Publications

August 1999 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Brita Products Company, The

By: John A. Deighton

Clorox's Brita skillfully exploits a tide of water safety concerns, growing a home water (filtration) business from inception to a 15% U.S. household penetration in ten years. The dilemma in the case arises as the period of increasing returns seems to be drawing to a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Acquisition; Retention; Safety; Natural Environment; Emerging Markets; Investment Return; Equity; Demand and Consumers; United States

July 2017
Supplement

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts (B)

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

The case examines the aftermath of the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. View Details

January 1994 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Ocean Spray Cranberries: Environmental Risk Management

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Ocean Spray Cranberries, one of the nation's most successful agricultural cooperatives, faces some difficult environmental management problems associated with water usage and wetlands development. Because of federal and state wetlands laws, new bogs for expansion had... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Innovation and Invention; Risk Management; Cooperative Ownership; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

August 1992 (Revised February 1998)
Supplement

Star Distributors, Inc. (B)

By: David A. Thomas

Presents the dilemma of Don Waters, vice president of Franchise Operations at Belmont Beverages. Waters must must decide what to do about the conflict between two partners in one of Belmont's franchises. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Conflict Management; Franchise Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

29 Jan 2016
News

Lessons Learned from Flint, Michigan

October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

FARM Rio: Bringing a Brazilian Fashion Brand to the World

By: Isamar Troncoso and Jill Avery

FARM Rio, a twenty-six year old Brazilian fashion brand, had recently put down roots in the U.S. The brand, known for its bold, colorful, nature-inspired tropical prints, was testing the waters in Europe to assess if and how the brand should further expand globally.... View Details

Keywords: Global Marketing; Go-to-market Strategy; Global Branding; Brand Positioning; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Expansion; Fashion Industry; Brazil; United States; Europe

01 Nov 2019
Video

Jaithirth (Jerry) Rao

Jerry Rao, serial entrepreneur and founder of the India-based Value and Budget Housing Corporation, discusses how the lack of water and power for toilets in rural areas in India causes huge drop out rates in... View Details

2016
Working Paper

Infrastructure, Incentives and Institutions

By: Nava Ashraf, Edward L. Glaeser and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Cities generate negative, as well as positive, externalities; addressing those externalities requires both infrastructure and institutions. Providing clean water and removing refuse requires water and sewer pipes, but the urban poor are often unwilling to pay for the... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Urban Development; Organizations; City; Infrastructure; Zambia

Find at Harvard

17 Dec 2015
News

Beware the rule-following co-worker, Harvard study warns

19 Jun 2018
Research Event

Has Environmental Sustainability Lost its Relevance?

iPhoto For businesses and other organizations seeking to overcome roadblocks to sustainability over the last few decades, much can be learned from the debates I heard at the recent Harvard Business School conference, Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones; Energy

20 Dec 2018
Blog Post

A Time For Opportunity In Food and Agriculture

food and agribusiness is growing among MBAs at Harvard Business School. In the past couple of years, for example, membership in the student Food, Agriculture, and Water (FAW) Club has nearly doubled. To help meet that interest, on October... View Details

June 2017
Case

Harmonie Water: Refreshing the World Naturally

By: John A. Quelch and John L. Teopaco

The marketing director of Harmonie Mineral Water—the second-best selling bottled water in the world—is using findings from two project studies to assess how to establish a global brand identity for Harmonie via television advertising. He must decide what product... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Advertising; Marketing Communications; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

11 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Throwing the Baby Out with the Drinking Water: Unintended Consequences of Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh

Keywords: by Nina Buchmann, Erica Field, Rachel Glennerster, and Reshmaan Hussam

04 Nov 2015
News

M.B.A.s Get Lessons in Income Inequality

01 Sep 2020
News

Is Staying In Staying Safe?

February 1980 (Revised April 1981)
Case

Poland Spring Bottling Corp.

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Poland Spring is a small domestic bottler of mineral water trying to compete in a rapidly expanding market against Perrier, the dominant brand, and 20 other foreign and domestic waters. Company management must decide how to position and promote its product with limited... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

29 Jan 2019
News

Howard Schultz Is Just Testing The Waters, Expert Says

August 2016
Case

S'well: The Mass Market Decision

By: Youngme Moon

This case tells the story of how Sarah Kauss, a young female entrepreneur, built a premium water bottle brand from scratch. After having built a high-end brand, the key decision in the case is whether to begin expanding the S'well product portfolio to the mass market. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Distribution; Strategy; United States

November 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Stone Finch, Inc.: Young Division, Old Division

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Elizabeth Collins

CEO Jim Billings wants to attract energetic, entrepreneurial talent to Stone Finch, Inc., which comprises an older division that fabricates products like piping and tanks for water and wastewater processing plants, and a much newer division that develops biochemical... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Human Resource Management; Motivation; Business Growth; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Business Subsidiaries; Innovation Strategy; Resource Allocation; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Retention; Operations; Recruitment; Integration; Business Growth and Maturation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry