Publications

27 Jun 2016
Blog Post

From Africa to HBS

would allow her to live and work in three different countries and work across different commodities and disciplines. We checked in with Humbulani to learn more about her time at HBS and her decision to attend business school. Why did... View Details

Profile

Jeremy Burnham

the promotion would increase overall store traffic. Summarizing the value of the FIELD 2 experience, Jeremy says, “Coming from a commodity industry, I didn’t know anything about marketing. In Argentina, I was forced to apply what I’ve... View Details

05 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?

typhoonski] Related Reading: Deconstructing the Price Tag Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker Name Your Price. Really. What do you think of this research? Share your insights below. View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy

01 Jun 2011
News

Where Conservation Means Business

four-inch-thick volumes of Moody’s financial directories from the early 1900s. And Anderson demonstrated the delicate work of making an almost invisible repair to a torn page in a Dutch commodities price ledger dating from 1719. “If you... View Details

Keywords: Roger thompson

January 2025
Supplement

Negotiating a Legacy at Sustainable Harvest (B)

By: Jillian Jordan, Julian Zlatev, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

The specialty coffee importer Sustainable Harvest was the first certified B Corp in the coffee industry due to its investments in building coffee farmers’ capacity and livelihood. But in 2022, after coffee prices plummeted and the company’s bank declined to extend its... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Acquisition; Trust; Ethics; Agribusiness; Volatility; Futures and Commodity Futures; Social Enterprise; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe

15 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 15

in India and outline both quantitative and qualitative evidence from 42 Indian state-owned laboratories to support this argument. August 2013 Journal of Economic History Colonial Institutions, Commodity Booms, and the Diffusion of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 26

examine a prominent justification for capital income taxation: goods preferred by those with high ability ought to be taxed. In an environment where commodity taxes are allowed to be nonlinear functions of income and consumption, we... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2010
Article

Do Inventory and Gross Margin Data Improve Sales Forecasts for U.S. Public Retailers?

By: Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur and Ananth Raman

Firm-level sales forecasts for retailers can be improved if we incorporate cost of goods sold, inventory, and gross margin (defined here as the ratio of sales to cost of goods sold) as three endogenous variables. We construct a simultaneous equations model, estimated... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Distribution; Goods and Commodities; Cost; Public Sector; Profit; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

July 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Agricultural Biotechnology and its Regulation

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

In the United States, genetically modified corn and soybeans are now widely grown and consumed. In Europe, however, they have been dubbed "Frankenstein foods," shunned by packaged food manufacturers, and subjected to a host of governmental restrictions. This case... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Genetics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Strategy; Trade; Law; Goods and Commodities; Safety; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Europe; United States

01 Oct 1999
News

The Class of 1974: Timed for a Change

would take a German commodity chemical business to a major position in detergents and perfumes, that Eileen Friars would trade in her jeans and long tresses and take charge of a $20-billion credit-card operation, or that Jeff Seder would,... View Details

Keywords: Charles B. ("Chuck") Mercer

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

the U.S. and its new "Solution Pack" in its domestic market, Japan. The case provides rich detail on the firm's evolution from a manufacturer of thermometers to a seller of commodity products like syringes to a diversified firm... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Dec 2021
News

Tipping Point

drivers. It is a model customers are familiar with.” And it’s a model she believes could also transform the coffee industry and other commodity supply chains. Courtesy Margaret Nyamumbo “The economics of coffee are some of the most... View Details

Keywords: April White; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

September 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

GoodGuide

By: George Serafeim, Robert G. Eccles and Tiffany A. Clay

GoodGuide, a high-technology start-up company, founded by University of California Professor at Berkley Dara O'Rourke is at a critical junction. The venture capital funded company has yet to find the business model to monetize a very promising product that provides... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Goods and Commodities; Business Model; Information Technology; Knowledge; Education Industry; California

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Can Florida Orange Growers Survive Globalization?

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

Florida Citrus Department has to deal with increasing competition from Brazil. What position should the industry take on its existing tariff? Who benefits? Who loses? View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Trade; Price; Globalized Markets and Industries; Goods and Commodities; Competition; Competitive Strategy

01 Jan 2005
News

Rahul Bajaj, MBA 1964

production of a commodity that most Indians needed, I didn't mind." Bajaj's antiestablishment views prevailed, and by the beginning of the 1980s, Bajaj Auto had increased its annual production to 172,000 vehicles. Today, with revenues of... View Details

01 Jun 2020
News

Prognosis

factor into governments’ decisions about what to open up. RH: Absolutely. The stress on so many resources that we might consider to be commodity products—surgical masks, hand sanitizer, gowns, and other forms of PPE—exposed a broader... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; COVID-19; Hospitals; Health, Social Assistance

30 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Market Makers Bid for Success

two-minute version is that after I left HBS I worked at McKinsey down in Texas. I learned two major things while I was there. First, the way to make money in commodities markets is to have superior information, to make better trades, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Web Services; Technology

October 1994
Background Note

Note on Crude Oil and Crude Oil Derivatives Markets

By: Andre F. Perold, Wai Lee and Kuljot Singh

Briefly describes the crude oil markets and common derivatives contracts written on oil. The contracts are oil forward and futures contracts, and over-the-counter oil price swaps. View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Futures and Commodity Futures; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Contracts; Energy Industry