Commodities - Publications - Faculty & Research

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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

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

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

Profile

Mariama Keita

cocoa. One of the cases she has found especially relevant involved an Indian company that helps farmers understand worldwide commodities pricing. "Greater information gave them greater power," Mariama says. "The farmers... View Details

Web

Dream Realities - The High Art of Photographic Advertising - Baker Library | Bloomberg Center

photographers and advertisers "aimed to animate the inanimate commodity with the appearance of life and sometimes explicitly with magical powers." 21 As advertisers and photographers attempted to transform everyday objects into the... View Details

Web

Site Credits - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of the China Trade Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships Exploring Trade Links Chinese Competition Expatriate Traders... View Details

29 Jul 2021
News

A Clean Start

chemical (a substance used as a building block for other chemicals) from carbon dioxide. After four months of weighing alternatives, he settled on formic acid: a commodity chemical and energy-rich electrofuel, or carbon-neutral synthetic... 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

18 May 2011
News

Man with a Plan

the commodity wood segment. The Yella Fella character really came from the natural evolution of our advertising strategy. “Had you asked me in the mid-1980s if I envisioned playing a cowboy character in our commercials, I would never have... View Details

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

very inexpensive commodity components that perform basic computations in household appliances, like irons and toasters. At the time, microcontroller manufacturers were just beginning to use automated test equipment. Although the... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

2020
Chapter

Luxury and Environmental Responsibility

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener and Dafna Goor

Luxury and sustainability are often perceived as incompatible and contradictory. However, as the concept of luxury and our understanding of conspicuous consumption are evolving and need to be revisited—from conspicuous to conscious consumption—the book chapter explores... View Details

Keywords: Luxury; Goods and Commodities; Trends; Environmental Sustainability; Research

Citation

December 2014
Article

The Real Product Market Impact of Mergers

By: Albert Sheen

I document sources of value creation in mergers by analyzing novel data on the quality and price of goods sold by merging firms. When two competitors in a product market merge, their products converge in quality, and prices fall relative to the competition. These... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Quality; Price; Goods and Commodities; Mergers and Acquisitions

Citation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

October 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Alcoma: The Strategic Use of Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice Futures

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

Increases in orange tree production led to an orange juice surplus. How does one manage price risk in the orange juice industry under these conditions? View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Price; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Food and Beverage Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

08 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Solving an Economic Mystery Surrounding Argentina and Chile

globalized world. During the late nineteenth century both countries flourished as major exporters of commodities to the industrialized nations in North America and Europe. Argentina did so well that it became one of the richest countries... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 2022
Supplement

Sweet Teez Bakery: Projecting the Dough’s Rise Financial Supplement

By: Emily R. McComb, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

Abstract: In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist’s bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise.... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Financial Reporting; Small Business; Food and Beverage Industry; Massachusetts; United States

Citation

Purchase

July 2008
Case

Aurora Capital Group - Douglas Dynamics

Aurora Capital, a U.S. Private Equity firm, contemplates whether to acquire Douglas Dynamics, the leading U.S. maker of snow plows. Does a business that is highly dependent on the weather, and is seasonal, make a good LBO candidate? This case provides a good... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Value Creation

Citation

Educators

Purchase

01 Mar 2009
News

Buddy, Can You Spare a Trillion

bond markets, commodity markets, and derivatives markets. In fact, so did all asset classes — not to mention those that benefit when bonuses are big, from vintage Bordeaux to luxury yachts. But these boom years were also misery years,... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

Profile

Joe Khoury

coaching, enhanced job search programs, and a large alumni database that consists of MBA and Executive Education alumni. Having worked in consulting for more than 5 years, I was able to discover a new career path and interned in View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Consulting; Investment Banking

18 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 18

We conclude with an internalization model depicting organizational adaptation to evolving social institutions. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2184439 Cases & Course MaterialsAustralia: Commodities and Competitiveness... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Equifruit

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Annelena Lobb

Jennie Coleman, president of Fairtrade banana company Equifruit, considered how best to position her firm and brand to increase sales of Fairtrade bananas in the U.S. and Canada. She saw her biggest challenge as convincing retailers that consumers would be OK spending... View Details