Publications

05 Jul 2022
Op-Ed

Hear Me Out: Introverts Can Be Loud and You Might Like Microsoft Teams

business leaders demanded collaboration tools, we saw Zoom and other video conferencing products explode. But MS quickly responded with improvements to Teams’ videoconferencing capabilities and ease of use. As everyone in the company has... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Pivots and Incentives at LevelUp

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

LevelUp's mobile payments service lets users scan a smartphone barcode rather than swipe a credit card. Will consumers embrace the service? Will merchants? LevelUp considers adjustments to make the service attractive to both consumers and merchants, while trying to... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Payments; Smartphone; Credit Cards; Interchange Fee; Mobile Marketing; Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Mobile Technology; Technology Networks; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

December 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

The Munich Oktoberfest: From Local Tradition to Global Capitalism

By: Juan Alcacer, Christian Bettinger and Andreas Philippi

Oktoberfest, an annual festival held in Munich (Germany) for more than 200 years, has grown in recent decades into a hugely popular event that attracts 7 million visitors annually, a large proportion of which are foreign. In fact, Oktoberfest's global appeal is so... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Product Positioning; Marketing Channels; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Ohio; Munich; Brazil; Bangalore; Beijing

November 1983 (Revised June 1985)
Case

Pepsi-Cola United Kingdom (A)

By: Benson P. Shapiro and Edward J. Hoff

On January 2, 1983 Pepsi-Cola United Kingdom had to develop a plan to defend its successful Diet Pepsi brand against the about to be introduced diet Coke. Contains useful material on competitive behavior and on U.S. versus U.K. consumer behavior. View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Consumer Behavior; Planning; Competition; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom; United States

November 1983 (Revised December 1984)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: Grandma's ""Ready-To-Eat"" Cookies

Mr. Kenneth Treece, marketing director of Frito-Lay's Grandma's (R) Cookie division has received the final test market figures for the new supermarket line of Grandma's Ready-To-Eat cookies. One set of data, the Kansas City test results, was extremely encouraging;... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

28 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Helping Yelp Create More Accurate Reviews

Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com, which explored how restaurant reviews on Yelp affect their bottom lines.) Reviewing The Reviewers After spending some time on Yelp, Luca questioned whether the site's star-based rating system (five stars for the best) truly reflected the... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Food & Beverage

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

Deborah L. Soule and Lynda M. Applegate Abstract This paper examines virtual team learning in new product development situations. New product development activities manifest novelty, uncertainty and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Consumers Blame Business for Global Health Problems. Can Business Become the Solution?

Every public health crisis—whether it’s the availability of highly addictive opioids or junk food marketing to children—prompts consumers to question how far companies will go for profit. It’s not an unwarranted concern. After all,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Health

September 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Guinness PLC

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Grant Kelley

Changing demographics, new types of competition, and new attitudes toward alcoholic beverages force the company to rethink priorities. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Demographics; Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

November 1992 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Eskimo Pie Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback

In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Decisions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Performance Productivity; Leadership; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Ownership; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

In 1908, Harvard Business School’s first dean, Edwin Francis Gay, welcomed the School’s inaugural class of 59 students by saying that HBS was challenged with encouraging its students to have the “intellectual respect for business as a profession, with the social... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

December 2022 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Applegate Farms

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Consumer Behavior; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Brands and Branding; Integration; Strategy; Change Management; Change; Organizational Structure; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

escalating production of beef, soy, and timber, focusing initially on South America. The two organizations support global institutional investors pressing food and timber companies to eliminate deforestation... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Manufacturing; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Mining

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

growing concern that such regulation may simply shift production to unregulated regions, potentially increasing overall carbon emissions in the process. Carbon tariffs have emerged as a possible mechanism to address this concern by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands

arrangements from the perspective of the "elephants"? A: Most successful large companies excel at business planning, allocation of capital, and execution. Many are also good at product innovation in the small, continuous... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

August 2021
Supplement

Danone S.A.: Becoming a Mission-Driven Company (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Emilie Billaud

Describes the events that took place in the first year after Danone became France’s first “entreprise à mission” (mission-driven company). View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France; Europe