Publications

December 2008
Case

JBS Swift & Co.

By: David E. Bell and Cathy Ross

Brazilian meat packer JBS surprised many in the U.S. beef industry when it acquired Swift & Co.—a company more than five times its size—in 2007, then moved to acquire the U.S.'s fourth and fifth largest beef producers in 2008. The new JBS Swift slashed costs and... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Global Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Brazil

May 2007
Case

Demand and Supply Forecasting at Air Products - Electronics Specialty Materials

Explores the process and inputs behind financial and operational forecasting in the Electronic Specialty Materials unit at Air Products and Chemicals, a global chemical company. The protagonist, John Goldberg, grapples with how to better integrate the two forecasting... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Operations; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Finance; Chemical Industry

31 Oct 2013
News

What Board Directors Really Do in Their Free Time

01 Jul 2010
News

Meeting in the middle: At HBS, investors and executives probe promising new fields

13 Dec 2011
News

Harvard Business School tackles U.S. competitiveness

19 Jan 2017
News

Here’s What Trump Doesn’t Get About American Manufacturing

13 Nov 2024
HBS Seminar

Michael Horn, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Clayton Christensen Institute of Disruptive Innovation

Explore Our Programs

Whether you seek development opportunities for yourself or a colleague, explore our many offerings—from multi-week comprehensive leadership programs to short, topic-focused learning experiences. Each offers a challenging curriculum, a View Details

August 2018
Case

Christine Lagarde

By: Julie Battilana, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Vanessa Ampelas and Noemie Assenat

For a modular presentation of the same material, please see “Christine Lagarde (A): A French Prime Minister Calls” (HBS No. 419-017), “Christine Lagarde (B): Being a Public Servant” (HBS No. 419-018), and “Christine Lagarde (C): Managing the IMF” (HBS No. 419-019).... View Details

Keywords: Change; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Leadership; Gender; Leading Change

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

Find at Harvard

03 Nov 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Viewpoints: Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

critical role in global society. In the lead-up to COP26, the Business and Environment Initiative asked HBS alumni business leaders from a wide range of sectors and disciplines what they see as the role of business and business leaders in... View Details

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

From humble beginnings as a Levi jeans store, by 2000 Gap, Inc. had grown to become the world's leading specialist clothing retailer. Its CEO, Millard S. Drexler, the "merchant prince," was credited with transforming Gap into a global empire, leading the company... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Performance Consistency; Problems and Challenges; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States