Publications

2018
Report

The Water of Systems Change

By: Mark R. Kramer, John Kania and Peter Senge

Foundations involved in systems change can increase their odds for success by focusing on the least explicit but most powerful conditions for change, while also turning the lens on themselves. The Water of Systems Change aims to clarify what it means to shift... View Details

Keywords: Foundations; Systems Thinking; Systems Change; System; Change; Organizations; Strategy

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March 1999 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Georgian Glass and Mineral Water

Georgian Glass and Mineral Water (GGMW), was created in 1995 by a Georgian entrepreneur and Western investors in Georgia (former Soviet Union) to bottle and market the famous mineral water from the Borjomi valley. At the height of the Soviet Union's power, Borjomi was... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; Emerging Markets; Financing and Loans; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2014
Teaching Note

The Slingshot: Improving Water Access

By: John A. Quelch

Entrepreneur Dean Kamen has inked a multimillion dollar partnership with Coca-Cola (CC) to mass produce and distribute the Slingshot, a low energy device that can convert raw sewage into potable water for poor people and communities in developing economies. View Details

Keywords: DEKA; Dean Kamen; Coca-Cola; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Commercialization; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; North Africa; South Africa; Asia; South America

01 Sep 2011
News

Water for Life

for reliable, affordable water service. Nearly two of every three gallons of water pumped through the dilapidated distribution system were lost or stolen. Desperate for a remedy, the Philippine government... View Details

Keywords: Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities

February 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Arup: Building the Water Cube

By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson and Dilyana Karadzhova

Arup, an engineering firm, collaborated with PTW Architects and China Construction Design Institute to develop a design for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Aquatics Center design competition. Their winning concept for the Water Cube combined elements of Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Environmental Sustainability; Design; Construction; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Projects; Groups and Teams; Real Estate Industry; Sports Industry; Beijing; Sydney

11 May 2018
Video

Food, Agriculture & Water Club

01 Dec 1999
News

Water, Water Everywhere

"Just like everything from cosmetics to sugar, water is bought, repackaged, and sold," according to CBS MarketWatch (August 13, 1999). "Today, it's become an especially big business - a $300 billion one - as deregulation sweeps through... View Details

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

February 2011 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Hindustan Unilever's 'Pureit' Water Purifier

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Mona Sinha

The case asks students to formulate a strategy to respond to various competitive threats to its Pureit Water purifier, launched in 2008, targeted at millions of low-income Indian consumers who did not have access to safe drinking water. The case describes in detail the... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Social Enterprise; Competitive Strategy; India

June 1995 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Welsh Water (A): General Information

This is a four-player negotiation simulation in which a newly-privatized British water utility must deal with contentious unions and national collective-bargaining agreements. Explores the question of coalitions and multi-lateral negotiations, and the value of... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Privatization; Labor Unions; Utilities Industry; Wales

March 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Fiji versus FIJI: Negotiating Over Water

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

This case examines negotiations between a company and government over natural resources. The Fijian government proposed a substantial increase in its water extraction tax that would only apply to large extractors, and thus to FIJI Water and not to its competitors. FIJI... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Business and Government Relations; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Distribution Industry; Fiji

January 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

PSI: Social Marketing Clean Water

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Nava Ashraf and Marie Bell

Senior management at PSI, arguably the world's largest and most successful social marketer with impressive achievements in the field of family planning, HIV/AIDS, and malaria prevention must determine what to do about their slow-to-take-off clean water initiative.... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Health Care and Treatment; Social Marketing; Natural Environment; Social Enterprise; Business Strategy

24 Apr 2014
News

Navigating rough waters

James ("Jamie") Dimon's (MBA 1982) role on Wall Street has been much analyzed during his 30-year career. Since taking charge of JPMorgan Chase in 2005, the company has become one of the nation's largest banks, with assets of $2.4 trillion. The ride has been tumultuous... View Details

December 2015 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis

By: Forest Reinhardt, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman and Laura Winig

This case highlights the tough choices, competing interests, and decision-making mechanisms involved in California's management of its severe drought, entering its fifth year in 2015. Stuart Woolf, CEO of Woolf Farming, a grower and processor of almonds, tomatoes, and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Natural Disasters; Climate Change; Resource Allocation; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Economics; Weather; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; California

January 2013 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Xylem: Let's Solve Water

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and James Weber

December 1993
Case

Arvin-Edison Water Storage District

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Pollutants; Utilities Industry

Find at Harvard

15 Mar 2010
News

Solving the Water Challenge

Keywords: Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities

August 1985 (Revised August 1987)
Supplement

Waters Chromatography Division: U.S. Field Sales (B)

Presents a sequel to the (A) case, which features a diary-style account of "a day in the field" with Ray Burnett, a field sales representative for Waters Chromatography Division. View Details

Keywords: Sales; Technology Industry