Publications

21 Mar 2024
Blog Post

IFC India: Renewable Energy - CleanMax

really a theme throughout the IFC course) was the supply chain dependence on China and associated geopolitical risk. India’s solar industry is currently heavily reliant on Chinese solar modules with... View Details

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

case considers Nestlé’s creating shared value (CSV) strategy, which focused on the three categories of nutrition, water, and rural development. In the packaged food and beverage industry, pressure had mounted since the 1990s to improve View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 1983
Background Note

Note on the Paper Machinery Industry

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the major structural changes taking place in the paper industry in the 1970s: major oil and pulp price increases, pollution legislation, a shift in industry development from OECD countries to LDCs and NICs and the technological revolution in paper making.... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Price; Global Strategy; Growth and Development; Industry Structures; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pollutants; Competition; Pulp and Paper Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Feb 2001
News

Drilling Down

on drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and areas offshore, there would be an impact on supply after about eight years or so. That's about how long it would take to bring those fields on line." View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Matthew R. Simmons; Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining; Natural Gas Distribution; Utilities

29 Sep 2022
News

Securing a Resilient Future for Senegal

with enough oil, gas, and food supplies, given supply chain disruptions. Important, too, was being mindful of budget deficits and encouraging investments from international partners. “We had to do it all... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

12 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 12, 2009

http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=809142 Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A) Harvard Business School Case 109-076 Virginia Mason Medical Center (VM) hired... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Case

VP Group: Vegpro Grows Beyond Kenya

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

In 2013, Kenyan horticulture producer and exporter VP Group is weighing potential expansion opportunities against the growing risks in its production and export markets. With $121 million in 2012 revenues, VP Group has grown rapidly in recent years by expanding its... View Details

May 2011
Teaching Note

The Dutch Flower Cluster (TN)

By: Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo and Michael E. Porter

Teaching Note for 711507. View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Auctions; Industry Clusters; Competition; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Netherlands; China; Colombia; Ecuador; Kenya

June 1992 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Concordia Casting Company

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes five years of development in a centralized data processing activity serving a highly decentralized corporation. Data processing manager discovers that a major software system conversion is a full year behind schedule, and subsequently makes several managerial... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; System; Information Technology; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Human Resources; Conflict and Resolution; Supply Chain Management; Accounting; Auto Industry

27 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Charting 'Cheapflation': How Budget Brands Got So Pricey

bills. They also point out other reasons, including targeted fiscal stimulus, which likely increased the demand for cheaper varieties, and the possibility that cheaper products tend to depend more on global View Details

Keywords: by Ana Elena Azpúrua

30 Nov 2017
News

Happy Meals (Are Here Again)

she says. For a company the size of McDonald’s, it posed a massive operational challenge. Hurdles included everything from structure—McDonald’s kitchens were designed to operate in two separate “day parts,” breakfast and everything else—to securing View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; photographed by Saverio Truglia

01 Sep 2005
News

Get Ready for Saudi Oil Shock

significantly outpace supply that people understand what’s going on. I think if we don’t, we could have an unbelievably awful global tipping point. If the odds are 20 percent I’m right, why wouldn’t you do... View Details

Keywords: Lewis I. Rice; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing; Manufacturing

17 Nov 2022
News

Alumni Leaders on Decarbonization Strategies for Combating Climate Change

– our scientists and engineers have delivered massive design improvements and our manufacturing and supply chain leaders have delivered unbelievable cost improvements. If you take the cost competitiveness of... View Details

23 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 23

conduct-that diffuse global standards. But little is known about the conditions under which companies adhere to these standards. We conduct one of the first large-scale comparative studies to determine which international, domestic, civil... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Scott Taylor, CEO & founder of NLM, is a serial entrepreneur faced with an important decision. As his industry consolidates, he knows that his company must grow quickly, yet he believes he has reached the limit of what organic growth can achieve. Should he accept the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Supply Chain

Find at Harvard

28 Apr 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Cissy Chen (MBA 2019)

similar companies in their industry and recommended areas of expense adjustments that would be of help. I also quantified the environmental impact on the company’s supply chain with a proposal that they make... View Details

01 Mar 2011
News

James McNerney Jr.

engage in global cooperation to get these planes done. Another lesson was IT systems. We lost visibility of the supply chain because our systems weren’t good enough to keep... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; interview; Transportation Equipment Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Air Transportation; Transportation

February 2023 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In July 2019, Graphic Packaging CEO Michael Doss was proposing a $600 million investment in a new machine to produce coated recycled board (CRB), a type of paper packaging used for consumer products (cups, cereal boxes, beverage boxes, etc.) that utilized recycled... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Value Creation; Supply and Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; North America