Publications

November 2001
Case

Aventis CropScience and StarLink Corn

By: Ray A. Goldberg and James M Beagle

Aventis CropScience responds to the discovery of an unapproved corn variety in food supplies and draws lessons for the company, industry, and governments. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Food; Science-Based Business; Outcome or Result; Governance Compliance; Problems and Challenges; Nutrition; Food and Beverage Industry

24 Apr 2019
News

Thailand's Richest Family Is Getting Richer Helping China

Career Coach

David Kay was the first employee and Director of Communications at UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats). In his 7.5 years there he wore many hats including in PR, operations, business development, fundraising, marketing, government... View Details

November 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

In 2005, CEO Bruce Rohde has almost completed the integration of ConAgra Foods' collection of 90 independent operating companies into a focused, value-added firm and was beginning to think about his successor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and No.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Food; Agribusiness; Product Marketing; Management Teams; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

19 Jan 2012
News

Enlightened eating

Jul 24 2018
Testimonial

Shake the tree.

December 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Monsanto: Technology Cooperation and Small Holder Farmer Projects

By: James E. Austin, Diana Barrett and Stephanie Oestreich

As the leading plant technology company in the global food system, how can Monsanto share this technology with small-sale producers and not-for-profit researchers and institutions? View Details

Keywords: Food; Globalized Markets and Industries; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Technology; Biotechnology Industry

Elisabeth Paulson is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches the first year course on Technology and Operations Management in the required curriculum.
View Details

Keywords: agriculture; federal government; state government; grocery; nonprofit industry

November 2010
Background Note

Agricultural Cooperatives: Origins, Structure, Financing and Partnerships

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Matthew Preble

This technical note explains how agricultural cooperatives are structured and financed, as well as how they form partnerships with one another and other elements of the food system. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital; Food; Organizational Structure; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

2013
Working Paper

Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the evolution of concepts of the responsibility of business in a historical and global perspective. It shows that from the nineteenth century American, European, Japanese, Indian and other business leaders discussed the responsibilities of... View Details

SSRN

Read Now

August 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Whole Foods: Balancing Social Mission and Growth

By: Christopher Marquis, Marya Besharov and Bobbi Thomason

In 2009, Whole Foods stands at a crossroads. Their incredible growth over the past 25 years has vaulted them into the ranks of the largest US supermarkets and they have arguably led to the widespread acceptance of natural and organic foods in the United States. Yet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

06 Dec 2019
News

Why Progress Bars Can Make You Feel Better

December 1997
Case

Bluewater Aquaculture

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

An entrepreneurial shrimp farm in Belize is evaluating its future growth strategy in every segment of the vertical value-added food chain. View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Performance Evaluation; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2006
Case

Organics: Coming Center Stage?

By: James E. Austin and Reed Martin

The organics movement has certainly come a long way. From hippie farming communes and a scattering of natural food stores in the 1960s, organics outgrew its origins as a counterculture curiosity of the 1970s to become the fastest growing segment of the food industry in... View Details

Keywords: Food; Supply and Industry; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

October 1992 (Revised September 1996)
Case

McDonald's Corporation

By: David M. Upton and Joshua D. Margolis

McDonald's has over many years built an operating strategy based on consistency and quality through a limited product range. Competitive forces have drawn the company into a much wider variety of foods and services in order to maintain growth. Now, new competitors... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Problems and Challenges; Environmental Sustainability; Quality; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Integration; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

December 2000
Case

Friona Industries, L.P.

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

As the food industry becomes more sophisticated, and as genomics and other factors provide for quality control from the producers to the consumers in the food chain, the beef industry has been one of the last commodity systems to organize the vertical systems to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Food; Management Systems; Supply and Industry; Performance Consistency; Quality; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Twiga Foods: Revolutionizing African Retail (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Pippa Tubman Amerding and Wale Lawal

Twiga is a leading agricultural produce supplier in Kenya offering services to mostly informal retailers. Under Peter Njonjo, a co-founder and Twiga’s new CEO, the company is considering multiple options for expanding its business, including offering packaged foods and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Retail Industry; Nairobi