Energy and natural resources sector

The CEO of Better Place talks about what went through his mind the night he decided to start a venture to end the world's dependence on oil as a transportation...

Demand is flattening out (except for copper).

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 […]

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 […]

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

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

Tony Hayward's expected departure as CEO of BP today won't be the biggest surprise; the surprise is that it's taken so long. (I called publicly for his...

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

It's time to diversify.

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...

The $70 billion opportunity in the U.S. market.

It's cheaper than ever.

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

Thanks to the development of the Kyoto Protocol--an international plan to limit carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases in the atmosphere--global...

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

Green production cannot replace green consumption.

Billions of dollars worldwide are pumped into the search for clean technology and renewable energy. So far, however, most investment has been in companies...

Analytics won’t help without people and processes.

The Idea: When James Rogers became CEO at then-ailing PSI (now Duke Energy), he was determined to listen to all its stakeholders. But environmentalists posed a particular challenge: The green movement had long viewed the energy industry with skepticism. “How can you advocate for a low carbon future when your company is among the largest […]

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...