Publications

03 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 3

innovative product could both radically disrupt the existing beef production and supply chain and provide an animal welfare and environmentally friendly food that had far less of an environmental impact than... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Kitopi: The Brave New World of Cloud Kitchens

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in February 2021 as Mohamad Ballout, co-founder and CEO of Kitopi, a Dubai-based managed cloud kitchen platform, is looking over the company’s 2020 results. Propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery orders had been on the rise globally and dine-in... View Details

Keywords: Cloud Kitchens; Food; Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; Middle East; North Africa

Research Summary

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR)

Seifert is conducting ongoing research on ECR success factor study. Identifying the relevant success factors for ECR-Implementation. Research includes analysis of supply chain mangement and category management implementiation. Statistical data is based on extensive... View Details

June 2013 (Revised September 2016)
Supplement

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-he Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland

November 2019
Teaching Note

The Bundesliga in the U.S.

By: Stephen A. Greyser, Sascha L. Schmidt and Florian Holzmayer

This Teaching Note addresses the classroom use of the case on the strategy of Germany’s premier football (soccer) league to “win the marketplace of U.S. sports broadcasters and consumers.” The note includes study questions and a teaching plan that also draws on... View Details

Keywords: Media; Sports; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Sports Industry; United States

In January 2012, H-E-B Grocery Co., a private retail chain with stores located in Texas and Mexico, was introducing its Healthy at H-E-B program to its customers. The program, which started with the company's employees a few years earlier, was an effort to... View Details

May 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Together for Sustainability

By: Ranjay Gulati, David Shin and Emily Tedards

This case documents the origin and development of Together for Sustainability (TfS), a chemical industry initiative dedicated to raising sustainability standards throughout the industry’s supply chains. In 2011, six Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) from some of the... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Standards; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Accountability; Chemical Industry

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

How Transparency Sped Innovation in a $13 Billion Wireless Sector

2018, much of which came from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) massive database of Wi-Fi products. The researchers used the FCC documents and other sources to observe firms' positions in a supply View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology

Forthcoming
Article

Legislators' Demand for Firms' Financial Statements: Evidence from U.S. Congressional Redistricting Events

By: Matthew Ma, Jing Pan, Ethan Rouen and Laura Wellman

We investigate whether U.S. House representatives and their staff seek financial information from constituent firms to inform their legislative decisions. We exploit shifts in U.S. congressional districts (i.e., the reconfiguration of federal district lines or... View Details

Keywords: Redistricting; Lobbying; Legislators; Voting Behavior; Corporate Disclosure; Government Legislation; Voting; Behavior

Register to Read

February 2020
Supplement

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing so, the company developed direct... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Climate Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

April 2020
Teaching Note

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Teaching Note for HBS No. 620-024. Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Science-Based Business; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

April 2009 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Dot.com: Online Pet Retailing

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

From 1995 to 1999, the U.S. experienced a period of tremendous growth in its information technology (IT) sector. The IT industry, although it accounted for less than 10% of the U.S. economy's total output, contributed disproportionately to economic growth. One market... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Price Bubble; Growth and Development Strategy; Failure; Competitive Strategy; Online Technology; Retail Industry

May 2008 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Chi Mei Optoelectronics

By: Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Ho Howard Yu

Chi Mei is a Taiwanese industrial group that makes a major diversification into the technology intensive TFT-LCD flat panel display industry. Because the diversification is far away from its core competence in petrochemicals, it is an opportunity to examine how the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Supply Chain; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China; South Korea; Taiwan

2009
Book

Supercorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Opportunity, Profits, Growth, and Social Good

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Supercorp is based on a 3-year study involving more than 350 interviews in 20 countries to identify the leadership practices and operating methods of major companies seeking profitable growth through innovation that benefits society. For example, when the tsunami and... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Opportunities; Welfare

Find at Harvard

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

supply of “safety stock” was the order of the day for those using slower forms of transportation. "The result, of course, was what came to be known as 'just-in-time' inventory management, as championed by firms such as Toyota." One of my... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

October 2000 (Revised November 2018)
Exercise

Web-Based Beer Game Exercise

By: Janice H. Hammond

The Web-based beer game is an exercise that demonstrates supply channel dynamics. Simulates the flow of material and information in a simplified channel of beer production and distribution, focusing on the linkages between a beer manufacturer, its distributors, a... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Production