Swapping Business Skills for Oil

Transnationals can give as well as take. They have in abundance precisely what developing nations need.

by

Julius Tahija

by

Julius Tahija

From the Magazine (September–October 1993)

For transnational corporations, meeting social responsibilities is an indispensable part of doing business in the developing world. This may seem a surprising statement to come from a former oil company executive. Everyone knows, after all, that oil companies don’t give, they take—especially in poor countries like Indonesia that have a great deal of mineral wealth but little economic or political power.

A version of this article appeared in the September–October 1993 issue of Harvard Business Review.

JT

Julius Tahija, a native Indonesian from the Moluccan Islands, has more than 40 years of experience working with U.S., European, and Asian transnationals. He served as managing director of Caltex Pacific Indonesia, a joint venture of Chevron and Texaco, from 1967 to 1977, when he became chairman of its Board of Commissioners. He is also chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Jakarta’s Bank Niaga. In the past, he has served as chairman of Jakarta’s Trisakti University, a member of the business advisory council of the International Finance Corporation (an affiliate of The World Bank), and a trustee of the World Wildlife Fund. He is a longtime associate of the Stanford International Research Institute.

Swapping Business Skills for Oil

Partner Center

Explore HBR

HBR Store

About HBR

Manage My Account

Follow HBR