Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil

Geoffrey  Jones; Yazeed  Al-Rashed

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Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2020

Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil

by Geoffrey Jones and Yazeed Al-Rashed

Language: English

Format: Print

27 pages

Educators

Citation:

Jones, Geoffrey, and Yazeed Al-Rashed. "Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil." Harvard Business School Case 321-003, July 2020.

About the Author

Geoffrey G. Jones

Isidor Straus Professor of Business History

General Management

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Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised May 2020)

Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A)

Geoffrey Jones and Lana Ghanem

The case is concerned with Elia Nuqul, the founder of Jordanian-based Nuqul Brothers, a large diversified business group. It shows how Nuqul, a Christian Palestinian whose family was forced to flee to Jordan after the creation of Israel in 1948, built a business in his new home, first in trading and later in consumer products such as hygienic paper manufacturing. The case shows the challenges of building such an entrepreneurial business in a developing region with high political instability. The case is positioned within the wider context of the regional conflict in Palestine and Israel, and it provides a vehicle for exploring the role and responsibility of entrepreneurs, if any, in such conflicts.

Keywords: Business History; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; History; Government and Politics; Consumer Products Industry; Middle East;

Citation:
Jones, Geoffrey, and Lana Ghanem. "Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A)." Harvard Business School Case 813-052, August 2012. (Revised May 2020.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2018 (Revised April 2020)

Coco Chanel: From Fashion Icon to Nazi Agent

Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean

This case describes the career of the iconic French fashion designer Coco Chanel who created a transformational business during the first half of the 20th century. Beginning in her early adulthood, Chanel leveraged relationships with acquaintances, friends, and romantic partners to build her fashion business and legendary luxury brand based on understated elegance. Chanel’s famous “little black dress” was accompanied by many other innovations including the use of jersey as material for daytime clothing and her development of the Chanel No. 5 perfume. The case pays close attention to the importance of Chanel’s networks among the cultural elite and European high society. It explores how she embraced the rise of Anti-Semitism among many members of the upper class at that time. During World War II, Chanel lived in the Ritz Hotel in Paris in occupied France, where she entered into a romantic relationship with a high-ranking German intelligence officer. Subsequently, Chanel herself became an intelligence operative for the Nazis. The case ends with Chanel in Switzerland in 1945 after she departed France following the Liberation of Paris by Allied forces. This case can be used to explore multiple issues including creating and building an iconic fashion brand, entrepreneurship, and ethical responsibility of business.

Keywords: Business History; Biography; Entrepreneurship; Relationships; Brands and Branding; Ethics; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry;

Citation:
Jones, Geoffrey, and Emily Grandjean. "Coco Chanel: From Fashion Icon to Nazi Agent." Harvard Business School Case 318-139, April 2018. (Revised April 2020.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2007 (Revised April 2020)

Ernesto Tornquist: Making a Fortune on the Pampas

Geoffrey Jones and Andrea Lluch

Examines the career of Ernesto Tornquist, a cosmopolitan financier considered to be the most significant entrepreneur in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. Tornquist created a diversified business group, linked to the political elite, which integrated Argentina into the trading and financial networks of the first global economy. Provides an opportunity to understand why Argentina was such a successful economy at this time, and to debate whether its very success laid the basis for the country's subsequent poor economic performance.

Keywords: Business History; Development Economics; Partners and Partnerships; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Trade; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economy; Performance; Argentina;

Citation:
Jones, Geoffrey, and Andrea Lluch. "Ernesto Tornquist: Making a Fortune on the Pampas." Harvard Business School Case 807-155, May 2007. (Revised April 2020.) View Details

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Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil

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