Publications

1993
Chapter

Regulating the International Trade in Hazardous Pesticides: Closing the Accountability Gap

By: L. S. Paine

Keywords: Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Accountability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

2013
Working Paper

How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Shawn Cole, Xavier Gine and James Vickery

Weather is a key source of income risk, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving a sample of Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Production; Weather; Insurance; Emerging Markets; Agribusiness; Insurance Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

Read Now

1 Aug 2010
Conference Presentation

Lords of the harvest: Symbolic signaling and regulatory approval of genetically modified organisms in the nascent U.S. agriculture-biotechnology sector

By: Shon R. Hiatt and Sangchan Park

Keywords: Science; Information Technology; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Monsanto: Realizing Biotech Value in Brazil

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Patents; Lawfulness; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

18 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 18

Corporation (MCC), provides aid to developing countries, focusing on poverty reduction through economic growth. It measures results through an economic rate of return based on increases in farmer incomes anticipated over twenty years. As MCC and Ghana finalize a $547... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 May 2016
HBS Case

Food Safety Economics: The Cost of a Sick Customer

Margaret L. Rodriguez, Mérieux NutriSciences: Marketing Food Safety Testing. Food safety problems can be quite costly. An E. coli outbreak in Germany in 2011 caused $1.3 billion in losses to the global agricultural industry. Yet, a... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

environmental interests have raised the public's scrutiny of agricultural water use. This case describes farming in California's Central Valley and reviews the state's complicated system for managing water rights and resources. It invites... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 20

fast-growing food service sector. Internationally, the plan sets out a vision of Brasil Foods evolving from an exporter to a true multinational. The team believes their operational expertise and scale combined with Brazil's booming economy and vast View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

Ambelang treated NatureSweet more like a consumer-packaged goods manufacturer than an agricultural producer, with a focus on consistency, branding, margin, and price stability, and a frontline-worker-centric production model inspired by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2007
Case

Continuous Process Improvement at Deere & Company

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

After decades of tense relationships with the United Auto Workers, Deere & Company broke through with a landmark agreement that built an expectation of continuous improvement into the compensation plan. The company then built a set of management forums and processes to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Machinery and Machining; Agreements and Arrangements; Management Practices and Processes; Labor Unions; Compensation and Benefits; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Read Now

September 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Marketing Marijuana in Colorado

By: John A. Quelch and David Lane

Colorado's 2014 legalization of marijuana for adult recreational (not just medical) use created a new market that entrepreneurs rushed to enter, channeled by regulations that aimed to minimize marijuana's access to minors while not stifling the emergent new industry.... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Regulation; Marijuana; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Public Sector; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Colorado

December 1999
Case

Agrochemicals at Ciba-Geigy AG (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, Wendy Smith and Daniel Radov

After spending five years to develop a revolutionary product, the director of Ciba-Geigy's fungicide research department is handed an unfavorable market study. The case details the R&D process for the new product, including information on corporate partnerships,... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Product Launch; Marketing Channels; Change Management; Product Development; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Corporate Accountability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

May 2013
Supplement

Keggfarms (India):Which Came First, the Kuroiler(TM) or the KEGG(TM)?

This is a spreadsheet supplement for HBS case #807089 (Keggfarms). Includes Exhibit 1, Exhibit 4, and Exhibit 5. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; International Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Finance; Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

January 2013 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Mutti S.p.a.

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Mary Shelman

Francesco Mutti, owner, CEO, and great-grandson of the founder of Mutti Spa, ran the 113-year old Parma, Italy-based tomato-processing company. Mutti sales grew from €11 million in 1995 to €185 million in 2011, without producing for store brands in a market in which... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Strategy; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Family Business; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Italy

February 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Teaching Note

Sykué Bioenergya (TN)

By: Shon R. Hiatt and Ian Cornell

Keywords: Energy Sources; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

June 2010
Teaching Note

Monsanto: Helping Farmers Feed the World (TN)

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

Teaching Note for [510025]. View Details

Keywords: Food; Production; Adoption; Leadership Style; Globalized Markets and Industries; Performance Productivity; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry