Publications

18 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 18

range of contexts, information costs approach zero. In this chapter, we discuss how sharply reduced information costs enable organizations to engage with communities of developers, professionals, and users for core innovative activities,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Nestle: Sustainable Agriculture Initiative

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Swiss food giant Nestle attempts to improve the performance of its suppliers of agricultural commodities to raise quality, lower costs, and contribute to sustainable development. Its initiatives focus first on coffee, cocoa, and milk. Nestle managers assert that the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy; Agribusiness; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2014 (Revised July 2016)
Case

HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José Alvarez, Tonia Junker and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The Dutch company HEINEKEN, one of the leading global brewers known for its brands like Heineken, Amstel, and Desperados and for its award-winning marketing campaigns, seeks to closely integrate its long-term sustainability "Brewing a Better World" approach into its... View Details

Keywords: Beer/brewing Industry; Sustainability; Local Sourcing; Corporate Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Precision Agriculture at AGCO

By: Rajiv Lal, Alicia Dadlani and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In 2024, AGCO, a leading agricultural equipment manufacturer, sought to improve its customers net farm income by 20% over five years by becoming a comprehensive one-stop precision agriculture solutions provider and strengthening its dual channel sales approach—retrofit... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Relationship Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Sales; Alignment; Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Manufacturing Industry

May 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

India's Amul: Keeping Up with the Times

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Tarun Khanna, Namrata Arora and Tanya Bijlani

Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative founded in 1947—eight months before India's independence from British rule—and owned by over three million farmers in the state of Gujarat. It is India's largest food product marketing organization, selling 46 products, including... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Expansion; Dairy; India; Cooperatives; Milk; Leadership; Agriculture; Agribusiness; Competition; Marketing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Hormel Foods

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2019, CEO Jim Snee is weighing how to shape the image of Hormel Foods, one of the largest U.S. meat and food companies, at a time when the industry faces unprecedented scrutiny. Based in the small town of Austin, Minnesota, the nearly 130-year-old firm is best known... View Details

Keywords: Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China

May 2024
Teaching Note

Vineyard Wind Starts Spinning: Overcoming Onshore Challenges to Offshore Wind

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-113. To activate the first wind turbines in the ocean off Martha’s Vineyard eventually supplying clean energy to 400,000 households, Vineyard Wind’s leaders had to navigate the permitting process, numerous delays, and objections from... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Renewable Energy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Massachusetts; Martha's Vineyard; New Bedford

Article

Power to the People

By: Eric D. Werker

Every nongovernmental organization has a mission statement. For example, CARE, one of the world's largest and best-funded NGOs, explains its mission as serving "individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Food; Service Operations; Inflation and Deflation; Experience and Expertise; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Knowledge; Poverty; Agribusiness; Diversity; Non-Governmental Organizations; Innovation and Invention; India

Find at Harvard

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53636 Scale versus Scope in the Diffusion of New Technology: Evidence from the Farm Tractor By: Gross, Daniel P. Abstract—Using the farm tractor... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Apr 2016
First Look

April 5, 2016

are consistent with economic theory and reconcile conflicting evidence from an extensive literature on the effects of competition on innovation, with implications for R&D policy, competition policy, and organizations in creative or... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

March 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Vineyard Wind Starts Spinning: Overcoming Onshore Challenges to Offshore Wind

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

To activate the first wind turbines in the ocean off Martha’s Vineyard eventually supplying clean energy to 400,000 households, Vineyard Wind’s leaders had to navigate the permitting process, numerous delays, and objections from stakeholders in three communities:... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Joint Ventures; Green Technology; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Massachusetts; Martha's Vineyard; New Bedford; New England

29 May 2020
Op-Ed

How Leaders Are Fighting Food Insecurity on Three Continents

Solving: HBS Alumni Making a Difference in the World, and more recent conversations specifically about COVID-19 impacts and responses, we’ve talked with many Harvard Business School alumni the world over. Here are some examples of how they are leading their View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence; Agriculture & Agribusiness

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

Summer 2018 RAND Journal of Economics Scale versus Scope in the Diffusion of New Technology: Evidence from the Farm Tractor By: Gross, Daniel P. Abstract—Although tractors are now used in nearly every agricultural field operation and in... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

21 Jan 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Learning from Customers in Outsourcing: Individual and Organizational Effects

Keywords: by Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

South Dakota Wheat Growers (SDWG) serves the needs of its 3,600 active farmer-members by supplying farm inputs and organizing the marketing and transportation of grain produced in the co-op's service... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2008
Working Paper

Finding Missing Markets (and a disturbing epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya

By: Nava Ashraf, Xavier Gine and Dean Karlan

In much of the developing world, many farmers grow crops for local or personal consumption despite export options which appear to be more profitable. Thus many conjecture that one or several markets are missing. We report here on a randomized controlled trial conducted... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Trade; Profit; Product Marketing; Standards; Failure; Risk and Uncertainty; Non-Governmental Organizations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Service Industry; Kenya; Europe