Publications

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November 2005 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Brazil Sugar and the WTO: Agricultural Reform in the European Union

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Kerry Herman and Irina Tarsis

Pedro de Camargo Neto, Brazil's secretary of trade and production for the Ministry of Agriculture, has won a WTO sugar decision for Brazil against the EU sugar policies. This case analyzes what this decision will mean to world food policies, especially those of the EU... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Policy; Government and Politics; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; United States; Brazil

23 Mar 2016
News

Building a Biotech Business from Farmed Fish

Charlton Ames (MBA 1970) is chairman and vice president of business development for Sea Run Holdings, a virtual firm in Maine that develops innovative biologics and therapeutics from the blood of farmed salmon. In this video he explains the structure and goals of his... View Details

25 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Climate Leaders Program

global agribusiness company where I had the opportunity to work with farmers in Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia. Later, I transitioned into venture capital investing, specifically focusing on tech startups across the... View Details

December 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Bord Bia: Strategically Growing Irish Exports

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Forest L. Reinhardt and Emer Moloney

Agriculture was Ireland’s largest indigenous industry. Its agri-food sector was export driven, with almost 90% of production exported. Bord Bia was the Irish government agency charged with the promotion, trade development, and marketing of the Irish food, drink, and... View Details

17 Jul 2020
News

Support System

In Africa, shea butter is sometimes known as “women’s gold.” Used for everything from skin care to stretch marks to diaper rash, it’s a go-to product in high demand. And it offers employment opportunities for women willing to survey shea-nut trees across the wilds of... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

17 Oct 2009
News

Understanding Users of Social Networks

Keywords: Professor Mikolaj Piskorski; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

March 2015
Case

Unilever: Combatting Global Food Waste

By: David F. Drake, Janice H. Hammond and Matthew G. Preble

The global consumer goods company Unilever was on pace to hit a number of aggressive targets by 2020 as part of the Unilever Sustainable Living Project, including a goal to halve the waste associated with the disposal of its products. Unilever's chief supply chain... View Details

March 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Background Note

The Pandemic's Impact on the U.S. Food System

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

This note is intended not as a comprehensive account but as a starting point for discussion about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. food system. Written in late 2020, the note describes, in part through the voices of industry leaders, how the pandemic... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Agribusiness; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Leadership; Change Management; Safety; Health; Health Pandemics; Disruption; Adaptation; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Behavior; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

July 2013
Case

Sample6: Innovating to Make Food Safer

By: Robert F. Higgins and Kirsten Kester

Tim Curran, CEO of Sample6, a start-up biotechnology company developing a novel food safety diagnostics platform, must decide how to partner with food industry players. How can he best convince leaders in this mature industry to adopt a new technology and improve food... View Details

November 1982 (Revised January 1985)
Case

International Harvester (D)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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October 1980 (Revised January 1985)
Case

International Harvester (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Evelyn T. Christiansen

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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September 2012 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Aqua Bounty

By: Lucy White and Stephen Burn-Murdoch

Valuation of a pre-revenue biotech company at IPO using probability trees and real option techniques. Company is based in Massachusetts and lists in London on AIM. Products are genetically-modified fast-growing salmon for fish farmers and disease-prevention drugs and... View Details

Keywords: IPO; Valuation; Real Options; Decision Tree; Biotech; Genetically Modified; Salmon; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; North and Central America; Europe; South America

April 1998 (Revised June 1998)
Supplement

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.: Supply Management (Addendum)

By: Francis Aguilar, Paul Clark and Xin Xi He

Addendum to case. View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

December 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Migros

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

In October 2005, Urs Riedener, head of marketing at Swiss retailer Migros, is contemplating the company's competitive position. Primarily a retailer for foods and near-foods products, the cooperative Migros, with close to 600 retail outlets in Switzerland (but only... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Corporate Governance; Corporate Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Supply Chain Management; Product Marketing; Environmental Sustainability; Social Enterprise; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Switzerland

Keywords: Tea, agribusiness

Blog

Inside the Learning: How Faculty Prepare for Class

understand and—I hope—enables me to better accommodate their expectations, aspirations, and unique areas of concern and opportunity. WITH THE BUSINESS WORLD ALWAYS CHANGING, HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT THE LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS REMAIN RELEVANT? Ayelet Israeli (AI)... View Details

22 Feb 2011
News

Invested in Social Change

Keywords: Animal Production and Aquaculture; Agriculture; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

November 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Precision Agriculture at AGCO

By: Rajiv Lal, Alicia Dadlani and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In 2024, AGCO, a leading agricultural equipment manufacturer, sought to improve its customers net farm income by 20% over five years by becoming a comprehensive one-stop precision agriculture solutions provider and strengthening its dual channel sales approach—retrofit... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Relationship Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Sales; Alignment; Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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