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

March 2017
Case

Cantel Medical

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Cantel Medical Corporation provided infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers. In 2016, Cantel generated sales of $665 million and net profits of $60 million, double the levels of five years earlier.... View Details

01 Oct 2000
News

Three Promoted to Full Professor

Harvard College, where he majored in biology, Gompers worked for a year as a research biochemist for Bayer Chemical AG before earning a master's degree in economics at Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship. He completed his Ph.D. in... View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

John Mulroney: Center Stage at the Opera

and COO of Rohm and Haas, the largest specialty chemicals company in the United States. The longtime Philadelphia resident, who started his forty-year career at Rohm and Haas as an engineer, says he was ready for retirement but felt no... View Details

19 Jun 2014
News

Turning "Black Gold" to Green

which, when burned, releases more CO2 (a key greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere. C12 Energy's North Dakota project will instead capture industrial CO2 from a big chemical plant located about 50 miles away and then pump it to the mature... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli; Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining

March 2017 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Edwin Land: The Art and Science of Innovation

By: Tom Nicholas, Christopher T. Stanton and Matthew G. Preble

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Polaroid first invented—and then continuously reinvented—the field of instant photography. Under the leadership of its mercurial founder Edwin Land, the company regularly released new instant cameras and films, often... View Details

Keywords: Instant Photography; Company History; Change Management; Disruption; Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Intellectual Property; Patents; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Development; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

June 2013
Supplement

Novozymes/Henrik Meyer, V.P. of Marketing and Business Development, Novozymes

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Video Supplement to the case, "Novozymes: Cracking the Emerging Markets Code." View Details

Keywords: Business To Business Marketing; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; China; Denmark

02 Nov 2020
Blog Post

2+2 Where Are They Now Spotlight: Tyler Teykl (MBA 2017)

figure.left { float:left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; } figcaption.text { text-align: center; font-size: 12px; } What was your undergraduate university and major? I received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University prior to... View Details

29 Aug 2016
Blog Post

First Year at HBS: A Foundation for Business

As a chemical engineer considering an MBA, I wanted more to learn and gain mastery of business principles with both breadth and depth. Like nearly everything else in the modern world, the business landscape has become quite complex and... View Details

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

This case analyzes Dow Chemical Company's proposed acquisition of Rohm and Haas in 2008. The $18.8 billion acquisition was part of Dow's strategic transformation from a slow-growth, low-margin, and cyclical producer of basic View Details

2010
Working Paper

The New Face of Chinese Industrial Policy: Making Sense of Anti-Dumping Cases in the Petrochemical and Steel Industries

By: Regina Abrami and Yu Zheng

Why have China's petrochemical and steel industries behaved so differently in seeking trade protection through antidumping measures? We argue that the patterning of antidumping actions is best explained in terms of the political economy of economic restructuring in... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Price; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Competition; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; China

November 2015 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Air Products' Pursuit of Airgas (A)

By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Paul M. Healy, Penelope Rossano and Kyle Thomas

This case centers around the Air Products' hostile takeover attempt of Airgas in 2010. Air Products argued that its offer of a 38% premium is generous given Airgas' poor performance, which Air Products attributed to underperforming and entrenched managers at Airgas. On... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry