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May–June 2014
Article

Paradigm-Changing vs. Paradigm-Deepening Innovation: How Firm Scope Influences Firm Technological Response to Shocks

By: Gautam Ahuja, Curba Morris Lampert and Vivek Tandon

We examine the direction of firms' research efforts as they respond to the shock of a sharp increase in the price of a key input. In terms of direction, firms can respond to this shock with paradigm-changing investments that develop technologies to use substitute... View Details

Keywords: Technological Change; Innovation; Evolutionary Approaches; Shocks; Technological Innovation; System Shocks; Corporate Strategy

Find at Harvard

October 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Hermitage Fund, The: Media and Corporate Governance in Russia

William Browder, the top executive of the Hermitage Fund, the best-performing international equity fund over the last five years, attributed much of his funds' strong returns to its focus on shareholder activism and corporate governance. In 2001, he was putting this... View Details

Keywords: Media; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Russia

June 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. 1990

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

The CFO of Fleetwood Enterprises is considering whether to recommend a large share repurchase to the board of directors. Fleetwood's core businesses, manufactured housing and recreational vehicles, are very sensitive to business cycles and oil prices. Following Iraq's... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Capital Structure; Stock Shares; Price; Crisis Management; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Iraq; Kuwait

2009
Case

Midland Energy Resources, Inc.: Cost of Capital: Brief Case No. 4129.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

The senior vice president of project finance for a global oil and gas company must determine the weighted average cost of capital for the company as a whole and each of its divisions as part of the annual capital budgeting process. The case uses comparable companies to... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Cost of Capital; Energy Industry

01 May 2025
HBS Seminar

Dan Iancu, Stanford Graduate School of Business

November 2007 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Mubadala: Forging Development in Abu Dhabi

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Irina Tarsis

In 2007, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the CEO of Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), had every reason to be optimistic about the future of his home, Abu Dhabi, one of the emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tiny, sandy, and dry emirate with a... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economy; Non-Renewable Energy; Globalization; Leading Change; State Ownership; Diversification; Abu Dhabi

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

power plants were financed with long-term fixed price contracts for both inputs (gas supply) and outputs (and electricity purchase). More recently, "merchant plants" were financed without the benefit of long-term contracts,... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

June 2009 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Colbún—Powering Chile

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Gustavo A. Herrero and Sanjay Patnaik

This case is about Colbún, Chile's second largest electricity generator, which is facing significant uncertainty regarding the cost and availability of alternative energy sources. Problems with the contracted supply of natural gas and the volatility of oil prices,... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Climate Change; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Chile

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Pioneer Natural Resources: Enhancing the Capital Return Strategy with Variable Dividends

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Elisabeth Kempf and E. Scott Mayfield

In February 2021, Scott Sheffield, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources (an independent oil and gas company based in Texas), was considering the possibility of enhancing the firm’s capital return strategy by introducing a variable dividend tied to cash flows in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Return; Profit; Policy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry; United States; North America; Texas

19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

and when buyers and sellers do manage to find each other, they usually negotiate under enormous uncertainty: prices of similar patents vary widely from transaction to transaction, and the terms of the transactions (including prices) are... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 22

advertising market—one that suffers quite a different set of problems. Display advertising systems place ads-typically, rectangular "banners"—on the majority of popular web sites. Though display ads are widespread, they are also troubled—ignored by many... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2012
Case

Romney vs. Obama and U.S. Energy Policy

By: Rawi Abdelal and Kaitlyn Tuthill

In 2012, the energy sector in the United States was demanding major reform. Prices of oil and gas had continued to cripple the middle and lower class as the U.S. economy slowly recovered. At the same time, the U.S. lagged behind developed economies in production of... View Details

Keywords: Mitt Romney; Barack Obama; Energy; Election Outcomes; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Political Elections; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry; United States

January 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

PetroChina

By: Alexander Dyck, Yasheng Huang and David Lane

In March 2000, plans for the initial public offering of shares in PetroChina were proceeding on schedule, and institutional investors were evaluating the deal. PetroChina was China's largest oil and gas company and an attractive play on China's continued economic... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; China

November 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Investor Relations at TOTAL

By: Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Examines investor relations and financial communications in a large company with a diverse group of financial stakeholders. Total is an "energy major" based in Paris, France. The importance of its product and its impact on economies and environments combine with the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Business and Shareholder Relations; Communication Strategy; Paris

September 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Bunge: Food, Fuel, and World Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Santiago Mingo and Jonathan West

In 2007, Bunge, an agribusiness company, had over $26 billion in worldwide sales and was considered, along with Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), one of three very integrated worldwide agribusiness companies. Headquartered in White Plains, NY, the company has... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Operations; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; White Plains; Brazil

November 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

MW Petroleum Corporation (A)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman, Peter Tufano and Barbara Wall

Amoco Corp. is negotiating to sell a wholly-owned subsidiary, MW Petroleum, to Apache Corp. MW owns large reserves of oil and gas comprising many properties at different stages of engineering, development, and production. The proposed acquisition is a large one for... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Subsidiaries; Mining; Cash Flow; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Price; Negotiation; Production; Valuation; Mining Industry

2025
Working Paper

An Empirical Examination of Business Climate Alliances: Effective and/or Harmful?

By: Matteo Gasparini and Peter Tufano

This research studies business alliances that seek to address climate change, offering empirical evidence to address claims advanced by alliance supporters and critics. We study eleven major alliance mostly focused on financial services firms and 424 major... View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Climate Change; Financial Institutions; Antitrust; Competition