Publications

Find at Harvard

11 Jul 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Deconstructing 'Customer Experience'

with customers. Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car? Car-buying sends shivers up the backbones of American consumers, so why hasn’t the industry stepped up to create a better experience? Amazon vs. Whole Foods: When Cultures CollideAmazon's acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Service

2023
Book

Deeply Responsible Business.: A Global History of Values-Driven Leadership

By: Geoffrey Jones

Corporate social responsibility has entered the mainstream, but what does it take to run a successful purpose-driven business? This book examines leaders who put values alongside profits to showcase the challenges and upside of deeply responsible business. Should... View Details

August 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Planters Nuts

By: Robert J. Dolan and Donald K. Ngwe

In 2012 Planters had about $1 billion in U.S. annual revenues, but had experienced declining unit sales and household penetration over the past six years. The snack nuts category was growing overall, but household spending was shifting away from peanuts, cashews, and... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Jun 2023
News

Cultivating Prosperity in Afghanistan

restaurants The French Laundry and Daniel and in recipes for meals offered by Blue Apron. It also can be found on the shelves of Whole Foods and Dean & Deluca, as well as on the company’s website, where a range of products are available... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

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

01 Sep 2023
News

Global Outposts Expand HBS’s Intellectual Footprint

the case “Nestlé: The World’s Largest Food Company Confronts Climate Change” to explore how the company is striving to achieve its sustainability objectives without sacrificing short- term performance and shareholder value. The event was... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

Profile

Jiaojun Wang

enthralled by the best food I have ever tasted, and the brand was no other than “KFC.” Now that KFC is ubiquitous in China, I never forget the simple joy it brought to me and my family. Who is one person from your life that you admire the... View Details

June 2003
Case

In-N-Out Burger

By: Youngme E. Moon, Lucy Cummings, Sonali Sampat, Sam Thakarar and Kerry Herman

In-N-Out Burger is a fast-food chain with 171 company-owned locations in three states--California, Nevada, and Arizona. It has an extremely hardcore customer base and the company appears to be in good financial health. The primary issue in this case concerns expansion:... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Leadership Development; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Distribution; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; Arizona; California; Nevada

March 2020
Case

Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson

This case describes a difficult choice faced by Victor Wang, Managing Director of Singapore-based Eurasian Brewing Company (EBC), concerning the competing product launch plans of Le Jie, Vice President of EBC's China and East Asian operations, and Vivian Chin, EBC's... View Details

Keywords: Subsidiary Management; Craft Brewing; Strategy; Decision Making; Organizational Structure; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Management Style; Food and Beverage Industry; China; East Asia

03 Jan 2023
What Do You Think?

How Would the Leadership Style of Girl Scouts' Frances Hesselbein Fare Today?

the Food and Drug Administration issued no warnings. Hesselbein expressed her confidence that the American public would not let that stop cookie sales. They eventually rebounded. Recognizing Jack Welch’s achievements, most responses to... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

09 May 2023
Blog Post

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at HBS (part 1)

to school in the Midwest, that I slowly became aware of the ways people might see me and my culture differently. I realized there were a lot of people in my country and in the world who had never met a Chinese person before, and had no idea what real Chinese View Details

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

it isn't. That is like saying that all apples are just that, apples." A rich discussion centered around a proposition raised by Colin Moore that more "stable" or "sustainable" forms of growth, for example food... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy

By: Hise Gibson, Archie L. Jones, Nicole Gilmore and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Fawn Weaver, as a Black woman and industry outsider in a capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive and male-dominated spirits industry, successfully overcame numerous obstacles to launch a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest in 2017, which became the... View Details

30 Apr 2020
Book

Fighting Climate Change Requires a New Capitalism

Rebecca Henderson spent her young adult years living two lives. At work, she preached the risks of resisting change to MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing on lessons she learned while watching factories close as a management consultant.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Energy

23 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Arla Foods: How Sustainable Can A Dairy Company Be?

essays posted on the HBS Business and Environment Initiative’s Blog that highlights their reflections. Learn more about this IFC course on Decarbonization and Sustainable Production by watching this five minute video summary. Visit Date: January 5, 2023 Arla View Details

August 1980 (Revised March 1994)
Case

Freemark Abbey Winery

Freemark Abbey must decide whether to harvest in view of the possibility of rain. Rain could damage the crop but delaying the harvest would be risky. On the other hand, rain could be beneficial and greatly increase the value of the resulting wine. This decision is... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Forecasting and Prediction; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry