Publications

April 2020
Background Note

U.S. Food Retail During the Pandemic: March 2020

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

This note, written in late March 2020 and mainly U.S. focused, looks at the unfolding impact of the coronavirus pandemic on food retailers and their suppliers. It allows student to consider the challenges facing food retail executives as they navigate urgent supply... View Details

Keywords: Coronavirus Pandemic; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Food; Supply Chain; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Trade; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

September 1989 (Revised December 1989)
Case

Beef Hormone Trade Dispute

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Trade; Agribusiness; Food; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

06 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

High Hills, Deep Poverty: Explaining Civil War in Nepal

Everest, the hilly regions, and then the Himalayan foothills, which contains most of the good agricultural land. Economically there are huge variations, too. Nepal is a poor country: GDP is only around $270 a year, and right before the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

term scale and scope. Though tractors are now used in nearly every agricultural field operation and in the production of nearly all crops, they first developed with much more limited application. Early diffusion was accordingly rapid in... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

20 Oct 2015
First Look

October 20, 2015

board. The fund had previously published a public letter addressed to shareholders outlining its proposal to break the company into three areas: agriculture and nutrition, industrial materials, and performance chemicals and criticizing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2014
Module Note

Implementing Environmentally Sustainable Operations

By: Michael W. Toffel

June 1995 (Revised May 1996)
Teaching Note

RJR Nabisco - 1990 TN

By: Andre F. Perold and Wai Lee

Teaching Note for (9-290-021). View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

June 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Equifruit

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Annelena Lobb

Jennie Coleman, president of Fairtrade banana company Equifruit, considered how best to position her firm and brand to increase sales of Fairtrade bananas in the U.S. and Canada. She saw her biggest challenge as convincing retailers that consumers would be OK spending... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Goods and Commodities; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Sales; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Ecuador; Guatemala; Canada; United States

January 2024
Supplement

Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (B)

By: Tiona Zuzul and Susan Pinckney

In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading natural wine vineyards. Its founder, Frank Cornelissen, faced weather related conditions that forced him to have to decide between staying true to the tenets of the natural wine... View Details

December 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Building Resiliency in McDonald's Supply Chain

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin and David Lane

Considers McDonald’s efforts to build resilience into its global supply chain so that the company and its suppliers can better navigate the increasing pressures and pace of climate change and regulatory change, including a focus on supplying sustainable beef, while the... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Supply Chain Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Europe; South America

August 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Arla Foods: Data-Driven Decarbonization (B)

By: Michael Parzen, Michael W. Toffel, Susan Pinckney and Amram Migdal

The case describes Arla’s history, in particular its climate change mitigation efforts, and how it implemented a price incentive system to motivate individual farms to implement scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measures and receive a higher milk price. The... View Details

February 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Uruguay: Facing the 21st Century

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Michael Chu and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In the fall of 2017, self-made business leader Edgardo Novick pondered his campaign to be elected President of Uruguay, “the Switzerland of Latin America.” Inspired by populist revolts against the status quo observable worldwide, Novick hoped he could ride popular... View Details

Keywords: Uruguay; Edgardo Novick; Business Cycles; Macroeconomics; Geographic Location; Government and Politics; Wealth and Poverty; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Globalization; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Uruguay

October 2016
Case

Yili Group: Building a Global Dairy Company

By: William C. Kirby and Nancy Hua Dai

From its humble beginnings as a local Chinese dairy company, the Inner Mongolia Yili Group has become one of the largest dairy companies in the world. To achieve this, Yili has aggressively expanded its footprint overseas including building the world’s largest... View Details

October 2015
Case

The Maine Food Cluster Project

By: Karen Mills and Aldo Sesia

The Libra Foundation is exploring how to grow the food sector in Maine using the strategy of creating a food cluster initiative. Maine is one of the poorest states in the United States and the food sector is one of the largest employers. Multiple efforts in... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Maine; Vermont; Oregon; Denmark