Publications

Web

Electricity - Business & Environment

Ecometano/MDCPAR “Our goal is to provide our corporate clients in Brazil with cost efficient low carbon energy solutions. Ecometano has pioneered the upgrading of high BTU biogas from landfills and other biomass to energy solutions in the Brazilian View Details

November 2008 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Nestle

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

In April 2008, Paul Bulcke took over as CEO of the world's largest food and beverage company. His predecessor, Peter Brabeck, had delivered 12 years of outstanding results while moving the company toward a new vision of health, nutrition, and wellness. Bulcke's... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Organizational Culture; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

January 2021
Case

Saham Group: It's In the Genes

By: Christina R. Wing and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in August 2020 as Moulay Mhamed Elalamy (Mhamed), CEO of the Saham Group (the Group), a pan-African investment company that operates a variety of businesses out of Morocco, contemplates the Group’s identity, its investment strategy, and how to navigate... View Details

Keywords: Family and Family Relationships; Family Business; For-Profit Firms; Transformation; Transition; Emerging Markets; Change Management; Private Equity; Investment; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Morocco; Africa

08 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Recalling My First Cold Call: A Conversation with Second-Year Students

broad and diverse the world is and how although all these industries are different, great leadership skills are needed for all. LUCIA CUNEO (MBA 2022) Cuneo is a part of the Women’s Student Association, Latin American Club, Entrepreneurship Club, Food and View Details

Web

Effects of Climate Change - Business & Environment

improved transportation has the potential to dramatically improve health by reducing the major sources of air pollution [7] . Mass extinctions and ecosystem collapse Some 1 million species are now threatened with extinction, with climate change as a major cause [8] .... View Details

21 Nov 2018
Blog Post

Harvard Square's Hidden History

served Newtowne (Cambridge’s name at founding). It was the primary center of commerce for the towns surrounding present-day Harvard Square, including much of the agricultural activity that took place on and near what is now HBS’s campus. ... View Details

31 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

American Idle: Workers Spend Too Much Time Waiting for Something to Do

representative sample of 1,003 people across 29 occupations—including lawyers, managers, agricultural workers, and soldiers. They found that 78 percent of employees reported experiencing some kind of idle time. Moreover, in every one of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Debt Policy at UST Inc.

UST, Inc. is a very profitable smokeless tobacco firm with low debt compared to other firms in the tobacco industry. The setting for the case is UST's recent decision to substantially alter its debt policy by borrowing $1 billion to finance its stock repurchase... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

11 Apr 2023
Blog Post

BTG Bioliquids: Creating Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil from Biomass Residue Streams

human consumption, such as food production, or used for energy production instead. BTG Bioliquids uses wood instead of livestock derivative products, and avoids deforestation concerns by relying on second generation biomass residues such as woody crops and View Details

February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Komatsu Ltd.

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Reviews and updates the structure and characteristics of the earth-moving equipment industry presented in the companion case, Caterpillar Tractor Co. After revealing that CAT has suffered major financial losses during the period from 1981 through 1984, the case... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Machinery and Machining; Price; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Production; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2022
Case

Mission Produce in 2022

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Founded by CEO Steve Barnard in 1983, California-based Mission Produce was a leading supplier of Hass avocados with a global sourcing, marketing, and distribution network and $892 million in 2021 sales. Barnard had been influential in the global avocado trade’s... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; California; Peru; Guatemala; Colombia; Mexico; Chile

December 2023
Case

Santa Elena: Table Grape Production in Chile’s Water-Challenged Regions

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In the fiscal year ending in September 2022, Santa Elena, Chile’s fifth-ranking table grape exporter, a grape producer and exporter since 1980, had exported around 3.5 million boxes (18-pound each). But, due to a 13-year-long drought that plagued table grape-growing... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Natural Resources; Food; Environmental Law; Problems and Challenges; Weather; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chile; South America; Latin America

07 Jan 2002
Research & Ideas

How Marketing Can Reduce Worldwide Poverty

approaching them. Somebody might approach a poor subsistence farmer in Uganda to say, "We want to give you some agricultural aid. We want to give you a loan." There again, why is advocacy important? Because even in that case,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2015 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Ozark Feed and Ag Corporation: The ERP Decision

By: Jan Hammond, Paul Kalmbach and Eric Bernstein

This case describes a medium-sized business that manufactures animal feed for commercial and companion animals. The company has been growing rapidly and is considering whether or not to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Ozark currently uses an IT... View Details

Keywords: ERP Systems; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Growth Management; Performance Improvement; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Missouri; Oklahoma; Texas; Arkansas

18 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

How Economic Clusters Drive Globalization

(Photo source: iStock) Economic cluster theory has been used to describe the growth of many industries, including the automotive business around Detroit, high tech in Silicon Valley, and digital media in Seoul. These regions benefit by a concentration of complementary... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Agriculture & Agribusiness

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States