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Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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A Texas oil tycoon takes half his trusty drills and heads for new territory. But he's not moving West, he's headed to the Far East. Can Tex count on any success from this globalisation? Professor Philippe Lasserre and Jocelyn Probert explain that for Ahlstrom Korea's similar expansion effort, it must deal with a wealth of stumbling blocks to make headway.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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BASF is a multi-national producer of petro-chemicals that has enjoyed a comfortable, well-padded history of success in the packaging industry. The company's product Styropor®, one of the few branded chemicals on the market, is a commodity - somewhat like Lycra®. The authors explain BASF's problem in this case study: since Styropor®, by nature, costs more than similar products produced locally in China, it needs to differentiate its brand. The challenge is to counterbalance Styropor®'s cost disadvantage with a new positioning strategy for BASF to allow it to expand within an oversupplied, competitive market.

Pacific Pride shows how good information can revolutionize even a sleepy industry- at little cost.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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In October 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man and the CEO of Yukos, the second-largest Russian oil producer with a market capitalization of US$26 billion, was arrested and thrown into jail on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Several days later he resigned as CEO of Yukos. This case study tells the story of the rise and (temporary?) fall of a young man whom some would call a brilliant entrepreneur, and others call a scoundrel. The case includes an interview with Khodorkovsky when he was still CEO, and offers a rare opportunity to examine the leadership philosophy of one of Russia's top business leaders .

As the oil industry consolidated in the mid-1990s, Houston-based Conoco faced a major brand challenge. One of the world's leading energy companies and a prominent petroleum retailer in U.S. markets, Conoco saw an opportunity to accelerate profit growth through the convenience store format. But in order to build a powerful convenience store brand, the company knew that it would have to break away from the generic "mart" approaches adopted by other major petroleum retailers. It also would need to differentiate itself from new offerings, such as upscale coffee bars, that were encroaching on the edges of the convenience store market.

BP’s horrible missteps after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded were almost predictable, given the culture of deceit and arrogance that executive actions had encouraged. While the accident could have been prevented, BP might have avoided its intense and deserved public flogging if only it had respected the best practices for managing a crisis – and for managing. Readers of this article will learn what BP could and should have done differently.