Publications

June 2023
Teaching Note

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (A, B, C, & D)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 223-009, 223-066, 223-068, and 223-086. View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Value Creation; Supply and Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; North America

18 Nov 2009
HBS Case

Customer Feedback Not on elBulli’s Menu

asks students to consider the operations and marketing of elBulli. There is much about the restaurant that is inefficient, as MBAs are quick to note: Adrià should lower his staff numbers, use cheaper ingredients, improve his supply chain,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Food & Beverage

Profile

Amanda Pratt

test your hypotheses; you learn strategic thinking through practice." Last summer, Amanda went to Nairobi where she took an internship working on the supply chain and operations for a company that runs... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare/Biotech

13 Feb 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: The Coal Dichotomy: Balancing Economic Growth and Decarbonization in India

jeopardize its economic development. The social and economic importance of coal in India cannot be overstated. Coal provides some of the cheapest and most readily available baseload power for the country. Also, millions of employees have been performing activities in... View Details

05 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Leadership with purpose: Redefining success and impact with Satpal Singh (SELP—India 4, 2019)

Supply Chain during the pandemic, I navigated operational complexities that taught me invaluable lessons in resilience and Later as CEO at Numeric I learned the power of collective strategy, growth mindset... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

June 2009
Case

Plaza, the Logistics Park of Zaragoza

In the year 2000, the Government of the Autonomous Community of Aragón, Spain, made public a project for the development of a large-scale logistics park in the outskirts of the city of Zaragoza. With an area of nearly 13 square kilometers, PLAZA (an acronym for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Geographic Location; Growth and Development Strategy; Infrastructure; Logistics; Supply Chain; Transportation; Distribution Industry; Zaragoza

2020
Chapter

Luxury and Environmental Responsibility

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener and Dafna Goor

Luxury and sustainability are often perceived as incompatible and contradictory. However, as the concept of luxury and our understanding of conspicuous consumption are evolving and need to be revisited—from conspicuous to conscious consumption—the book chapter explores... View Details

Keywords: Luxury; Goods and Commodities; Trends; Environmental Sustainability; Research

11 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

anymore, but it is a useful reminder of how high the stakes can be. Roscini: Normally the parties reach an agreement, ideally under the auspices and rules of the WTO. The problem is that nowadays trade wars may have unintended consequences that complicate their... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto; Aerospace; Chemical; Consumer Products; Electronics; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

03 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Corporate Social Responsibility in a Downturn

pace, there already are signs of how the program has started to impact PNC's business initiatives. The leading indicators are there; as for business impact, it is still too early to call. There are other programs as well, some of which directly address opportunities in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 2023
Supplement

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (D)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Scott Mayfield and Philipp Chvanov

Analyzes the company's decision on Project Cowboy following the events described in the C Case View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Value Creation; Supply and Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; North America

August 2024
Case

Quickmart: Sustaining Growth in a Challenging Economic Environment

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Kuria Kamau

In July 2023, Peter Kang’iri, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quickmart, Kenya’s second-largest retail chain, sat in his Nairobi office reviewing the company’s first half financial results before the weekly executive committee (EXCO) meeting. The company was in... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Supply Chain; Logistics; Business Strategy; Expansion; Business Earnings; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Africa; Kenya; Nairobi

February 2008
Article

Where Do Transactions Come From? Modularity, Transactions, and the Boundaries of Firms

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This article constructs a theory of the location of transactions and the boundaries of firms in a productive system. It proposes that systems of production can be viewed as networks, in which tasks-cum-agents are the nodes and transfers—of material, energy and... View Details

Keywords: Boundaries; Production; Market Transactions; Supply Chain; Management; Cost; Theory; Performance Productivity; Information Management; Complexity

Find at Harvard

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04 Aug 2006
What Do You Think?

What Happens When the Economics of Scarcity Meets the Economics of Abundance?

terms of where value is added in the supply chain . The value is created through the service of helping customers find what they want within the sea of choice . It is ironic that the Internet, which is... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

30 Oct 2019
Blog Post

Candidates Seeking Opportunities After Graduation: Lessons Learned

again, concentrating on roles that were related to his own background in supply chain management and business development. Confident that potential employers would appreciate his previous experience with... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

31 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Setting Interns Up for Success at a Startup

used to create the food that ends up in our stomachs (land, water, energy, etc.) is wasted.” Sani’s enthusiasm for Mori grew after speaking with Belsito when he learned more about the company’s focus on integrating within supply View Details

November 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

FreshTec: Revolutionizing Fresh Produce

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Ryan Johnson

Entrepreneurial produce packaging firm, which has developed a disruptive technology that keeps fresh produce and flowers fresh for significantly longer, faces strategic growth decisions. CEO Bob Wright must decide how best to bring his company's unique packaging... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Disruptive Innovation; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Supply Chain; Value Creation; Service Industry