Publications

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

Ghosh, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School who has held top executive positions at some eight technology-based start-ups. If failure refers to failing to see the projected return on investment, then the failure rate is 70 to 80 percent. View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Your Crisis Response Plan: The Ten Effective Elements

resources. Critical resource stocks to be tapped if necessary. Examples include backup power generation/gas supplies, modest reserves of food and water, and medical supplies.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

July 2014 (Revised August 2014)
Case

AmazonFresh: Rekindling the Online Grocery Market

By: Rory McDonald, Clayton Christensen, Robin Yang and Ty Hollingsworth

More than a decade after the high-profile failures of several early online grocers, grocery remains the largest single U.S. retail category and one of the few that has not yet migrated online. Amazon began testing its grocery-delivery service, AmazonFresh, in Seattle,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; New Markets; Grocery; Operations Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Learning; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

had ever been incarcerated. I didn’t offer any information, but I didn’t lie,” Miller says. Miller, a top performer at Campbell’s, rose through the ranks before moving on to senior positions at Kraft Foods View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

December 1993 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Company versus NutraSweet (A)

The NutraSweet Co. has very successfully marketed aspartame, a low-calorie, high-intensity sweetener, around the world. NutraSweet's position was protected by patents until 1987 in Europe, Canada, and Japan, and until the end of 1992 in the United States. The case... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada; Japan; United States; Europe

June 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

FIJI Water: Carbon Negative?

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Seeking to go beyond global best practices in reducing environmental impacts, FIJI Water, a premium artesian bottled water company in the United States, launched a Carbon Negative campaign that would offset more greenhouse gas emissions than were released by the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Negotiation Tactics; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Fiji

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

15 Podcast Episodes That Grabbed Listeners in 2023

Global Sustainability Personal at Bühler The global food supply chain is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental challenges. Many companies avoid these issues or make token... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

Article

Cybersecurity Features of Digital Medical Devices: An Analysis of FDA Product Summaries

By: Ariel Dora Stern, William J. Gordon, Adam B. Landman and Daniel B. Kramer

Objectives:
To more clearly define the landscape of digital medical devices subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight, this analysis leverages publicly available regulatory documents to characterise the prevalence and trends of software and... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Medicine; FDA; Health Care and Treatment; Applications and Software; Safety; Cybersecurity; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Read Now

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

monkeybusinessimages How to handle religion in the workplace is a contentious and litigious issue that many business leaders struggle with. The subject is so third-rail hot that even Harvard Business School has devoted relatively few... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Food & Beverage

September 2013 (Revised June 2016)
Case

The Morning Star Company: Self-Management at Work

By: Francesca Gino, Bradley R. Staats, Brian J. Hall and Tiffany Y. Chang

Morning Star, a collection of affiliated companies, had grown steadily since 1970 when Chris Rufer, president and founder, started the business hauling tomatoes to processing plants in a truck. The company's main products continued to be tomato-based, including a... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Motivation and Incentives; Working Conditions; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Management Practices and Processes; Compensation and Benefits; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

1948, and national health insurance since 1956. Workers currently pay 7 percent of social security taxes, while companies pay 31 percent. Local sales taxes top out at 25 percent, with lower rates for food... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

September 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Red Lobster

By: David E. Bell and Jason Riis

Red Lobster, a 40-year-old chain of seafood restaurants, has just completed some market research revealing an opportunity to shift its target customer segment. The chain is in the final stages of a 10-year plan of rejuvenation under CEO Kim Lopdrup. When he took over... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Research; Segmentation; Food and Beverage Industry

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

January 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cyberdyne: A Leap to the Future

By: Doug J. Chung and Mayuka Yamazaki

Cyberdyne Inc. was a Japanese technology venture that wanted to commercialize a hybrid assistive limb (HAL). HAL was a robotic exoskeleton system for people who had difficulty walking due to nervous system disabilities resulting from stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI),... View Details

Keywords: Go-to-market Strategy; Pricing; Sales Channel; Technological Innovation; Marketing; Sales; Distribution; Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Web

Podcast - Business & Environment

explore the innovation, behavioral science, and regulations shaping the market for reusable containers for take-out food and beverages. Fabian shares how Vytal is tackling... View Details

November 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Iggy's Bread of the World

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Alexis Lefort

In January 1994, Igor and Ludmilla Ivanovic opened the doors of their bakery, Iggy's Bread of the World. This case describes their unusual mission statement and the way in which they try to bring a social consciousness mentality to a for-profit business. Six years... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Restructuring; Family Business; Power and Influence; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Massachusetts

December 2011 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Domino's Pizza

By: David E. Bell, Phillip Andrews and Mary Shelman

Domino's Pizza is the world's second-largest pizza company with 9,436 stores globally, 95% of which are franchised. Domino's franchisees in the U.S. market were able to purchase fresh dough, cheese, pizza toppings, and other menu ingredients and store supplies directly... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry