At the end of 2023, the Swedish startup H2 Green Steel was mid-way through construction on an integrated steel plant in Northern Sweden that would use abundant local hydro power to create Europe's first commercial-scale green steel. Their goal was to help European manufacturers to decarbonize their upstream (Scope 3) inputs, and they had successfully negotiated offtake contracts with the big European car companies. Their aspiration did not stop there, however. Maria Persson Gulda, chief technology officer at H2 Green Steel, was already thinking about how to take their green steel technology to other regions, and for use by other kinds of customers. They could play a critical role in addressing a core cause of climate change, but achieving this would require that they scale up their technology as rapidly as possible. How should that be done?
The global renewables sector was in a slump, but the Indian market was booming. India's largest renewable electricity generator, ReNew, faced a dilemma: it traded on the Nasdaq in New York, but saw huge opportunity in the Indian market. In response, CEO Sumant Sinha was broadening the company's mission and activities to become a decarbonization solutions provider. The new scope included green hydrogen, manufacturing, storage, and contract power agreements. As India's decarbonization accelerated, has Sumant made the right choices?
Raizen, the world's largest sugar and ethanol producer, strived to find ways to expand the second-generation ethanol (E2G) market, which it pioneered. The company planned to invest R$24 billion (around $4.6 billion) in 20 production plants, with a total capacity to make approximately 1.6 billion liters of E2G. Paula Kovarsky, the company's Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, firmly believed that E2G was a readily available biofuel that could assist in the decarbonization of several industries, helping the world navigate the energy transitional and achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Ethanol had already transformed Brazil, where flex-fuel vehicles dominated the streets. Raizen sought to prove that second-generation ethanol, made from a byproduct of sugarcane, that did not compete with food production, could do the same for the world, especially in hard to decarbonize sectors, such as aviation and shipping.
Based in China, Envision was one of the world's leading Greentech companies. Chief Executive Officer Lei Zhang had set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality across the company's global operations and supply chain by 2022 and 2028 respectively. As part of its longer-term goal of finding ways to match the supply of renewable energy with demand more efficiently, the company was also pursuing a Smart City project in Singapore as well as building the world's first net-zero industrial park in Inner Mongolia. In face of the many opportunities afforded by the fast-changing energy sector, with constraints on its human as well as financial resources, was Envision taking the best actions for the future? And will they be enough to combat the "climate crisis" that humanity is facing?
Founder-CEO of one of India's largest clean energy companies, ReNew Power, which develops, builds, and operates utility-scale wind and solar energy projects, has to decide the way forward for the company as the country and the world stand poised at the cusp of an energy revolution. In 2021, at the COP26 summit, India's Prime Minister had pledged that the country would achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 and raise renewable energy capacity fivefold by 2030. What role will ReNew Power play in this transition? Besides, with traditional power generators, which had focused on fossil fuel-based sources, finally taking notice of the renewables market, how can ReNew Power stay ahead of the competition?
Founded in 1963 by Bhavarlal Jain (Bhau), who believed in "providing solutions for every problem," Jain Irrigation in 2018 had a global footprint and $1.1 billion in revenue. Bhau had insisted that his business add value to farmers' lives and promote sustainable agricultural practices, and that social mission remained at the heart of the organization. Jain's business was now run by Bhau's four sons and included five main business units: micro-irrigation (MI) systems, industrial-use pipes, tissue culture research and development, food processing and solar energy products. As a new, third generation began to move into company management, the Jain family considered how to sustain growth, profitability, and also their commitment to farmer livelihoods.
This case traces the economic history of modern Germany, from its beginnings in the 19th century to its strong performance during the financial crisis and its emergence as a de facto economic and political leader of Europe.
Enrique Peña Nieto, the presidential candidate of the old Mexican ruling party elected in 2012, passed the most fundamental reforms in at least two decades. They included allowing private competition in the energy sector, including with the state-owned oil company, Pemex; strengthening competition in the telecoms industry; promoting private-bank and public development-bank lending. Also, political reforms allowed re-election (formerly prohibited) to all legislative posts, and gave key regulatory agencies independence from the executive. Would these reforms actually be implemented on the ground? Would they achieve good growth for more jobs and better income distribution? Would they finally make Mexican democracy work, or partly restore the hegemony of the old ruling party?
In 2010, the European Union faces the challenges of the global financial crisis. With 27 member states, each facing different challenges, can new EU institutions respond effectively? Will its new currency, the euro, survive?
Fraunhofer is one of the largest applied research organizations in the world. With 17,000 employees and a 1.6 billion euros budget, Fraunhofer has 60 institutes in Germany that cover most fields of science. The case examines the consequences that Fraunhofer has for the competitiveness of the German economy. It also explores whether the organization of R&D is affected by the size distribution of firms as well as by institutions in labor and financial markets.
This case traces the origins and evolution of the European Central Bank, with attention to its 2010 decision concerning the purchase of Greek sovereign debt.
ABB, a power and automation Swiss engineering company had to decide if they wanted to be even more integrated into the Chinese economy, ABB's biggest market, or if they should instead increase their presence in other emerging markets such as India and Brazil.
A Spanish company has to decide if they should expand into the fragmented European consumer finance market and has to make important organizational strategy decisions, in the midst of the world economic downturn that followed the 2007 US credit crunch. Since 2002, the consumer finance branch of the Spanish banking Grupo Santander, Santander Consumer Finance (SCF) had grown into one of the largest European consumer finance companies capturing the recent growth in Europe of the consumer finance market. Against a background of growing concern about the sustainability of household debt levels in Europe and the United States, in 2008 the new CEO, Magda Salarich Fernández de Valderrama, had to decide if this was the right time to expand or if instead she should focus on consolidation. She was also facing important organizational strategy decisions. Which functions should be left to national affiliates to decide, and which should be centralized at headquarters? What processes should be standardized, and which left to local initiatives?
Global climate change is an increasingly prominent political and business problem. Design of market-based systems to reduce carbon emissions has proven difficult. More broadly, national attempts to comply with the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol present both governments and firms with significant challenges. The design of international institutions that will be useful for managing change after the Kyoto period is a challenge both for Kyoto ratifiers and for countries like the United States that have not ratified the agreement. Creation of a post-Kyoto treaty on climate change requires agreement by China and the United States, the world's largest carbon emitters. The case summarizes the science and economics of climate change and encourages readers to contemplate the strategic and risk management problems that it presents to government officials and to business leaders in developed countries and in the developing world.