No? Can You Make the Case?

Remember, we don't yet have the capability to serve the chemical and pharmaceutical industries here. There are still only 38 of us, and I estimate that building the support infrastructure we need just for domestic expansion could cost as... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

14 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Keeping Your Balance With Customers

market segments. Likewise, for many years, Chemical Bank (now Chase) cultivated relationships with unprofitable customers for the same reason. Most organizations view the sale purely as a transaction and then lose touch with the customer,... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

role in that process. “The way entrepreneurs create jobs is not by staying small forever and creating a gazillion firms,” says Kerr. “It’s a small firm that grows to a Facebook or a chemical plant with 800 employees.” Part of the reason... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

The Changing Face of American Innovation

on? Are they concentrated in a specific industry or business type? A: Inventors can file for patents in many technology fields, ranging from chemicals and drugs to computer software to agricultural machinery. Immigrant contributions are... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Technology

20 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 20

CDB's financing of a major project between Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Brazil's state-owned oil and gas producer, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), one of China's largest oil companies. Signed two years... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

that pursuing both chemicals and fuels added even more complexity to a business that was already executing multiple development steps in parallel. The case looks at the various strategic and operational decisions facing Melo as he planned... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

No More General Tso's? A Threat to 'Knowledge Recombination'

Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Perhaps even more surprising was what came next. Seeing the success, American researchers began investigating the use of turmeric as well, combining it with other chemicals to file their own... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Food & Beverage; Accounting

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

while more equal ones dislike competitive groups and do not necessarily respect them as competent. Unequal societies may need ambivalence for system stability: income inequality compensates groups with partially positive social images. Sustainability at Dow View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

ReMo Energy: Sizing Up Investors

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Tom Quinn

In 2023, executives with ReMo Energy (founded 2020) were deciding which size ammonia plant to build as their first project. Their innovative model produced ammonia—useful for making fertilizer and for energy storage—from renewable energy, and they had received funding... View Details