Energy and natural resources sector

When a crisis forces outside directors to navigate major changes, investors and directors must adopt new roles. The largest such case to date provides some useful lessons. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group was a 60/40 joint venture between Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading. It was run by a five-person committee of managing directors […]

Climate change is a pressing concern for Bill Gates, who has just published a new book on the subject. He spoke with HBR's editor-in-chief about the need...

With his talk of “the shrinking half-life of ideas,” “virtual team networks,” and “breakthrough thinking,” John Browne sounds more like a Silicon Valley CEO than the head of the giant British Petroleum Company. Then again, BP—with its flat organization, entrepreneurial business units, web of alliances, and surging profits—is starting to look and act like a […]

For a leader, a public apology is always a high-risk move. Understanding what apologies can and cannot do will help you avoid both foolhardy stonewalling and unnecessary contrition.

The future looks bright, but not necessarily for utilities.

I was recently talking to a friend about her family car purchase. She said: "Yeah, we heard Priuses weren't that green-there are some issues with battery...

Five strategies to move your organization toward net-zero emissions.

No one would run a business without accounting for its capital outlays. Yet in 1999, when this article was originally published, most companies overlooked...

What took thousands of lives and killed an industry was management’s failure to insist on its own responsibilities.

You've got the money. They've got the expertise. You need to be in the same room.

Companies are buying millions of dollars' worth of renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset the carbon produced by the electricity they use. But RECs...

There’s a certain logic to wealthier, more liberal states leading the way.

Organizations are tapping people's mental and physical energy on the sly and using it to power lights, digitize books, and do other work. Are they simply...

Corporations are facing growing pressure--from investors, advocacy groups, politicians, and even business leaders themselves--to reduce greenhouse gas...

What failures of the BP board of directors and its senior management led to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico? Although the recent report of the National Commission on the catastrophe (http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/) purports to provide “thorough analysis and impartial judgment” on the “causes” of the explosion and “the lessons […]

An interview with Ian Bremmer.

Firms need to understand the people and places they affect.

You need to treat subcontractors as if they were part of the company — and take responsibility.

As interest in clean energy surges, used solar panels are going straight into landfill.

Facing billions of dollars in losses, insurers are starting to ditch carbon-producing energy - but they're still tentative about renewables.