Publications

November 1994 (Revised September 1996)
Case

RiceSelect

By: Alvin J. Silk and Mary Shelman

In August 1994, Robin Andrews, President of RiceTec, Inc., faces a critical decision that will affect his firm's future: what policy should RiceTec follow for supplying grocery retailers with private label merchandise? RiceTec, a small privately owned firm engaged in... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Private Ownership; Research and Development; Conflict Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

2017 Annual Review of Economics Agricultural Insurance and Economic Development By: Cole, Shawn A., and Wentao Xiong Abstract—This article provides a review of recent research on agricultural insurance (AI)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1980 (Revised April 1981)
Case

International Harvester (B2)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Evelyn T. Christiansen

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

May 2020
Teaching Note

Bayer Crop Science

By: David E. Bell, Michael Norris and Mel Martin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-055. View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Research and Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Germany

1993
Chapter

Regulating the International Trade in Hazardous Pesticides: Closing the Accountability Gap

By: L. S. Paine

Keywords: Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Accountability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

2013
Working Paper

How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Shawn Cole, Xavier Gine and James Vickery

Weather is a key source of income risk, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving a sample of Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Production; Weather; Insurance; Emerging Markets; Agribusiness; Insurance Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

Read Now

1 Aug 2010
Conference Presentation

Lords of the harvest: Symbolic signaling and regulatory approval of genetically modified organisms in the nascent U.S. agriculture-biotechnology sector

By: Shon R. Hiatt and Sangchan Park

Keywords: Science; Information Technology; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Monsanto: Realizing Biotech Value in Brazil

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Patents; Lawfulness; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

November 1982 (Revised January 1985)
Case

International Harvester (D)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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

2018
Working Paper

Information Provision and Innovation: Natural Experiment of Herbal Patent Prior Art Adoption at the United States and European Patent Offices

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Tarun Khanna

We exploit a natural experiment to study how codifying information about prior innovation affects subsequent innovation. A codified database of traditional Indian herbal formulations was adopted by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Ethnicity; Health Care and Treatment; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China; India

Read Now

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

December 2009 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Diamond Foods

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

CEO Michael Mendes has transformed a grower-owned cooperative into a publicly traded top marketer of snack foods. Diamond's organization, culture, product development process, advertising and promotion strategy, and specifically its marketing department have been built... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Cooperative Ownership; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Rabobank Group: Leadership Role in Global Agribusiness

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

The largest global agribusiness bank has lost its triple A rating and is rethinking its global strategy as the leading global food and agribusiness bank. How does it position itself in the vertical value-added global food system? View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Globalization; Finance; Risk Management; Global Strategy; Value Creation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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

November 1991
Case

Monsanto's March into Biotechnology (B)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

Monsanto has yet to receive FDA approval for BST, a growth hormone for cows. Anti-BST groups have successfully lobbied Wisconsin and Minnesota, major milk producing states, to ban milk from BST-injected cows; the FDA has charged Monsanto with improperly promoting BST... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Safety; Food; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Law Enforcement; Conflict and Resolution; Research and Development; Technology; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Minnesota; Wisconsin

October 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Gene Research, the Mapping of Life and the Global Economy

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Juan Enriquez-Cabot

A new firm is being created to speed up the process of mapping humans, animals, and plants by combining gene technology with rapid gene identification to improve the health and well being of the human population and the productivity of crops and animals. How does one... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Business Processes; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Productivity; Welfare; Agribusiness; Genetics; Science-Based Business; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry