Publications

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (A): Estimating Sales

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn

The E-Commerce Analytics group at the traditional CPG firm was in charge of compiling various online sales reports, as well as making data-driven recommendations for sales and marketing tactics. In a series of exercises, students address different data challenges for... View Details

Article

Money is No Object: Testing The Endowment Effect in Exchange Goods

By: Dan Svirsky

We present a new experimental design to test whether the endowment effect exists for exchange goods, like money. We compare three groups to a baseline: one endowed with money, one endowed with chocolate coins, and one endowed with chocolate coins described as "tokens."... View Details

Keywords: Perception; Valuation; Goods and Commodities; Attitudes

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October 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Hedging with FCOJ Futures

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Phil Herndon and Katherine L. Morris

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures; Investment Funds

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15 Oct 2019
News

Engaging More Deeply with Business in Africa

While meeting with representatives of the Kenya Ports Authority at the Port of Mombasa, faculty members toured a bulk carrier ship off-loading grain commodities to Grain Bulk Handlers, one of the companies HBS faculty visited during the... View Details

27 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

The Coffee Economy That Bloomed Out of Nowhere

Near the Guatemalan border in Mexico's Chiapas region, sandwiched between the Sierra Madres and the Pacific Ocean, there's a fertile pocket of land called the Soconusco. While once a hotbed of cacao production for the Aztecs and then the Spanish, the area was decimated... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Food & Beverage; Agriculture & Agribusiness

March 2001
Background Note

Extracting Information from the Futures and Forwards Markets: The Relation between Spot Prices, Forward Prices and Expected Future Spot Prices

Discounted cash flow valuation calls for using expected future prices of inputs or outputs. This case describes the relationship between spot prices, forward/future prices, and expected future prices. Knowing current forward and future prices alone is not enough to... View Details

Keywords: Price; Cash Flow; Valuation; Futures and Commodity Futures

August 2017 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Flex Hungary: Launching Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case examines design choices in the construction of flow lines. Flow lines are a popular way of arranging production because they are simple and inherently efficient. Equipment or workstations are arranged according to the sequence of steps in which a product is... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Line-balancing; Flow Line; Conveyor-paced Line; Consumer Goods; Consumer Products; Production Management; Production Planning; Production Scheduling; Operations; Production; Management; Supply Chain; Design; Analysis; Goods and Commodities; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; European Union

February 1969
Article

Test of a Product Cycle Model of International Trade: U.S. Exports of Consumer Durables

By: Louis T Wells Jr

Keywords: Global Range; Trade; Product; Goods and Commodities; United States

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06 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

those suppliers move downstream, potentially into competing with you, as they struggle to earn some kind of return? If your inputs are all becoming commodities and you don’t have a lot of differentiating complimentary assets as part of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing; Electronics

Web

A Chronicle of the China Trade. The Papers of Augustine Heard & Co., 1840-1877

of the China Trade. The Papers of Augustine Heard & Co., 1840-1877 Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships Exploring Trade... View Details

Web

Bloomberg | Baker Library

Bloomberg Financial data on equities, indices, currencies, commodities and futures. Read More Provides company profiles and financial statements, analysts' forecasts, worldwide financial market news, audio and video interviews and... View Details

18 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

Marketing After the Recession

recession has not been kind to marketers. In many multinationals, the positive financial impacts of recession-busting marketing plans have been obliterated by commodity price volatility and weaker-than-expected overseas earnings due to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail

15 Mar 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products

Keywords: by Alberto Cavallo and Diego Aparicio; Food & Beverage

December 2013
Case

Grupo Beta San Miguel

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In November 2013, Dr. Jose Pinto, head of Grupo Beta San Miguel (BSM), Mexico's largest private sugar producer, is weighing the future prospects of the Mexican sugar industry as he considers whether BSM should bid on one of the state-owned sugar mills slated for... View Details

Keywords: Mexico; Jose Pinto; Beta San Miguel; Polycrom; Sugar; World Sugar Trade; NAFTA; Strategy; Trade; Futures and Commodity Futures; Agribusiness; Price; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico; United States; North America

Fast Answer

FIELD Global Immersion Resources: Taiwan

keyword and geography keywords in search (ex: commodities Taiwan). Search tips: use concise keywords. Go to "Analysis" section for full industry reports; Go to "Consumers" section to brows reports on... View Details

12 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 12

to meet or beat key benchmarks. This paper examines this hypothesis by testing how different types of marketing expenditures are used to boost earnings for a durable commodity consumer product, which can be easily stockpiled by... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Futures on the Mexican Peso

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Matthew McBrady and Mark Seasholes

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange needs to decide how to design, and whether and when to introduce, a futures contract on the Mexican peso. View Details

Keywords: Exchange Rates; Money Markets; Futures Market; Country Analysis; International Finance; Financial Markets; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Services Industry; Chicago; Mexico