Publications

February 2001 (Revised August 2003)
Case

United Grain Growers Limited (A)

By: Peter Tufano and Joshua Musher

United Grain Growers Ltd. (UGG), a Canadian grain distributor, audited its exposure to a number of key risks, especially the impact of weather on grain volumes and operating income. Understanding these risks was crucial because the company was in the midst of a major... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Weather; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; Canada

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; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

06 Sep 2022
Blog Post

Student Spotlight: Summer Internships in Business & Environment

Summer Associate at Izuba Energy Izuba Energy is a leading developer of renewable energy in Fragile States in Africa. Izuba’s projects are often first-in-class and allow industrial partners to produce in... View Details

November 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Disrupting the Meat Industry: Tissue Culture Beef

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

Dr. Mark Post and his team at Maastricht University were perfecting their tissue culture beef product—made entirely from muscle grown in his lab—to give it the same taste, texture and appearance of a traditional beef hamburger. A previous iteration of this product had... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Beef Production; Environmental Impacts Of Food Production; Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Environmental Sustainability; Food; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Netherlands; United States; United Kingdom

15 Dec 2023
News

Exploring Business Opportunities in Africa; Alumni Grapple with Plastic Waste Problem

Clubs News Clubs News Webinar illuminates broad array of business opportunities across Africa On December 5th, the HBS African-American Alumni Association (HBSAAA) hosted ‘Doing Business in Africa: From Opportunity to Action’, a webinar panel of HBS alumni who shared... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

15 Oct 2019
News

Understanding Challenges Across the Supply Chain

Agriculture and Business, Emeritus. “Ray left this amazing legacy that my colleagues and I have continued to move forward,” Alvarez says. “He saw that people in the food View Details

01 Mar 2014
News

The Solution to the Global Food Crisis Just Might Come from Nigeria

these things, people look on it as the most difficult country to change." And yet, a shift appears under way. A new reformist government has started treating agriculture as a problem to be solved by View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs; John H. Davis; Michael Halse; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture; Agriculture

October 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Deferred Taxes at Obadiah Vineyard

Obadiah Vineyard's owners create financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to help them obtain funding to plant more acreage. The owners grapple with deferred taxes and the differences between tax and financial reporting... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Taxation; Financial Statements; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

November 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Monsanto: Leadership in a New Environment

By: Ray A. Goldberg, James Weber and James M Beagle

Monsanto is the biotechnology leader in agriculture. How does it use its leadership in Round Up to fund long-term research and development in biotechnology that is acceptable to the priority system of consumers in different parts of the world? Includes color exhibits. View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Food; Business or Company Management; Agribusiness; Industry Growth; Customer Focus and Relationships; Globalization; Leadership; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

Web

Career Support - Business & Environment

industry in which environmental challenges are front-and-center, such as energy, agriculture, or real estate. Work in finance, incorporating environment, social, and governance (ESG) factors. Engage in... View Details

11 Apr 2024
Blog Post

Climate Stories: Water Series - Episode #17: Leni Peterson Redondo (HBS MS/MBA 2023), Founder & CEO of Celeste

believe, adding “Historically, people have prayed for rain from the sky when they have had no access to water and have begun to feel the effects of water scarcity.” Currently, Celeste is in its pre-seed stage. Leni has found four View Details

Teaching Interest

Overview

Globalization and Emerging Markets (Elective Course) The world order has changed significantly in the last two decades. The influence of western-style varieties of capitalism has been challenged by new forms of capitalism that rely less on private enterprise and on the... View Details

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

January 2008 (Revised February 2008)
Case

South Dakota Wheat Growers

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

As a farmer-owned cooperative, South Dakota Wheat Growers (SDWG) serves the needs of its 3,600 active farmer-members by supplying farm inputs and organizing the marketing and transportation of grain produced in the co-op's service territory. For almost 80 years, the... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Production; Rail Transportation; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Economic Growth; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; South Dakota

August 1988 (Revised July 1990)
Case

Optical Distortion, Inc. (C): The 1988 Reintroduction

In 1988, Optical Distortion, Inc. was ready to reintroduce its only product, contact lenses for chickens. Tests had shown that the lenses significantly reduced bird aggression and feed costs, leading to potentially huge cost savings for egg producers. In the years... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Ethics; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

23 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Arla Foods: How Sustainable Can A Dairy Company Be?

Arla had an appreciation for the natural resources that allowed their business to thrive, but we had several questions about how they anticipated resolving that tension long-term in a world where dairy production and animal View Details

October 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Foremostco, Inc. (A)

Describes the rocky transition from an outdated, nonintegrated information system to a new customized system built by programmers in a small, IT-dependent foliage company that distributes plant material. The old system has increasingly become a "burning platform," but... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Information Technology; Crisis Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Case

VP Group: Vegpro Grows Beyond Kenya

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

In 2013, Kenyan horticulture producer and exporter VP Group is weighing potential expansion opportunities against the growing risks in its production and export markets. With $121 million in 2012 revenues, VP Group has grown rapidly in recent years by expanding its... View Details