Publications

December 1986 (Revised March 1991)
Supplement

Caterpillar-Komatsu in 1986

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Provides an update to the global competitive interaction between Caterpillar and Komatsu described in companion cases Caterpillar Tractor and Komatsu Ltd. Caterpillar's response to Komatsu's growing market share is outlined, then the impact of rapidly changing... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Global Strategy; Policy; Market Participation; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

21 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Altruistic Capital: Harnessing Your Employees’ Intrinsic Goodwill

she worked on Moroccan agricultural policy with a team of consultants. "I was just an intern," Ashraf says, "but as I looked around the boardroom I realized that not one of these people had ever actually talked to a farmer in Morocco. And... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part One]

Japanese government model had profound costs that were unrecognized. Protecting local industries such as the construction industry or agriculture seemed pretty innocuous, but it had huge costs that were hidden for a long time by the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

08 May 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 8, 2018

focusing on its strategy and growth since the IPO and challenges for the future. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/318077 Harvard Business School Case 717-478 Precision Agriculture at Deere & Company No... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 10, 2009

b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=809095 GLOBALGAP: Food Safety and Private Standards Harvard Business School Case 509-004 In response to new laws governing liability and several food safety scares in the 1990s, European retailers drove the creation of a universal... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Arcos Dorados: A QSR Recovery Plan

By: Forest Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

Arcos Dorados—McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, covering Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—faced a pandemic that was disrupting the entire consumer foodservice business in 2020. With the exclusive right to own, operate, and sub-franchise McDonald’s... View Details

November 2015 (Revised January 2016)
Teaching Note

McDonald's Corporation: Managing a Sustainable Supply Chain—From Amazon Soya to Cage Free Eggs

By: Michael W. Toffel

This case provides an opportunity for students to consider how large, multinational corporations should respond when targeted by activists regarding environmental and social concerns in their supply chains. Greenpeace targeted McDonald's because its chicken supplier... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Welfare; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; Brazil; United States; United Kingdom

November 2010
Case

Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian

Esquel Group, leading manufacturer of quality shirts, sought to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. Seeking to secure a large supply of specialty cotton in an ethical and... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

01 Jun 2000
News

The Business of Biotech

Goldberg, the School's George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus, suggest that traditional boundaries between businesses will continue to dissolve, resulting in "the largest industry in the world: the life-sciences... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

18 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 18, 2018

fifth. The global agriculture system was undergoing major changes and the standard of living in China was increasing, changing the food consumption and dietary habits of the nation's 1.3 billion people. COFCO's management needed to decide... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jul 2016
First Look

July 19, 2016

is a San Francisco–based data analytics company focused on agricultural applications. It was acquired by Monsanto in 2013. In 2015, Climate's decision support platform was used on 75 million acres of farmland in the U.S.; however, most of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1989 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Caterpillar, Inc.: George Schaefer Takes Charge

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

For over half a century, Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) had been a world leader in the manufacture of earthmoving and construction machinery. In 1982, just months after it recorded the highest sales and profits in its history, CAT experienced its greatest crisis. Demand fell... View Details

Keywords: Machinery and Machining; Crisis Management; Labor Unions; Demand and Consumers; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

14 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

strategy for how you actually get to those results. For example, the MCC made a $550 million grant to the government of Ghana that was focused on infrastructure such as irrigation and roads that could get farm goods to market, as well as View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

07 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

The Business of Biotech

Life, Transforming Business: The Life-Science Revolution"), Juan C. Enriquez (MBA '86) and Ray A. Goldberg, the School's George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus, suggest that traditional boundaries between... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Biotechnology; Health; Technology

August 1972 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Prelude Corporation

Describes a company that is seeking to restructure the lobster fishing industry by applying technology and management to what has been essentially a cottage industry. The student is expected to identify and evaluate the strategy pursued by the company to date and then... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Strategy; Leading Change; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Industry Growth; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

January 1971 (Revised May 1984)
Case

Vlasic Foods, Inc.

The chairman of a successful pickle company is concerned with the organizational implications of continued growth. Affords an opportunity to analyze the corporate strategy and the management style of the chief executive. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Growth Management; Corporate Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

November 2024
Case

Fyffes International SA

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin and Tonia Labruyère

Helge Sparsoe, CEO of Fyffes since 2020, had taken the tropical produce importer and distributor back to a path of stable level of profitability since he joined in 2020. He was now thinking about next steps for the business, which mainly traded in bananas. He was... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Change Management; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain; Competition; Price; Value Creation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Republic of Ireland; Colombia; Guatemala; Costa Rica; Ecuador

January 2024
Case

Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (A)

By: Tiona Zuzul and Susan Pinckney

In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading natural wine vineyards. Its founder, Frank Cornelissen, faced weather related conditions that forced him to have to decide between staying true to the tenets of the natural wine... View Details