Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • June 1995 (Revised September 1996)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Union Carbide's Bhopal Plant (A)

By: Debora L. Spar
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:Spanish
  • | Pages:20
ShareBar

Abstract

In December 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, sprung a leak, releasing thousands of gallons of highly toxic gas into the atmosphere. By the time the leak was sealed, over 2,000 people had died. In a series of three excerpts from published accounts, the case covers the events that led up to the tragedy and the aftermath--financial, legal, and emotional--for Union Carbide's management. The case is designed to allow students to explore the complex set of responsibilities that surround foreign direct investment. It enables them to discuss the extent to which Union Carbide's U.S.-based management was responsible for actions undertaken by Indians in India, and then to think of this responsibility in terms of its various components--financial, commercial, and moral.

Keywords

Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Chemicals; Foreign Direct Investment; Chemical Industry; United States; India

Citation

Spar, Debora L., Suzanne Hull, and Julia Kou. "Union Carbide's Bhopal Plant (A)." Harvard Business School Case 795-070, June 1995. (Revised September 1996.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Debora L. Spar

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • February 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Linda Oubré at Whittier College

    By: Debora L. Spar and Julia Comeau
    • November 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Hitting Home: Amazon and Mary's Place

    By: Paul M. Healy, Debora L. Spar and Amy Klopfenstein
    • June 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Linda Oubré at Whittier College (C)

    By: Debora L. Spar and Haley P. Brown
More from the Author
  • Linda Oubré at Whittier College By: Debora L. Spar and Julia Comeau
  • Hitting Home: Amazon and Mary's Place By: Paul M. Healy, Debora L. Spar and Amy Klopfenstein
  • Linda Oubré at Whittier College (C) By: Debora L. Spar and Haley P. Brown
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College