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16 Sep 2019
News

Smarter Farming

of a company that's making a difference to a small nation. PAMU means to farm in Te Reo, which is the indigenous language of New Zealand, of the Maori people. One of the key concepts that Maori have... View Details

Keywords: meat; dairy; cattle; Agriculture

November 2006
Case

Sarah Talley and Frey Farms Produce: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

Describes the retailer-supplier negotiations of Frey Farms Produce in its growth from a small local produce supplier to becoming a supplier for Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. The (A) case sets up three negotiations led by Sarah Talley of Frey Farms Produce in... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Distribution Channels; Sales

01 Mar 2007
News

Pharma Suits a Farm Gal

the San Diego–based company, earned Graham a spot as one of five finalists for the MarketWatch CEO of the Year award, the Dow Jones News Service (December 6, 2006) reported. Graham has reached rarefied heights after growing up on a small... View Details

Keywords: biopharmaceutical company; Health, Social Assistance; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

01 Feb 2012
What Do You Think?

Is Support for Small Business Misplaced?

farms of Europe and the US. It helps explain laws to protect small business from the ravages of the A&Ps and Walmarts. It increasingly drives politics as well as government policy. It is especially... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Jan 2022
Blog Post

Tipping Point: Investing in the Women of Kenya’s Coffee Farms

supply chain are the unseen farm laborers—most of them women—who tend the coffee trees each day on the hillsides of rural Kenya. Margaret Nyamumbo (MBA 2016) founded Kahawa 1893 in 2017 to shorten the distance between these Kenyan farmers... View Details

12 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Power to the People: The Unexpected Influence of Small Coalitions

Trumbull says. In the United States and France, large groups of farmers have worked with government to promote agricultural interests, says Trumbull, noting that the sector includes both small and large View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Robert Meaney and Technology for Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Renee Vuillaume

Two Valmont Industries (an international leader in infrastructure products and services) colleagues, Robert (Bob) Meaney and Richard Berkland hoped to improve the lives of small and medium-sized farmers in the developing world through modern irrigation technology. In... View Details

01 Sep 2013
News

Who Are We?

information. We owe it to those who passed away in the disaster to upgrade our systems to help save lives in any future calamity." —GE AGRICULTURE John Whiteside Grass Farmer, Wolf Creek Farm For years, the résumé of John Whiteside (MBA... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Julia Hanna; Dan Morrell; social media,; Twitter; SodaStream; consulting; consultant; CEO; farming; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Agriculture; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Rail Transportation; Transportation

September 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

The Progressive Corporation, 2018

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, The Progressive Corporation (Progressive), the USA’s third-largest auto insurance writer, reported earned premiums were up 20% in 2018 compared to the previous year, and net income was up 64%. Direct sales of personal auto policies rose 21%, while agent... View Details

2012
Working Paper

The Effect of Supply Chain Complementarities on Local Food

By: Baris Ata, Deishin Lee and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

We study the operational tradeoffs of a retailer and farmers in a fresh produce supply chain to determine the equilibrium supply chain structure. These operational tradeoffs arise as a result of the geographic constraints posed by the availability of arable land and... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Supply Chain; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

11 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Meet the MBA Class of 2020

View Video Andrew Baxter “YOU BUILD UP PERSONAL CAPITAL BY SHARING COMMON EXPERIENCES.” HOME REGION St. Andrews, UK UNDERGRAD EDUCATION Imperial College London, Chemical Engineering, 2011 PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Shell, Schlumberger HBS ACTIVITIES Admissions Rep John... View Details

12 Feb 2015
Video

Success Spreads like Wildfire

November 2015 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Huaxia: Building a U.S.-Style Dairy in China

By: Tarun Khanna, Nancy Hua Dai and Juan Ma

In 2015, Charles Shao, chairman of Huaxia, considered the alternatives to ensure sustainable growth of Huaxia and rebuild the overall health of China's dairy industry. He came to China in 2004 and set up Huaxia dairy farm with the goal to build a world-class dairy farm... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Emerging Markets; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

01 Jul 2019
Video

MBA Class of 2020 Student Voices

October 1991 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Hawkeye Bancorporation

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Hawkeye, a small bank holding company in Iowa, faces difficulties in the mid 1980s as the local Iowa farm economy is in recession. This case provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with bank financial statements, and introduces some issues in market... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Financial Crisis; Economic Growth; Market Participation; Banks and Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Private Ownership; Banking Industry

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February 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Henry Ford: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the rise of Henry Ford from a small farm in Michigan to the controlling shareholder of the Ford Motor Company. The case describes how Ford, as young man, acquired engineering skills and the risks he took as he built and marketed one of the first... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Management; Success; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Personal Development and Career; Auto Industry; United States; Michigan

27 Apr 2021
Blog Post

There Are No HBS People, Just People Who Happen to Go to HBS

My grandmother in yellow, my aunts and uncles, and two of her many grandchildren. I’m a born and raised Detroit-native coming from a long line of incredible matriarchs. My grandmother, born in 1929 on a small rural View Details

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

Article

Can the Virtuous Mouse and the Wealthy Elephant Live Happily Ever After?

By: James E. Austin and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

What happens when small iconic socially oriented businesses are acquired by large corporations? Such mergers create significant opportunities for creating both business value and substantially expanded social value, but they also pose unusually difficult challenges... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Style; Agreements and Arrangements; Social Enterprise; Social Issues