Publications

October 2013
Supplement

Alcoa's Bid for Alcan (B)

By: Paul Healy and Penelope Rossano

In spring 2007, Alcoa CEO Alain Belda was concerned about the company's market position in light of increased competition from developing markets. China's recent entry into the aluminum market was affecting both supply and demand. Furthermore, downstream and upstream... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Acquisitions; Alcoa; Alcan; Rio Tinto; Aluminum Industry; Accounting; Financial Analysis; Consolidation; Market Participation; Financial Statements; Acquisition; Mining; Mining Industry; Canada; United States

Web

Pouring ingots of rimming steel - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation Russell Aikins Gelatin Silver Print, 15.75 × 19.25 inches Industrial Life Photograph Collection, Mss:1412 :306 C288 Baker Library | Historical Collections | Site Credits | Digital Accessibility Contact... View Details

Web

The Otis Steel Company-Pioneer: Cleveland, Ohio - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

Chapter Images The Product The Production The Worker The Audience Bibliography previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 next The Otis Steel CompanyPioneer: Cleveland Ohio Otis Steel Company, 1929 Photograph by Margaret... View Details

02 Mar 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Trump’s Tariffs Could Harm Allies as Much as Opponents

After many on and off signals, President Donald Trump pulled the trigger March 1 and announced he would slap long-term duties on steel (25 percent) View Details

Keywords: by Dante Roscini; Steel; Steel

September 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Grupo Sidek (A)

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Alberto Moel

A large Mexican conglomerate, active in tourism, real estate, and steel, is faced with difficult macroeconomic conditions beginning with the Peso crisis of December 1994. The conglomerate had extensive dollar-indexed liabilities and was caught in a crunch when the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Exchange; Real Estate; Debt Policy; Tourism; Steel; Business Conglomerates; Macroeconomics; Currency Exchange Rate; Crisis Management; Valuation; Mexico

September 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Supplement

Grupo Sidek (B)

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Alberto Moel

Supplements the (A) case. Designed to be handed out midway through class. View Details

Keywords: Foreign Exchange; Real Estate; Debt Policy; Tourism; Steel; Crisis Management

Web

9000 ton forging press making a forged steel pressure vessel - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

Production Chapter Introduction Chapter Images The Worker The Audience Bibliography previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 next 9000 ton forging press making a forged steel pressure vessel ca. 1935 Midvale Compary John Mudd Explore the full size image 9000... View Details

Web

Letter from Frank C. Ayres to W. J. Filbert, U.S. Steel Corporation - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

The Message The Product The Production The Worker The Audience Bibliography previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next Letter from Frank C. Ayres to W. J. Filbert, U.S. Steel Corporation September 28, 1932 Explore the full size image Letter from Frank... View Details

Web

Letter from W. J. Filbert, U.S. Steel Corporation, to Frank C. Ayres - The Human Factor – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

The Message The Product The Production The Worker The Audience Bibliography previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next Letter from W. J. Filbert, U.S. Steel Corporation, to Frank C. Ayres September 22, 1932 Explore the full size image Letter from W. J.... View Details

04 Feb 2020
Video

Dr. Manu Chandaria

Manu Chandaria, Chair of the Kenyan-based steel and aluminum group Comcraft, discusses how businesses should look at “profit as a means, not the end.” He assets that the purpose of profit is to improve the... View Details

02 Mar 2018
News

Trump’s Tariffs Will Take Their Toll

January 2019
Case

Capitalism, Entrepreneurship and Responsibility

By: Geoffrey Jones

This case contains excerpts from prominent business leaders and others expressing their views on the responsibilities, if any, of business leaders to other stakeholders in society. It begins with an excerpt from Andrew Carnegie, the nineteenth century steel magnate, in... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leadership; Attitudes; Perspective

22 Feb 2021
Blog Post

I Found My Future at HBS and You Can Too

plunging in and out of puddles of melted snow. My future career was far from my mind, but even at that young age, I was contemplating the world and my place in it. In Appalachia, opportunity ebbs View Details

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details

August 2006 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Jamnalal Bajaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and the Struggle for Indian Independence

By: Geoffrey Jones, Prabakar 'PK' Kothandaraman and Kerry Herman

Describes the role of a leading Indian business leader in the campaign for independence before 1947 and his close relationship with the legendary Mahatma Gandhi. Provides the opportunity to consider the impact of colonialism on shaping Indian entrepreneurship and the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Business History; Leadership; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; India

February 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Sarah Nam, Sisi Pan and Eric Werker

During the summer of 2014, Alan Knight, general manager of corporate responsibility at the integrated steel and mining company ArcelorMittal, observed the unfolding of an Ebola epidemic in Liberia and other countries in West Africa with great concern. On the one hand... View Details

March 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Pittsburgh: A Successful City?

By: Karen Mills, Caroline Elkins, Vikram Gandhi, Gabriella Elanbeck and Zeke Gillman

Pittsburgh, PA, was once the crown jewel of American heavy industry. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city was an undisputed leader in steel production, boasting some of the largest companies and wealthiest individuals in the world. Its abundance of... View Details

Keywords: Economic And Social Disparities; Economic Development; Local Economic Development; Contextual Intelligence; Contextual Knowledge; Context; City Growth; City Innovation; City Leadership; Pittsburgh; Local Government; Local Stakeholders; Business And Community; Business And Community Relations; Community Engagement; Community Relations; Cross-sector Collaboration; Innovation; Innovation Economy; Innovation Clusters; Innovation Ecosystems; Shared Prosperity; Equality Of Opportunity; Equity; Inclusion; Business And Government; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Government Relations; Business And Society; Neighborhoods; Race And Ethnicity; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Household; Income; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economics; Local Range; Urban Development; Urban Scope; City; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Growth and Development; History; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Society; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Public Sector; Social Issues; Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Education Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Pittsburgh; Pennsylvania

Research Summary

Managing Workplace Reforms and Organization-Wide Transformations

Richard E. Walton is studying (with doctoral candidate Scott Hamlin and research associate Kathleen Scharf) the development and diffusion of new forms of union-management partnership together with other new practices in the steel industry. To test and elaborate... View Details

December 1998
Article

Entrepreneurs and Business Performance in Nineteenth Century France

By: Tom Nicholas, Elisa Boccaletti and James Foreman-Peck

A popular explanation for the supposed "delayed industrialisation" of the nineteenth century French economy has been the inappropriate attitudes and actions of the managerial classes and family firms. To address these claims we model the supply and demand for... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Performance; Economy; Management; Success; Opportunities; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Saving; Higher Education; Training; Demand and Consumers; France