Publications

November 1983 (Revised December 1984)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: Grandma's ""Ready-To-Eat"" Cookies

Mr. Kenneth Treece, marketing director of Frito-Lay's Grandma's (R) Cookie division has received the final test market figures for the new supermarket line of Grandma's Ready-To-Eat cookies. One set of data, the Kansas City test results, was extremely encouraging;... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

June 1981 (Revised August 1985)
Case

Shopfair Supermarkets (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The marketing vice president of the leading supermarket chain in a major metropolitan area has to plan his 1981 strategy in light of increasing warehouse store competition. Considers relationships with major manufacturers who are supplying warehouse stores with deal... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

October 1997 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Asda (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy.... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom

March 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

ALDDN: Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria

By: Meg Rithmire and Debora L. Spar

In 2020, Ndidi Nwuneli, founder and CEO of Sahel Consulting in Nigeria, faced a thorny set of problems. Her firm partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in a large project to develop the local dairy industry as a way to facilitate equitable growth and... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Food; Rural Scope; Growth and Development; Nonprofit Organizations; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business and Government Relations; Equality and Inequality; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Nigeria

04 Oct 2019
News

Changing of the Guard at Tesco

Photo via Tesco Photo via Tesco In July, the British retailer Tesco marked its 100th birthday with a 30-hour dance session in Wembley Stadium. Historic milestones aside, the company could also celebrate its recovery from an accounting scandal and extended economic... View Details

Keywords: Tesco; Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

22 Jan 2016
News

Gatorade CMO Morgan Flatley On Organic, Its Smart-Cap Bottle And Locker-Room Innovation For The Next 50 Years

Keywords: Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

10 Apr 2015
News

Former Harpoon CEO Launches New Craft Beer Venture

Keywords: Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing

01 Mar 2014
News

No Small Beer

The biggest thing in the beer business these days is the little guy. Research firm Technomics reported that the craft beer and premium import market rose almost 15 percent in 2012, with an "upward trajectory" that continued in 2013. And beer makers are looking to meet... View Details

Keywords: Morrell, Daniel; craft beer; Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

29 Apr 2013
News

The Fastest Rowers Don't Always Make the Fastest Boat

Keywords: Food and Beverage Stores; Food and Beverage Stores

June 2023
Case

Russia's Invasion of Ukraine in 2022: Consequences for Agriculture

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Russia's brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine that begain in February 2022 caused major destruction to Ukraine's agriculture sector, one of the most productive and important in the world. This note provides a brief overview of certain singificant moments and moments... View Details

Keywords: Food; Agribusiness; War; Disruption; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Ukraine; Russia

Article

What to Know About Locating in a Cluster

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

As a study of two industry clusters in Denmark shows, factors that can make clusters attractive—easy people movement and knowledge spillovers—can also make it harder for individual companies to retain proprietary knowledge. View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Clustering; Competitiveness; Life Sciences; Telecommunications; Science-based; Research And Development; Industry Clusters; Research; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Geographic Location; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Denmark

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February 2014
Case

BGI: Data-driven Research

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

BGI has the largest installed gene-sequencing capacity in the world, and to Zhang Gengyun, general manager of the Life Sciences Division, this represented an opportunity to apply his training as a plant breeder and his early career work as a biochemist to improving... View Details

April 2020
Background Note

U.S. Food Retail During the Pandemic: March 2020

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

This note, written in late March 2020 and mainly U.S. focused, looks at the unfolding impact of the coronavirus pandemic on food retailers and their suppliers. It allows student to consider the challenges facing food retail executives as they navigate urgent supply... View Details

Keywords: Coronavirus Pandemic; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Food; Supply Chain; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Trade; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

07 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 7, 2017

setting is a production site in Hungary that is starting up the production of a personal beverage maker. Should the team implement a conveyor-paced line in preference to a manual pull system? An analysis of process steps and times gives... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

Overview

I am a field researcher studying the relational nature of work. Organizations are inherently social institutions and provide myriad opportunities for relationship formation. My work begins with the simple insight that all relationships are not equal: interpersonal... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Motivation; Feedback; Personal Development; Needs; Organizational Design; Performance Productivity; Social and Collaborative Networks; Networks; Groups and Teams; Family and Family Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Module Note

Supply Chain Management

By: Willy C. Shih

This note on supply chain management provides background for the seven class supply chain module in the Technology & Operations Management required curriculum course taught at the Harvard Business School. This module includes four broad topics: sourcing and supply... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Information; Supply ＆ Demand; Supply Chain Industries; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Asia; Europe; Japan; China

November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
Background Note

Note on the Impact of Millennials on the Food System

By: José B. Alvarez, James Weber and Natalie Kindred

In 2016, the millennial generation (those age 19 to 35 in 2016), the largest generation by population in the U.S., was entering its prime home buying, family forming, earning and spending years. This generation was showing different beliefs and behaviors than previous... View Details

Keywords: Millennials; Consumer Packaged Goods; Food; Age; Consumer Behavior; Agribusiness; Demographics; Values and Beliefs; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States