Energy and natural resources sector

How global companies can not only navigate but thrive in new territories.

In psychology, the term "identified patient" refers to a family member - often a child or a teenager - who gets scapegoated for behavior that is actually...

Our annual survey of emerging ideas considers the single most important trait of future leaders, the marketing potential of digitally split personalities, a challenge tougher than managing risk, and the best hope for oil-importing countries.

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

It pays to be big in a global economy, right? Wrong. The rush toward huge cross-border mergers is based on a faulty understanding of economics. There are better ways to address globalization than relentless expansion.

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 resignation some time ago.) The Case of Tony Hayward and the Gulf Oil Spill will be fodder for business school discussions for years to come, as a how-not-to-do-it […]

The world’s largest oil service company is using the Web to revolutionize the way it buys equipment and supplies.

Analytics won't help without people and processes.

“I’m not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision making process.” “That was a decision I was not party to.” “I can’t possibly know the basis on which that decision was taken.” Did BP’s CEO Tony Hayward, speaking at a congressional hearing, create the very conditions that left the most responsible person in […]

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

Imagine you're a BP employee. Most people, especially in the US, now hate the company for which you work. Talkshow hosts constantly make fun of your CEO,...

Sam Walsh called on lessons he learned as a boy to bring financial discipline back to the mining giant Rio Tinto.

The stock market can shape your business strategy—but you have to know how to read its signals.

The business model of utilities is essentially broken. The solution? Start charging customers for energy services, not energy output.

Future Economy Finding Practicality in Sustainability Doug McMillon is the CEO of Walmart. The company employs 2.3 million associates and operates more...

Factor social benefits and the use of resources into a company's value.

It will be months, if not years, before the full impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig spill will be fully understood - environmentally, commercially,...

The most dubious business plan can look solid—even smart—if it’s cast as a virtuous circle. “See, we invest our profits in innovation to create delightful products that customers buy—which generate profits that we invest in innovation!” Who could argue with that? Indeed, the merit of self-reinforcing systems seems so obvious that businesspeople instinctively describe their […]

An interview with Ian Bremmer.