Publications

20 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Having No Life is the New Aspirational Lifestyle

participants a description about a consumer named Matthew who shopped at either an upscale grocery store or instead used grocery-delivery service Peapod. Though Whole Foods was perceived as more of a luxury brand, the participants rated... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

31 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Can Amazon Do What Walmart Couldn’t, Stop the 'Wheel of Retailing'?

years later another colleague relies on Amazon for delivery of dog food to a remote location in Maine at a price comparable to the local supermarket.) There is no question that Bezos has built a retailing juggernaut, one that is capturing... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

March 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Campbell Soup Company: Transforming for the 21st Century

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Jamie Ladge

In July 2001, Campbell Soup's newly appointed CEO, Douglas R. Conant, addressed a group of Wall Street analysts and unveiled his plan to kick-start growth. His plan called for organizational renewal and revitalization, redesign of core customer-facing processes... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Industry Structures; Production; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

October 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

The Boston Beer Company (A): New CEO

By: Christina R. Wing and Marco Iansiti

In 1984, when the Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams Boston Lager was first sold, founder Jim Koch had helped ignite a craft beer movement by making small-batch premium beers in an era of industry consolidation. By 2018, Boston Beer was a publicly traded company that... View Details

Keywords: Beer/brewing Industry; Succession; Leadership; Change; Supply Chain; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Supply Chain Management; Management Succession; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Boston

10 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How to Get Companies to Make Investments That Benefit Everyone

learning more advanced coding. Build shared platforms like the United Nations Development Programme’s Accelerator Labs. This network of small teams exchange information to combat a range of problems, from food shortages in Zimbabwe to... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

31 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator

be the best way to motivate employees. "When deciding how much effort to exude, workers not only respond to their own compensation, but also respond to pay relative to their peers as they socially compare," the paper states. That's important View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2007 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Grupo Bimbo

By: Jordan I. Siegel

In 2007 Grupo Bimbo, a leading global player in the baking industry, expands into China while at the same time undertaking initiatives to make its U.S. and South American operations more profitable. Allows students to analyze the company's entire global strategy.... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; China; Mexico; United States; South America

October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Union Square Hospitality Group: Hospitality Included

By: Peter Boumgarden, Ryan W. Buell, Lamar Pierce and Richard Ryffel

In 2015, Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), helmed by famous restauranteur Danny Meyer, sent shockwaves through the restaurant industry by announcing the end of tipping in its restaurants. Under its new policy, Hospitality Included (HI), USHG would charge higher... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Tipping; Revenue Sharing; Service Operations; Policy; Change; Human Resources; Management; Food and Beverage Industry

June 2012
Class Lecture

Why You're Not Buying Venezuelan Chocolate: The Provenance Paradox

By: Rohit Deshpandé

A product's country of origin establishes its authenticity. This is the provenance paradox. Consumers associate certain geographies with the best products: French wine, Italian sports cars, Swiss watches. Competing products from other countries - especially developing... View Details

Keywords: Global Business; Branding; Strategic Planning; Strategic Positioning; Emergent Countries; Consumer Perception; Developing Markets; Brands and Branding; Geographic Location; Globalized Markets and Industries; Perception; Emerging Markets; Product Positioning; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Venezuela

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Web

Judges - Alumni

from Harvard Business School. Alejandra is also an angel investor and Shark on Shark Tank Mexico, where she has invested in over 25 startups, primarily in e-commerce and food & beverage. Her experience has positioned her as a thought... View Details

13 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Your Company Wants to be a 'Cognitive Referent' (Hint: SpaceX)

When Rory M. McDonald was working on his PhD at Stanford University in 2007, it was the heyday of the lean startup in Silicon Valley. “It seemed like pretty much every week there was some new market category being touted as the next big thing,” says McDonald, an... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

October 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

McDonald's Russia: Managing a Crisis

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

In August 1998, George Cohon, founder and senior chairman of McDonald's Russia, is facing an economic state of emergency. Russia is in the midst of a severe currency crisis--the ruble has plummeted in value, creating massive inflation and widespread economic disarray.... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Crisis Management; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Russia

February 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Technical Note

The Art and Science of Brand Valuation

By: Jill Avery

Brand valuation, the art and science of calculating the economic value accruing to a firm from its use of an intangible brand asset, yields frustratingly inconsistent, discrepant, and, therefore, controversial results. While it is widely accepted that brands are... View Details

October 2014 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Caesars Entertainment

By: Janice H. Hammond and Aldo Sesia

This case describes the introduction of a regression analysis model for forecasting guest arrivals to Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company will use the forecast to staff the front desk in the hotel. The staff is unionized and the company has little... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Staffing; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Hotel Industry; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Operations; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Las Vegas

Portrait Project

Jennifer Wu

Mom lay on the bathroom floor, her face ashen as she threw up once more. Dad and I hovered over her, fretful and anxious, as we debated calling an ambulance. Thankfully, it turned out to be a bout of food poisoning that quickly passed. ... View Details

23 Aug 2006
Op-Ed

The Real Wal-Mart Effect

would pay several percentage points more for the food and nonfood merchandise that—after housing—is their second-largest household expense. So in the debate about what to do about Wal-Mart, let's keep in mind who's reaping the benefits of... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat & Ken A. Mark; Retail

04 Feb 2022
Blog Post

Learning from the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence as a Harvard MS/MBA Student

e-commerce. The grocery and packaged food spaces were untouched and opportune for e-commerce applications. He shared that exploring a space and carving out an idea requires you to seek out feedback from various perspectives. Acquiring... View Details

March 2008 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Cadbury Schweppes: Capturing Confectionery (A)

By: David Collis, Toby Stuart and Troy Smith

In late 2002, global confectionery and beverage maker Cadbury Schweppes needed to decide whether or not to make an acquisition bid for Adams, an underperforming gum company which had been put up for sale by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Examining the decision from a... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Food and Beverage Industry