Publications

1980
Book

Tax and Investment Policies for Hard Minerals: Public and Multinational Enterprises in Indonesia

By: Malcolm Gillis, Ralph Beals, Glenn Jenkins, L. T. Wells Jr. and Ulrich Peterson

Keywords: Taxation; Investment; Policy; Metals and Minerals; Multinational Firms and Management; Indonesia

Find at Harvard

May 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Case

The Offshore Drilling Industry in 2011

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Kenneth Corts and Joseph McElroy

After booming in 2007 and early 2008, the offshore drilling industry slumps in 2009. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates--the prices paid for a rig's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Metals and Minerals; Demand and Consumers; Price; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Mining; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

October 1991 (Revised August 1993)
Case

Acid Rain: Burlington Northern, Inc. (A)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Burlington Northern (BN) hauls low-sulfur coal from the northern Great Plains to electric utilities in the Midwest. Acid rain legislation may affect the geographic scope of BN's markets. Railroad managers need to assess the economic effects of acid rain controls and... View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Government Legislation; Natural Environment; Policy; Metals and Minerals; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Rail Industry; United States

26 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

What Neuroscience Tells Us About Consumer Desire

is a sophisticated piece of medical equipment that exerts a very strong magnetic field at all times, and it's important to be very careful around it," Karmarkar says. "For example, you cannot take metal into a magnet room!"... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

29 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

Building a Powerful Prestige Brand

over 80 of her lipsticks to the luncheon as table gifts. Unlike most lipsticks at the time, these were housed in metal cases. Lunch guests noticed the unusual packaging and the lipstick's color and texture. As the event broke up, Fiske... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy F. Koehn; Beauty & Cosmetics; Consumer Products; Retail

November 1999 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Financing the Mozal Project

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Fuaad Qureshi

It is June 1997, and a team from the International Finance Corp. (IFC) is recommending that the board approve a $120 million investment in a $1.4 billion aluminum smelter in Mozambique, known as the Mozal project. Four factors make the investment controversial: it... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Capital Markets; Emerging Markets; Projects; Financial Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Developing Countries and Economies; Metals and Minerals; Financial Strategy; Government and Politics; International Finance; Infrastructure; Mozambique

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

Neil Kashyap and Neil Lombardo (HBS '08) acquired Winnan Metal, Inc., a metal fabrication shop, after raising a search fund and embarking on an 11-month search to fulfill their dreams of becoming business owners. Two weeks after they took... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

October 2015
Teaching Note

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

29 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Managing Innovation is Like Theater

operate in imagination, in the realm of knowledge and ideas. While artful making improves anything that exhibits interdependency among its parts, we're not primarily concerned with heating metal and beating it into shapes. We're more... View Details

Keywords: by Rob Austin & Lee Devin

20 Aug 2001
Research & Ideas

Making an Ally of Uncle Sam

rapper Dr. Dre and the heavy metal band Metallica sued Napster for copyright infringement late in 1999. But is was unclear how intellectual-property law applied to such an innovation, so Napster's opponents also pursued a legislative... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins, Mickey Edwards & Usha Thakrar

06 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

the boom in LED manufacturing, Chinese local governments would pay for 100 percent of the cost of the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) tool used to make LEDs, so naturally what followed was a dramatic over-expansion of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing; Electronics

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Issuing the 'Happy Meal' Securities (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the Western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expansion in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. After reporting lower than expected... View Details

28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

Council on Mining and Metals has developed transparency principles for mining firms, and the Responsible Care program of the chemical industry has focused on outcomes ranging from employee safety to environmental impact. Similarly, the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Manufacturing; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Mining

20 Apr 2020
Book

Why COVID-19 Raises the Stakes for Healthy Buildings

what they are physically carrying, but also what they might be carrying internally. In addition to metal detectors, infrared scanners at building entrances will take visitors’ temperatures, to help prevent the spread of viruses and other... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Real Estate; Health

03 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 3

Mining for Growth in an Economic Crisis Gary P. Pisano, Elena Corsi, and Elisa FarriHarvard Business School Case 610-021 In December 2008, Gianluigi Nova, CEO of Tenova SpA, a technology and equipment supplier to the metals and mining... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Porter’s Perspective: Competing in the Global Economy

therefore, become unique local centers of innovation for the likes of mutual funds, venture capital, and biotechnology in Greater Boston or aircraft equipment and design, boat and shipbuilding, and metal fabrication in Seattle. The list... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter

15 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: January 15

coming directly to GUC. Purchase this case:http://hbr.org/search/613049-PDF-ENG CSIRO: The Light Metals Flagship Decision Shih, Willy, Margaret P. Pierson, and Dawn LauHarvard Business School Case 613-029 This case explores the challenge... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2010 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Chile's Copper Surplus: The Road Not Taken (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Dante Roscini and Renee Kim

In 2008, Andres Velasco, Chile's Finance Minister, was under mounting criticisms over his fiscal policy. As the world's largest copper producer, Chile was benefiting from the rise in copper prices, which had more than tripled since 2003. Copper revenues translated into... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Metals and Minerals; Investment Funds; Policy; State Ownership; Wealth; Chile