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- July 2021 (Revised January 2022)
- Case
K.C. Li: The Tungsten King
By: Geoffrey Jones and Casey Verkamp
This case examines the business career of Kuo-Ching Li, who was born in China in 1892, and built a successful minerals trading business called Wah Chang in the United States during the interwar years. He acquired a prominent role in tungsten, the strongest natural...
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- January 2021
- Case
Rio Tinto Aluminum: Can Purpose Lead to Profit?
By: David Fubini and Agastya Muthanna
This case describes the tradeoffs Rio Tinto faces as it considers investments to ensure environmentally friendly, sustainability produced aluminum with the potential risks of competitive pricing and profit loses.
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- October 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
Digging for Gold: Paulson & Co.'s Activism in the Gold Sector
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah S. Goldberg
The case describes the efforts of hedge fund Paulson & Co to influence corporate governance and improve performance in the gold industry. In an innovative move, the hedge fund led the creation of the Shareholder Gold Council, a consortium of large investors in gold...
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- February 2020
- Case
Rotoplas: Bringing More and Better Water
By: John D. Macomber and Carla Larangeira
Private companies were being turned to for potable water in the world’s megacities due to impacts of climate change including droughts and flooding. Mexico City had endured several water-related crises, with its population suffering from floods, droughts, water...
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- November 2019
- Case
Chile: Unrest in the Copper Nation
By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong
For decades, Chile was heralded as South America’s pillar of stable economic growth. Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and enjoyed a long period of over 30 years of world demand for its resources. In 2013, the commodity boom ended and was replaced by a...
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- January 2019
- Supplement
The De Beers Group: Launching GemFair for Artisanal Diamonds
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
In April 2018, the De Beers Group launched a pilot project called GemFair to create a new supply of ethically and environmentally sourced diamonds from artisanal and small-scale mines (ASM) in Sierra Leone. Whether this project would yield a meaningful supply of rough...
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- October 2018 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Rio Tinto vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission
By: Aiyesha Dey, Krishna G. Palepu and Sarah Gulick
Keywords:
Coal Mining;
SEC Enforcement;
FCPA;
Mining;
Fraud;
Acquisition;
Financial Reporting;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Non-Renewable Energy;
Ethics;
Financial Management;
Investment;
Corporate Governance;
Laws and Statutes;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Risk Management;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Energy Industry;
Energy Industry;
Energy Industry;
Mozambique;
United States;
Australia;
England
- August 2018 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
The De Beers Group: Launching Lightbox Jewelry for Lab-Grown Diamonds
By: Benjamin C. Esty
In May 2018, the De Beers Group shocked the diamond industry when it announced it was launching a new fashion jewelry brand of laboratory-grown (synthetic) diamonds. The reaction was swift as people sought to understand the company’s motivations: was it a “huge gamble”...
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Keywords:
Diamonds;
Differentiation;
New Business;
Strategy Development;
Strategy Execution;
Scope;
Adjacency;
Core;
Commoditization;
New Product Launch;
Mining;
Retail;
Corporate Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Disruption;
Value Creation;
Product Launch;
Segmentation;
Expansion;
Competitive Advantage;
United States;
United Kingdom
- February 2018
- Case
Rosslyn Resource: Monetization and Sales Strategy
By: Robert J. Dolan and Sunru Yong
Rosslyn Resource identifies exploration targets (potential mineral deposits) in the mining industry and advances them until the project can be monetized, usually through sale to a larger mining company, in return for an upfront fee and a royalty on future revenues....
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- 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...
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Keywords:
Ebola;
Epidemics;
Ebola Private Sector Mobalization Group;
EPSMG;
Civil War;
Sovereignty;
Change Management;
Judgments;
Development Economics;
Geopolitical Units;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Emerging Markets;
Business and Community Relations;
Business and Government Relations;
Safety;
War;
Wealth and Poverty;
Welfare;
Crisis Management;
Mining Industry;
Liberia
- December 2017 (Revised December 2018)
- Case
OCP Group
By: Kristin Fabbe, Forest Reinhardt, Natalie Kindred and Alpana Thapar
This case explores the strategy of OCP Group, the 95% state-owned Moroccan firm charged with managing the North African country’s vast reserves of phosphate. Phosphate was one of the most vital macronutrients for plant health, along with nitrogen and potassium, and...
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- November 2017
- Teaching Note
Predicting Consumer Tastes with Big Data at Gap
By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery
CEO Art Peck was eliminating his creative directors for The Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic brands and promoting a collective creative ecosystem fueled by the input of big data. Rather than relying on artistic vision, Peck wanted the company to use the mining of big...
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Keywords:
Brands;
Brand ＆ Product Management;
Big Data;
＂Marketing Analytics＂;
Consumer Behavior;
Predictive Analytics;
Forecasting;
Preferences;
Operation Management;
Distribution Channels;
Marketing;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Brands and Branding;
Forecasting and Prediction;
Data and Data Sets;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
United States;
North America
- October 2017 (Revised January 2018)
- Case
Bitfury: Blockchain for Government
By: Mitchell Weiss and Elena Corsi
In the Republic of Georgia, legend had it their land was a precious gift from God he had intended to keep for his mother. But over time, the land had been under intermittent threat from without and within. In 2017, the Bitfury Group, which Valery Vavilov had...
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Keywords:
Blockchain;
Bitcoin;
Cryptocurrency;
Public Entrepreneurship;
Public Innovation;
Government Innovation;
Property Rights;
Property Registry;
Technology Strategy;
Distributed Networks;
Entrepreneurship;
Public Sector;
Innovation and Invention;
Technology Adoption;
Business and Government Relations;
Technology Industry;
Technology Industry;
Technology Industry;
Georgia (nation, Asia);
Tbilisi
- June 2017 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
Goodbye IMF Conditions, Hello Chinese Capital: Zambia's Copper Industry and Africa's Break with Its Colonial Past
By: Rafael Di Tella, Vincent Pons, Sarah Mehta and David Lane
Over the past several decades, rapid growth in Chinese investment and trade has created for Africa a new development partner. China represents an alternative to U.S. and European nations whose past imperialism, resource avarice, and economic dictates—through the...
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- June 2017
- Teaching Note
The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle
In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the...
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Keywords:
Diamonds;
Go-to-market Strategy;
Secondary Market;
Willingness To Pay;
Pilot Program;
Strategy Development;
Strategy Execution;
Scope;
Marketing;
Advertising;
Branding;
Customer Value;
Pawn Shops;
Jewelry;
Supply And Demand;
Corporate Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Vertical Integration;
Advertising Campaigns;
Value Creation;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
United States;
United Kingdom;
Africa;
Botswana;
South Africa;
Namibia
- May 2017 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Predicting Consumer Tastes with Big Data at Gap
By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery
CEO Art Peck was eliminating his creative directors for The Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic brands and promoting a collective creative ecosystem fueled by the input of big data. Rather than relying on artistic vision, Peck wanted the company to use the mining of big...
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Keywords:
Retailing;
Preference Elicitation;
Big Data;
Predictive Analytics;
Artificial Intelligence;
E-commerce;
Fashion;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Marketing Channels;
Brands and Branding;
Consumer Behavior;
Demand and Consumers;
Analytics and Data Science;
Forecasting and Prediction;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
United States;
Canada;
North America
- April 2017
- Case
Planetary Resources Inc., Property Rights, and the Regulation of the Space Economy
By: Matthew Weinzierl and Angela Acocella
Planetary Resources, Inc. (PRI) had a bold, some said crazy, vision: to mine asteroids. One might have assumed that developing the right technology would be the greatest challenge facing PRI. But even if the fledgling company could develop and deploy the sophisticated...
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- February 2017
- Supplement
The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle
In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the...
View Details
Keywords:
Diamonds;
Go-to-market Strategy;
Secondary Market;
Willingness To Pay;
Pilot Program;
Strategy Development;
Strategy Execution;
Scope;
Marketing;
Advertising;
Branding;
Customer Value;
Pawn Shops;
Jewelry;
Supply And Demand;
Corporate Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Vertical Integration;
Advertising Campaigns;
Value Creation;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
United States;
United Kingdom;
Africa;
Botswana;
South Africa;
Namibia
- February 2017 (Revised May 2018)
- Case
The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike
By: Tom Nicholas, Christopher T. Stanton and Matthew Preble
For roughly six weeks between late December 1936 and February 1937, a major strike at several critical General Motors (GM) plants in Flint, Michigan, essentially halted the corporation’s U.S. production and resulted in significant gains for the nascent United...
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Keywords:
Industrial Unionism;
Craft Unionism;
Welfare Capitalism;
General Motors;
Labor;
Labor Unions;
Labor and Management Relations;
Wages;
Working Conditions;
Government Legislation;
Business History;
Business and Government Relations;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Business and Community Relations;
Auto Industry;
Auto Industry;
Auto Industry;
Auto Industry;
United States;
Michigan
- February 2017 (Revised August 2017)
- Case
The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle
In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the...
View Details
Keywords:
Diamonds;
Go-to-market Strategy;
Secondary Market;
Willingness To Pay;
Pilot Program;
Strategy Development;
Strategy Execution;
Scope;
Marketing;
Advertising;
Branding;
Customer Value;
Pawn Shops;
Jewelry;
Supply And Demand;
Corporate Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Vertical Integration;
Advertising Campaigns;
Value Creation;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
Retail Industry;
United States;
United Kingdom;
Africa;
Botswana;
South Africa;
Namibia