Publications

January 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Organic Growth at Wal-Mart

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Troy Smith

In 2005, an executive vice president at Wal-Mart must decide whether to expand the retailer's selection of organic food. The decision is made in the context of wider attempts to move the giant retailer slightly upscale and to focus on environmental sustainability. View Details

Keywords: Food; Growth and Development Strategy; Product; Business Processes; Environmental Sustainability; Expansion; Retail Industry; United States

November 1983 (Revised December 1984)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: Grandma's ""Ready-To-Eat"" Cookies

Mr. Kenneth Treece, marketing director of Frito-Lay's Grandma's (R) Cookie division has received the final test market figures for the new supermarket line of Grandma's Ready-To-Eat cookies. One set of data, the Kansas City test results, was extremely encouraging;... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Sep 2014
News

@Soldiers Field

View Video Dean Nitin Nohria took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on August 19 in honor of Avi Kremer (MBA 2007) and nominated Harvard President Drew Faust, HBS Professor Bill George, and Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana. Baker Library... View Details

Keywords: Georges F. Doriot

02 Feb 2021
Blog Post

Finding My Focus in Health care Amidst a Global Pandemic

I applied to the HBS and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) MBA/MPP (Master of Public Policy) Class of 2023 to learn about the interplay between the public and private sectors in health care. Health care spending... View Details

December 2014
Case

HN Agri Serve: Growing Prosperity

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

In 2014, Khuram Mir, CEO of HN Agri Serve, an innovative apple orchard company in the Kashmir region of Northern India, wonders about the best growth strategy for his company. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; India; Agribusiness; Entrepreneurship; Food and Beverage Industry; India

December 1978 (Revised January 1986)
Case

Pepsi-Cola (A)

By: Walter J. Salmon and Steven R. Palesy

Combining aspects of a functionally organized marketing management system, with a franchised channel of distribution network. Focuses on extending an innovative promotional program to a market where competitive conditions differ. View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Management; Marketing; Marketing Reference Programs; Network Effects; Distribution; Organizational Design; Franchise Ownership; Competition; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

15 Mar 2016
First Look

March 15, 2016

food security (a key national security priority) by extending its control of the global food system through overseas acquisitions. At the same time, COFCO sought to grow its... View Details

January 2022
Supplement

Kornit Digital: The Amazon Warrants (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

September 1991 (Revised December 1991)
Case

G. Heileman Brewing Co. (A): Power Failure At PowerMaster

By: Stephen A. Greyser

In June 1991, Heileman announced plans to introduce a high-alcohol malt liquor under the name PowerMaster (PM). Although the company claimed PM would be positioned as an upscale product and marketed on the basis of its superior taste, minority advocates and alcohol... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Ethics; Lawfulness; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Aug 2005
What Do You Think?

Is There an “Efficient Market” in CEO Compensation?

tax. This has effectively capped salaries, but invites unlimited compensation in other forms. Several high-performing companies such as Costco Wholesale and Whole Foods Markets limit CEO pay to some multiple View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Mar 2006
News

The Little Ice-Cream Company That Could

snacks are the company’s most recent innovations.) By mid-1994, Dreyer’s fulfilled its dream of becoming the leading premium ice-cream brand in the United States — a mixed blessing. “As we approached a billion dollars in sales, it was... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Food Manufacturing; Food Manufacturing

29 Mar 2010
News

Doing Good, With Candy

Keywords: chocolate; Food Manufacturing; Food Manufacturing

January 2018
Case

Ak Gıda: IPO or Strategic Sale

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In 2015, Yıldiz Holding, one of the world’s largest producer of confections, biscuits and crackers, was at the end of its divestiture process from Ak Gida, one of the leading dairy companies in Turkey. The company had adopted a dual track process, pursuing an initial... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Growth and Development Strategy; Value Creation; Decision Making; Growth Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Initial Public Offering; Business Conglomerates; Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Joint Ventures; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

22 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 22

511-070 As Ireland's third largest beef processor, Kepak faces new opportunities as well as significant challenges from the collapse of the "Celtic Tiger." The government has identified food and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 May 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 9

Kameda was the leading player in the Japanese rice cracker market and was looking to expand overseas to achieve growth, with the vision of becoming a global food company. Starting in 2008, it had tried to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2010
Case

Restaurant Valuation: O'Charley's and AFC

This case is a comparative analysis of the strategy, accounting, performance, and valuation for two restaurant chains alternatively having a company-owned versus franchising strategy. It requires students to identify these two different strategies, and the related... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Valuation; Franchise Ownership; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry