Publications

06 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

India Needs to Encourage Trade with China

Jiabao last year during a similar visit. But $19 billion is hardly anything to write home about, even if one were to discount the fact that much of what India exports to China is low-value-added commodities (notably iron ore). I asked... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

was pondering the challenges of shifting DSM’s global organization from the constant transformations of the past 100 years to creating organic growth. When Sijbesma took the helm as CEO in 2007, he further pushed and completed the company’s final moves away from View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

from a small Nigerian export company into a $5 billion global leader in agricultural commodities with a core competence in Africa. Olam's growth had come by pursuing product and geographic adjacencies, and its "farm gate to factory... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 1999 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Zucamor S.A.: Global Competition in Argentina

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes the evolution of Zucamor and its business strategy, particularly after the opening of the Argentine economy in 1992 and 1993. Traces the action that led to its association with U.S. paper giant Union Camp. Poses some of the critical challenges faced by the... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Global Strategy; Value; Problems and Challenges; Business or Company Management; Goods and Commodities; Alliances; Pulp and Paper Industry; Argentina; United States

April 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Highland Park Wood Co. (Abridged)

By: David E. Bell

A major home builder wishes to purchase lumber (Southern pine). The builder wants delivery in six months but prefers to lock-in the price near current rates. The lumber wholesaler must decide on a pricing and sourcing strategy. Examples include: 1) buy & hold, 2) wait... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Goods and Commodities; Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Forest Products Industry; Construction Industry

11 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ’Entrepreneurship and Multinationals’

markets. They have shown that the second half of the nineteenth century witnessed a deeper globalization than ever seen previously using that criterion. By 1914 world capital, commodity and labor markets were closely integrated, and more... View Details

Keywords: Re: Geoffrey G. Jones

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

supply chain system. When commodity prices became more volatile in 2007 and 2008, executives at Domino's changed the way they worked with suppliers and franchisees to manage costs and risks and better leverage the assets of the supply... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

21 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 21

high volume continuous flow manufacturer of commodities chips to a job shop structure that focused on custom manufacturing services. This entailed more than rearranging the manufacturing lines; it meant a dramatic shift in the company... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2010
Article

Do Inventory and Gross Margin Data Improve Sales Forecasts for U.S. Public Retailers?

By: Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur and Ananth Raman

Firm-level sales forecasts for retailers can be improved if we incorporate cost of goods sold, inventory, and gross margin (defined here as the ratio of sales to cost of goods sold) as three endogenous variables. We construct a simultaneous equations model, estimated... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Distribution; Goods and Commodities; Cost; Public Sector; Profit; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; United States

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30 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Market Makers Bid for Success

two-minute version is that after I left HBS I worked at McKinsey down in Texas. I learned two major things while I was there. First, the way to make money in commodities markets is to have superior information, to make better trades, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Web Services; Technology

August 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

New Hope Liuhe: Building an Integrated Agri-Food Business

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Shu Lin, Natalie Kindred and Nancy Hua Dai

In October 2018, LIU Chang (Angela), chairman of Beijing-based New Hope Liuhe (NHL), was considering the strategy of the firm. With $9 billion in sales and a presence in nearly 20 countries, NHL was China’s largest animal feed producer and a major pork and poultry... View Details

October 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Ball: EVA Driving the World's Leading Can Manufacturer (A)

By: Jonas Heese and Susan Pinckney

The case describes Ball’s multi decade history of using Economic Value Added to drive decision making and workforce compensation. In 2016, the company acquired Rexam PLC and became the world’s leading metal beverage container company. Consumer demand for varied... View Details

08 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

The Height Tax, and Other New Ways to Think about Taxation

Aleh Tsyvinski of Yale and Mikhail Golosov of MIT) looks at optimal commodity taxation when individuals' abilities are related to their preferences over different goods. It turns out that the best taxes may offer relatively lower taxes on... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

accounting shift. Purchase this case:http://hbr.org/search/113018-PDF-ENG Viterra Ray A. Goldberg and Matthew PrebleHarvard Business School Case 913-401 As Mayo Schmidt's tenure as CEO of the Canadian-based agribusiness Viterra wound down before its sale to the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Summer 2018
Article

Why High-Tech Commoditization Is Accelerating

By: Willy C. Shih

Knowledge embedded within state-of-the-art production and design tools is a powerful force that is leveling the global technology playing field. It democratizes innovation and makes future competition more challenging. This paper describes the knowledge flows through... View Details

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May 1988 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Matsushita Electric Industrial (MEI) in 1987

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal

Describes the development of Matsushita's international operations and the building of its dominant competitive position in the consumer electronics industry. Picks up the major challenges facing the company in 1987 as both its product focus and geographic posture are... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Goods and Commodities; Product Positioning; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Value; Electronics Industry

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Tips to Reinvent the Department Store

a designer's line and pick from it the point of view we want to represent," while a vendor's own store will typically offer an entire line of products. "[But] there are certain commodity items. A Prada handbag is a Prada... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Retail

September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Keroche (D): Transforming the Core Business

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case describes Keroche co-founder Tabitha Karanja’s decision to exit the wine business following the Kenyan government’s 2007 increase in excise taxes on wine. In August 2007, Keroche introduced the vodka drink Viena Ice as a replacement for its fortified wines,... View Details

September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Keroche (C): The Excise Tax Increase

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the Kenyan government’s decision to increase excise taxes on wines in 2007. The tax increase would cause an average increase in price of 367% on Keroche’s fortified wines. Meanwhile, Keroche’s competitor EABL had effectively lobbied the government... View Details