Publications

25 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 25, 2007

Wheat Pool 2005 Harvard Business School Case 906-402 CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Climate Leaders Program

climate-related issues grew, particularly from an agricultural perspective. Daniel Tong: I am Brazilian, grew up in São Paulo, and majored in Chemical Engineering, even though I never worked in the space. I started my career at J.P.... View Details

01 Jun 2004
News

Books

post–Civil War era to commission-based canvassers hired and trained by manufacturers to sell agricultural products and books by Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant, for instance. “Drummers,” who acted as the middlemen between manufacturers... View Details

Keywords: book review; faculty books; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

01 Jun 2012
News

Made in the USA

Jim Knott's Aquamesh lobster traps set a new standard for durability, quickly supplanting the wooden traps used by generations of lobstermen. Chinese knockoffs failed to match Aquamesh's patented process. Will business leaders reconnect with their communities and do... View Details

Keywords: Blagg, Deborah; cheese; lobster fishing; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture

08 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Solving an Economic Mystery Surrounding Argentina and Chile

the country’s agricultural sector. He has begun to address the disastrous situation of the country’s national statistical bureau, which after the previous government intervened in its affairs in 2007, has produced data so unrelated to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

20 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: December 20

technological development offered by the Royal Agricultural Society of England at annual competitions between 1839 and 1939. We find that the effects of prizes on competitive entry are large, and we also detect an impact of the prizes on... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Look at Globalization Now

agricultural and extractive (mining) companies that emerged relatively early in the 19th century. The free standing enterprises that dominated British foreign direct investment at the end of the 19th century attempted to arbitrage across... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Web

Annual Report 2019 - Annual Report 2019

Forward-Thinking Sustainability In March, HBS joined the Leadership Circle at Farm Forward, a nonprofit that seeks to promote conscientious food choices that advance sustainable agriculture and support the humane treatment of animals.... View Details

01 Jun 2012
News

What Industrial Policy?

"Taxation, meet Representation." Following up on his pledge to provide greater support for manufacturing, President Obama has announced a proposal to cut the effective tax rate for manufacturers to 25 percent. A number of economists howled against this so-called... View Details

Keywords: Gary P. Pisano; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture

February 2014
Case

BGI: Data-driven Research

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

BGI has the largest installed gene-sequencing capacity in the world, and to Zhang Gengyun, general manager of the Life Sciences Division, this represented an opportunity to apply his training as a plant breeder and his early career work as a biochemist to improving... View Details

09 Apr 2021
News

Building a Resilient, Sustainable, and Nourishing Global Food System

Keywords: Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture

01 Jun 2009
News

Cynthia Carroll

we provide free antiretroviral drugs to our 3,000 HIV- positive employees. In South America, we have multimillion-dollar projects to improve goat and cattle breeds, boost honey production, and diversify agricultural output. We work hard... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Management; Mining

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

emergency events and true crisis emergency events. Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya Authors:Nava Ashraf, Xavier Giné, and Dean Karlan Publication:American Journal of View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Aug 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs

to develop agricultural diagnostics for rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to detect milk spoilage, corn mold, and a cow's breeding status. "The entrepreneurial bug has definitely bitten me," says Puz. "Taking an idea and turning it into... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

01 Jun 2011
News

The Best-Laid Plans

side effects of the powerful drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS and TB. In February, DFA’s reach broadened when the Gates Foundation continued its support by awarding the group a $2.99 million grant to develop agricultural diagnostics for rural... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; contests; Health, Social Assistance; Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services; Professional Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

01 Mar 2011
News

Making Their Way

process. Railroads are also indispensable for the shipment of agricultural products as well as factory-finished goods like consumer products and automobiles. Because railroads play an important role in the movement of both finished goods... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Rail Transportation; Transportation

December 2022 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Applegate Farms

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Consumer Behavior; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Brands and Branding; Integration; Strategy; Change Management; Change; Organizational Structure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

August 2014 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Husk Power

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Sid Misra

In late 2013, Husk Power Systems found itself falling further and further behind plan. The founding CEO had decided to resign. His co-founder is faced with the decision of quitting his corporate job in the US to head to India and help form a new management team. Husk... View Details