Publications

December 2022
Case

Taylor Farms: Adding Value to Fresh Produce

By: José B. Alvarez, Forest L. Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Pedro Levindo

In October 2022, Bruce Taylor (HBS MBA, 1981), Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, the leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods in the United States, wondered whether this was the right time for Taylor Farms to venture into the Controlled Environment... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Cost vs Benefits; Logistics; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

16 Nov 2009
News

The Great Wallop

February 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

The Estate Tax Debate

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan and Valerie Galinskaya

Per dollar of revenue, no tax policy generates more sound and fury than the taxation of estates. To supporters, the tax is a break on the concentration of wealth and power and an easy way to fund redistribution. To opponents, the tax is an unjust punishment of the... View Details

Keywords: Atkinson-Stiglitz; Optimal Capital Taxation; Bequest Motives; Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Property

14 Sep 2017
News

Political failure through a business lens

October 1999
Case

ZEFER: Building a Business at Hyperspeed

By: John T. Gourville and Joseph B. Lassiter III

In the past 18 months, ZEFER has gone from a several-person Internet consulting firm to a major player in the information-technology services industry. In particular, in the past six months, it has grown from 40 to 400 professionals, has hired a seasoned management... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Recruitment; Venture Capital; Acquisition; Organizational Culture; Managerial Roles; Growth Management; Information Technology Industry

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

builder, GTM strategist, and policy nerd turned investor, she partners with founders at the earliest stages of their discovery, building, and scaling journeys. She’s excited to... View Details

March 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Background Note

The Hybrid Vehicle Market

By: Michael W. Toffel and Nazli Z. Uludere Aragon

This note describes the hybrid electic vehicle market, the results of different automaker strategies, and the environmental regulatory issues that can promote or inhibit market growth in the United States. Introduces students to the technologies and regulatory aspects... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Product Development; Information Technology; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; United States

November 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Zespri Grows

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Controlling about a third of global kiwifruit exports by volume and nearly half by value in 2018, Zespri was a grower-owned “corporatized cooperative” with the exclusive right to export New Zealand-grown kiwifruit (except to Australia). Zespri did not grow fruit but... View Details

August 2007 (Revised June 2010)
Case

JetBlue Airways: Valentine's Day 2007 (A)

By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Virginia Fuller

Describes an operational crisis for JetBlue Airways during an ice storm in the eastern United States in February 2007 and chronicles the airline's immediate response. Provides detail concerning the history of the airline from its founding in 1999 through the February... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Crisis Management; Growth Management; Management Teams; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry; Eastern United States

March 1995 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Stonyfield Farm: September 1994

Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg founded Stonyfield Farm in 1983, in part to demonstrate that "environmentally and socially responsible businesses can also be profitable." In 1994, the company has grown to over $21 million in revenues, derived mainly from refrigerated... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Food; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; New Hampshire; California; Russia

Teaching Interest

Marketing Strategies for Profitable Growth—China

By: John A. Deighton

Maintaining quality standards and sustaining profitable growth in China's rapidly evolving marketplace requires powerful marketing strategies that enable organizations to build and nurture long-term customer relationships. To help... View Details

15 Apr 2020
News

Creating a Fearless Organization With Amy Edmondson

15 Feb 2022
Cold Call Podcast

How to Make Venture Capital Accessible for Black Founders: An Entrepreneur’s Dilemma

Keywords: Re: Jo Tango

24 Mar 2025
Video

Climate Rising Episode 6 | Voluntary Carbon Markets Series: A Conversation with Luke Leslie of Key Carbon

September 2008 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Tong Lung Metal Industry Co., Ltd.

By: Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Ho Howard Yu and Yu-Shian Chiang

Develop its own branded line, or continue as an original design manufacturer (ODM)? Tung Lung Metal Industries Co. Ltd. is a Taiwanese maker of door lock hardware that is faced with the question of whether to continue to focus on its ODM business or start placing more... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Brands and Branding; Corporate Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Taiwan

May 2010 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Friend Bank: The Time for Hope

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

In 2010, Friend Bank was entering the fifth year of Hope Harris Johnson's ambitious 20-year growth plan to transform her family's one branch community bank into an institution with a substantial presence in southeastern Alabama. Harris Johnson was pleased, so far, with... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Family Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry; Alabama

June 2000
Case

Lifeline Systems, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Lifeline Systems provides emergency response equipment to the elderly who live at home. The company uses local hospitals to market, sell, and install these units in homes, while the hospital monitors and calls for aid to respond to emergency calls from the elderly... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Sales; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Information Infrastructure; Age; Service Delivery; Restructuring; Crisis Management; Health Industry; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

January 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Cybertech Project (A), The

Describes the development and exploitation of a radical new computer-integrated technology in the largely manual meat-processing industry. The technology has been developed by the meat industry's research organization over a period of 15 years and is now ready for... View Details

Keywords: Production; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Information Technology; Product Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry