Publications

February 1993 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (A) (Updated)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The setting is a food manufacturing company that has stumbled in terms of its historic growth and profit achievements. In trying to recapture momentum, the president has used information technology as one element in his program of transition. The case focuses on the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Transition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

September 1993
Case

Rhone-Poulenc (A)

Rhone-Poulenc, France's largest chemical firm, with revenues of more than $7 billion in 1985, seeks to dramatically expand its presence in the United States. From 1986 to 1990, Rhone-Poulenc undertakes 18 separate acquisitions, ranging from small entrepreneurial firms... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Globalized Firms and Management; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; France

In January 2012, H-E-B Grocery Co., a private retail chain with stores located in Texas and Mexico, was introducing its Healthy at H-E-B program to its customers. The program, which started with the company's employees a few years earlier, was an effort to... View Details

17 Mar 2022
News

Pandemic’s E-Commerce Surge Proves Less Persistent, More Varied

May 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Yum! Brands

By: Jordan Siegel and Christopher Poliquin

Yum!, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, asks what might be the lessons from its success in China for currently contemplated expansion into India and Africa. Also, the company contemplates whether Taco Bell can succeed abroad as part of a new expansion push.... View Details

Keywords: International Business; International Marketing; Global Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe; Australia; Africa; Asia

December 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Muñoz Group: Sustaining Global Vertical Integration Through Innovation

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Annelena Lobb

Muñoz Group, which supplied supermarket chains and food distribution chains around the world with fruit, flowers, juice and ice cream, was at a strategic crossroads in 2014. CEO Alvaro Muñoz had to choose the best way to achieve profit goals and provide his company... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Supply Chain; Retail; Agribusiness Industry; Globalized Firms and Management; Supply Chain Management; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Profit; Innovation and Invention; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; North and Central America

March 2018
Case

GiveDirectly

By: John Beshears, Joshua Schwartzstein, Tiffany Y. Chang and Brian J. Hall

How should nonprofits design compensation systems to attract and retain talent? GiveDirectly is a respected charitable organization with an unconventional approach. Instead of spending on traditional aid programs in areas such as health care and food access in... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofits; Charity; Effective Altruism; International Aid; Compensation; Goals; Bonuses; Incentives; GiveDirectly; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Recruitment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

19 Nov 2015
News

A Hard Sell: Bringing Cultured Beef to Market

December 2021
Case

Green Monday

By: José B. Alvarez, Billy Chan and Dawn H. Lau

This case describes the entrepreneurial journey of David Yeung, from campaigning for plant-based diets to building Green Monday, a purpose-driven business and an ecosystem based in Hong Kong comprising a retail platform, an alternative meat brand (“OmniPork”), a... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Model; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Hong Kong; China; Asia

03 Dec 2014
HBS Seminar

Ginger Jin, University of Maryland

2018
Book

Re-engaging with Sustainability in the Anthropocene Era

By: Andrew J. Hoffman and P. Devereaux Jennings

Re-engaging with Sustainability in the Anthropocene Era applies organization theory to a grand challenge: our entry into the Anthropocene era, a period marked not only by human impact on climate change, but on chemical waste, habitat destruction, and despeciation. It... View Details

Keywords: Organization Theory; Environmental Management; Policy; Social Issues; Social Entrepreneurship; Pollutants

Article

An Invitation to Market Design

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Alexander Teytelboym and Vincent P. Crawford

Market design seeks to translate economic theory and analysis into practical solutions to real-world problems. By redesigning both the rules that guide market transactions and the infrastructure that enables those transactions to take place, market designers can... View Details

Keywords: Matching; Trading; Scrip; Liquidity; Efficiency; Equity; Allocation Rules; Marketplaces; Market Design; Marketplace Matching; Auctions

Read Now

January 2024
Case

Sprouts Farmers Market

By: Rajiv Lal, Forest L. Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

Sprouts Farmers Markets (Sprouts) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based chain of 400-plus natural foods stores in 23 U.S. states and $6.4 billion in sales as of 2022. In its product assortment, brand image, and store environment, Sprouts emphasizes freshness, health, innovation,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Strategic Planning; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Competition; Retail Industry; United States; Arizona

06 Aug 2014
News

Constant challenges, no certainties for new CEOs at Market Basket

January 1990 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Monsanto's March into Biotechnology (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Very early in the history of biotechnology (about 1979), Monsanto made a major commitment to move into this field. This case recounts the history from the point of view of the eminent scientist hired to head up corporate R&D. He took Monsanto from a very traditional... View Details

Keywords: History; Transition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

31 Mar 2015
News

Let's Be Real: Why Transparency in Business Should Be the Norm

January 2017 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Susan Cassidy at Bertram Gilman International

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Michael Norris

In 2016, Susan Cassidy, VP of sales and marketing for the packaged foods division at CPG firm Bertram Gilman International, has to make a promotion decision. Should she choose the person she has been grooming for the position or another candidate recommended by central... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Algorithms; Promotion Decision; Human Resources; Business Processes; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Article

Where Do Resources Come from? The Role of Idiosyncratic Situations

By: Gautam Ahuja and Riitta Katila

In this paper, we examine the emergence of resources. Our analysis of technological capability acquisition by global U.S.-based chemical firms shows that the emergence of resources is inherently evolutionary. We find that path-creating search that generates resource... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Resource Allocation

December 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Loblaw Companies Ltd.: The Road Ahead

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

After 24 years at the helm of Loblaw Companies, Canada's largest food retailer, Richard Currie is trying to decide on a strategy for the company's future. The firm's current emphasis on one-stop shopping for everyday household needs has been phenomenally successful.... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Distribution; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada