Publications

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June 2008
Case

Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Marya Lisl Hill-Popper Besharov and Katherine Miller

The case explores the opportunities and challenges confronting Starbucks in the early 21st century. For more than 15 years, Starbucks has grown swiftly and successfully, helping create a large, dynamic market for specialty coffee, building one of the world's most... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Economy; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competition

October 2023
Case

To Fizzle Out or Heat Up? PepsiCo and Coca-Cola’s SodaStream and Costa Coffee Acquisitions

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

U.S. beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola shared many similarities by August 2018—both were founded by pharmacists in the 1890s, grew to offer hundreds of drink brands, and championed rival flagship products that drove loyalists into taste-testing wars. That month,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Diversification; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry

October 1999
Teaching Note

Braun AG: The KF 40 Coffee Machine (Abridged) TN

By: Kim B. Clark and Steven C. Wheelwright

Teaching Note for a reprint. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Design; Markets; Decision Choices and Conditions; Reputation; Groups and Teams; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

04 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Think of it as Professors in Cars Having Coffee

designed to make sure the executive office doesn’t have too much power.” Ep 15: Brainstorming the Affordable Housing Dilemma Desai: “There is a very real, genuine market failure. I think the answer is the government provides housing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education; Entertainment & Recreation

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

among many consumers than any political party, trade union, church, or mosque. Indeed, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz sought to make his coffee shops the "third place" in our lives, after home and work. View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

Research Summary

Overview

Dr. Lurtz researches the history of agricultural economies in Latin America. She has a particular interest in export agriculture and attendant state- and locally-driven modernization projects. Her current work looks to the coffee economy of southern Mexico in the 19th... View Details

May 2025
Case

Windsurf and the AI Code Assistant Market

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Sudhanshu Nath Mishra and Radhika Kak

In April 2025, the founding team of Windsurf, an AI start-up specializing in code generation gathered in Mountain View, California, to assess its remarkable year of growth. The company had scaled from a niche GitHub Copilot alternative to a breakout player with over... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry; United States

February 2013 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Juan Valdez: Innovation in Caffeination

By: Michael I. Norton and Jeremy Dann

Corporate entrepreneurs attempt to revive Colombia's famous Juan Valdez brand in the age of Starbucks, with café chain and packaged coffee ventures. In the 1970s and 80s, the iconic "Juan Valdez" ingredient brand was the most recognized in the world of coffee. The... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Branding; Global Business; Sales; Marketing; Retailing; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

May 1989 (Revised September 1989)
Case

Jacobs Suchard: Reorganizing for 1992

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr.

Jacobs Suchard, the Swiss-based coffee and chocolate producer, is preparing for the common market and EEC 1992. At the time of the case, the company is still organized toward independent, local country markets, and believes it must move toward a more global... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Organizational Structure; Markets; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

the consumer coffee market and on existing coffee mugs is provided. To assist students in this task, they are presented with an approach employed by the design firm RKS and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

Southeast Asia and study the opportunities and challenges presented by the changing global market dynamics. Purchase this case:http://hbr.org/search/212026-PDF-ENG Keurig and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 5

particularly useful for forecasting bond returns. We show that a significant decline in issuer quality is a more reliable signal of credit market overheating than rapid aggregate credit growth. We use these findings to investigate the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2017
Case

Updating Dating

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and Alan Lam

To identify design ideas for their own startup, two MBAs compare the different profiling, matching, and monetization approaches employed by five incumbent dating services: Coffee Meets Bagel, OKCupid, Jiayuan, Dating Ring, and HurryDate. View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Design; Dating Services; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; United States; China

March 1999 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Keurig

By: Paul W. Marshall and Jeremy Dann

Nick Lazaris becomes Keurig's third CEO in three years, after one founder was fired and the other decided to leave the company. He inherits a company that has made several abortive attempts to launch its new coffee brewing system. Now, problems with crucial suppliers... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Product Launch; Supply Chain Management; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Manufacturing Industry

January 2009
Case

VOSS Artesian Water from Norway

By: Youngme E. Moon, Gail J. McGovern, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Vincent Marie Dessain

VOSS is a Norwegian bottled water company that produces one of the world's purest drinking waters, sold at an ultra-premium price in a sleek cylindrical glass bottle of minimalist design. In the U.S. (the company's primary market), VOSS's high-end brand presence is... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product; Luxury; Food and Beverage Industry; Norway; United States

September 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

CyberArk: Protecting the Keys to the IT Kingdom

By: Raffaella Sadun, David Yoffie and Margot Eiran

CyberArk was the recognized leader in the Privileged Account Management (PAM) space, a cybersecurity subsegment it had essentially created to secure organizations’ IT systems and sensitive data. Over 17 years, the Israeli company had grown to a market capitalization of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Cybersecurity; Information Technology Industry; Israel; United States