Publications

August 1974 (Revised November 1983)
Case

National Cranberry Cooperative

Requires an analysis of both the process flows and the production control system used in a cranberry receiving plant. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Production; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Bühler: Mobilizing Industry around a Common Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen and Malini Sen

Bühler Group, a Swiss multinational processing technology provider, started by selling machines for processing grains and later transitioned into selling food processing solutions. A family-owned business in the fifth generation, Bühler’s high-end milling, grinding,... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Focus and Relationships; Machinery and Machining; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Innovation Leadership; Switzerland

31 Jul 2017
HBS Case

It’s Hard to Fix the Family Business Without Offending the Family

processes and procedures work, dealing with problematic financial accounting, and facing the possibility of deteriorating service as the patriarch pulls away. “This is much harder than anything I find in my big-company cases, and it’s all... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Food & Beverage

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

process is strong regulatory oversight, which in the United States is provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (FDA/CDRH). This viewpoint discusses the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 2015
Case

The Valuation and Financing of Lady M Confections

By: Mihir A. Desai and Elizabeth A. Meyer

This case explores the decision-making process that small, private businesses must undertake when considering an expansion and when selling equity to outside investors. In the process, students are asked to complete two exercises: a break-even analysis and a valuation... View Details

Keywords: Lady M; Bakery; Foodservice Industry; Breakeven Analysis; Restaurant Industry; Forecasting; Forecast; Financial Analysis; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Equity; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Finance; Food; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry; New York (city, NY)

May 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Pal's Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth

By: Gary P. Pisano, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats

Pal's Sudden Service has developed a unique operating model and organizational culture in the quick service restaurant business. With a deep emphasis on process control and improvement, zero defects, extensive training, and a high level of employee engagement, Pal's... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Operations Strategy; Motivation; Values; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Values and Beliefs; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2017 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Susan Cassidy at Bertram Gilman International

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Michael Norris

In 2016, Susan Cassidy, VP of sales and marketing for the packaged foods division at CPG firm Bertram Gilman International, has to make a promotion decision. Should she choose the person she has been grooming for the position or another candidate recommended by central... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Algorithms; Promotion Decision; Human Resources; Business Processes; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2014
Case

Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant: Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Culture

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Weiku Wu and Jia Guo

Meizhou Dongpo is a large catering group in China. On June 6, 1996, the first Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant was opened in Beijing. The enterprise entered the stage of rapid development in 2000, and set up Beijing Meizhou Restaurant Management Co., Ltd. In June 2003 the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; National Culture; China; Restaurants; China

September 2013 (Revised June 2016)
Case

The Morning Star Company: Self-Management at Work

By: Francesca Gino, Bradley R. Staats, Brian J. Hall and Tiffany Y. Chang

Morning Star, a collection of affiliated companies, had grown steadily since 1970 when Chris Rufer, president and founder, started the business hauling tomatoes to processing plants in a truck. The company's main products continued to be tomato-based, including a... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Motivation and Incentives; Working Conditions; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Management Practices and Processes; Compensation and Benefits; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

2014
Teaching Note

Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant: Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Culture (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Weiku Wu and Jia Guo

Meizhou Dongpo is a large catering group in China. On June 6, 1996, the first Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant was opened in Beijing. The enterprise entered the stage of rapid development in 2000, and set up Beijing Meizhou Restaurant Management Co., Ltd. In June 2003 the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; National Culture; China; Restaurants; China

24 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

The FDA: What Will the Next 100 Years Bring?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which was created by the passage of the 1906 Federal Food and Drugs Act, regulates companies and industries accounting for one-quarter of all consumer spending, roughly... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

process helps improve the dealer's profit by at least $269. These estimates suggest a potentially high return to taking the "information-based" approach to pricing idiosyncratic products. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

November 1994 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Pepsi's Regeneration, 1990-1993

By: David A. Garvin and Donald N. Sull

Craig Weatherup, the president and CEO of Pepsi Cola, leads a change process that completely transforms his company. It includes a new vision, operating philosophy, strategy, and organizational structure. He also introduces process improvement techniques and builds new... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Systems; Standards; Organizational Structure; Outcome or Result; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Food and Beverage Industry

05 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 5, 2018

mechanical watchmaking industry had rematerialized to become the world’s leading exporter (in monetary value) of watches. This study reveals the process and mechanisms associated with technology reemergence, i.e., the resurgence of... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2021
Case

Bespoken Spirits: Disrupting Distilling

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

On October 7, 2020, Bespoken Spirits publicly announced it had received $2.6 million of seed funding for its “sustainable maturation process,” a process that could produce award-winning whiskeys in just days rather than years using a novel technology and data science. ... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Cash Flow; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; United States; California

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details

07 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 7

the evaluations given (and consequent resource allocation). We empirically evaluate effects in data collected from a grant proposal process at a leading research university in which we randomized the assignment of evaluators and proposals... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1994 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (1990-1992)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Describes the changes in structure, management systems, people, and processes instituted by the company. Provides students with an opportunity to explore the nature of "IT-enabled" organizational change and the process through which it is implemented. Also enables a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2021
Case

Coca-Cola: Preparing for the Next 100 Years

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and James Weber

In early 2020, James Quincey, the 14th chair of the 133-year old The Coca-Cola Company, was in the midst of a years-long transformation of Coca-Cola from being the leading carbonated soft drink (CSD) beverage company into a total beverage company. The company’s... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Diversification; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Food and Beverage Industry; United States