Publications

29 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Do Disasters Rally Support for Climate Action? It's Complicated.

Environmental disasters like wildfires can ignite awareness of climate change and boost eco-friendly politicians’ careers. But do voters perceive a tradeoff between environmental policies and local economic growth? In Brazil, home to a majority of the Amazon tropical... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

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; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; China

Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Browse All topics Accounting Audits (3) Accounting (119) Acquisition (20) Activity Based Costing and Management (2) Adaptation (7) Adoption (3) Advertising Campaigns (6) Advertising (77) Agency Theory (3) Age (3) Agreements View Details

25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

How did the United States become the world’s center of business growth following its founding in 1776? Surely a number of nations had powerful natural resources, stable financial and legal institutions, and dynamic entrepreneurs over that same span. Why was American... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

09 Jun 2022
HBS Case

From Truck Driver to Manager: US Foods’ Novel Approach to Staff Shortages

Foods was having was caused partly by COVID-19, partly by competition for workers from Amazon, and partly by changes in lifestyle,” says David Bell, Baker Foundation Professor and George M. Moffett Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

2023
Book

Deeply Responsible Business.: A Global History of Values-Driven Leadership

By: Geoffrey Jones

Corporate social responsibility has entered the mainstream, but what does it take to run a successful purpose-driven business? This book examines leaders who put values alongside profits to showcase the challenges and upside of deeply responsible business. Should... View Details

Web

Blog - Business & Environment

Networking Series: San Francisco - Addressing Extreme Weather, Climate Risk, and Resilience Leslie Hubbard 17 Jun 2025 Alumni Career Journey: Margot Zuckerman (MBA 2024) – Integrating Climate into Business (and Government) Priorities... View Details

2009
Simulation

Finance Simulation: M&A in Wine Country: No. 3289.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and W. Carl Kester

In this simulation, students play the role of CEO at one of three publicly-traded wine producers: Starshine, Bel Vino, or International Beverage. Each player evaluates merger and/or acquisition opportunities among the three companies and then determines reservation... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation; Valuation; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2016
Case

Seaside Organics

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Alisa Zalosh

This case follows Sara Norton, a soccer player-turned-serial entrepreneur, as she transforms Seaside Organics from a fledgling startup into an $89 million company. Informed by the successes and failures of her first organics venture, WellBar, Norton tries to balance... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Conflict and Resolution; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

01 Feb 2001
News

What Makes a Good Leader

authority on leadership — sees this phenomenon as a sign of the times. "The transition from the industrial age to the information age is a huge shift," he notes. "In all of human history, there have only been two other socioeconomic... View Details

Keywords: Management

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

government no longer needed Yamato’s help. Soon after visiting the Tohoku area and seeing the devastation, Kigawa felt it was time to give back to an area that had previously boosted his business with the delivery of fish View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

February 2022
Case

US Foods: Driving Post-Pandemic Success?

By: David E. Bell, Olivia Hull and Amy Klopfenstein

In November 2021, US Foods CEO Pietro Satriano must decide his company’s trajectory following the COVID-19 pandemic. US Foods suffered due to business closures and social distancing during the height of the pandemic. While the situation improved following the return of... View Details

Web

Confronting Climate Change - Business & Environment

largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the largest contributor to climate change. Food & Agriculture Focusing on regenerative agriculture Food View Details

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; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Aug 2001
News

Ray A. Goldberg (MBA '50)

companies and countries worldwide and, before retiring in 1997, had taught some seven thousand Harvard MBA students and ten thousand Executive Education participants. Most recently, Goldberg has focused on... View Details

Keywords: Alumni Achievement Award; John H. Davis; Agriculture; Agriculture

December 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Sustainable Tea at Unilever

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Frederik Nellemann

Unilever's Lipton Tea had been successful with the first phase of its certification partnership with Rainforest Alliance. Now the company faced challenges in how to push forward with the transformation of more difficult parts of the supply chain and how to market... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry