Case | HBS Case Collection | 2011 (Revised from original 2010 version)

Sherritt Goes to Cuba (A): Political Risk in Unchartered Territory

by Aldo Musacchio and Jonathan Schlefer

Abstract

Ian Delaney, CEO of Sherritt, a primarily a mining company, visited Cuba in the early 1990s to negotiate a deal to export nickel for their Canadian refineries. The case describes the difficulties of doing business in Cuba and the challenges Delaney overcame to turn Sherritt into a large diversified holding company that operates in mining, oil, utilities, telecomm, hotels, and others. Delaney did this while managing a relationship with an authoritarian regime with an anti-capitalist discourse.

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Joint Ventures; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Mining Industry; Canada; Cuba; United States;

Citation:

Musacchio, Aldo, and Jonathan Schlefer. "Sherritt Goes to Cuba (A): Political Risk in Unchartered Territory." Harvard Business School Case 711-001, April 2011. (Revised from original September 2010 version.)