Publications

February 2001 (Revised August 2003)
Case

United Grain Growers Limited (A)

By: Peter Tufano and Joshua Musher

United Grain Growers Ltd. (UGG), a Canadian grain distributor, audited its exposure to a number of key risks, especially the impact of weather on grain volumes and operating income. Understanding these risks was crucial because the company was in the midst of a major... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Weather; Distribution Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Canada

03 Dec 2012
News

HBS Cases: Against the Grain

03 Dec 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Against the Grain

Corruption doesn't announce itself with a capital C. It is subtler and thornier than that—as one HBS student found out the hard way during a recent summer internship in Tanzania. In a new case detailing his experience, the student struggles to navigate the systemic... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Food & Beverage

December 2000
Case

CyberCrop: Creating a Grain e-Exchange

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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31 May 2012
News

With Gavilon gone, Asia grain traders face tougher climb

16 Nov 2020
News

How Panera’s CEO Learned to Go Against the Grain

19 Nov 2020
News

How Panera’s CEO Learned to Go Against the Grain

Photo courtesy of Panera Bread Photo courtesy of Panera Bread As the CEO of Panera Bread Co, Niren Chaudhary (AMP 191, 2016) was intent on finding ways to make sure the company’s workers weren’t left behind during the pandemic. The company invited its furloughed... View Details

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

December 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Beidahuang

By: Ray A. Goldberg and David Lane

Beidahuang is a major new Chinese player in global grain trading that in 2013 is seeking access to grain both to help assure China's food security and in pursuit of its own commercial goals. Focusing on potential trade in Brazilian soybeans, the case asks students to... View Details

Keywords: China; Brazil; International Trade; Grain; Soybeans; Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Globalized Markets and Industries; Cooperation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China; Brazil

January 2008 (Revised February 2008)
Case

South Dakota Wheat Growers

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

As a farmer-owned cooperative, South Dakota Wheat Growers (SDWG) serves the needs of its 3,600 active farmer-members by supplying farm inputs and organizing the marketing and transportation of grain produced in the co-op's service territory. For almost 80 years, the... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Production; Rail Transportation; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Economic Growth; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; South Dakota

January 2016
Case

COFCO

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2015, COFCO, China's state-owned agribusiness giant, was working to protect China's food security (a key national security priority) by extending its control of the global food system through overseas acquisitions. At the same time, COFCO sought to grow its market... View Details

December 1998
Case

Australian Wheat Board Limited.: Becoming a Grower-owned Corporation

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In July 1999, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), a statutory national and international grain marketing organization, would become grower-owned. As a private corporation, the AWB would no longer receive government borrowing guarantees and would have to rely on its own... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Capital Structure; Globalized Markets and Industries; Monopoly; Employee Ownership; Competition

December 2014
Case

Louis Dreyfus Commodities

By: David E. Bell

Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC or Dreyfus) is the D of the ABCD grain-trading giants. The case describes how their business works and details the strategy by which management turned the company around in recent years. The case presents a number of issues facing the... View Details

Keywords: Commodities; Commodity Trading; Agriculture; Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Goods and Commodities; Financial Markets; Business Strategy; Product Marketing

April 2014
Teaching Plan

Beidahuang

By: Ray A. Goldberg and David Lane

This teaching plan is designed to support the teaching of Beidahuang, HBS No. 914-412, rev. March 2014. Beidahuang is a major new Chinese player in global grain trading that in 2013 is seeking access to grain both to help assure China's food security and in pursuit of... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Sourcing; Beidahuang; S; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Supply Chain Management; Trade; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil; China

06 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism - Discovering the Business of Storytelling

was little. During a traditional Bengali ceremony for babies when they can eat their first solid food, they are presented with three choices on a tray: grain, a pen, and a gold coin. Grain represents a love for food. The pen, a love for... View Details

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Los Grobo

Los Grobo, a grain farming company based in Argentina, must decide whether to expand internationally to neighboring Paraguay and Uruguay. Los Grobo has built an IT-facilitated network with hundreds of participants who work together to produce corn and soybeans. Los... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Global Range; Globalization; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Paraguay; Argentina; Uruguay

January 27, 2010
Article

Leadership with a Small 'l'

By: Richard Bohmer

What exactly do we mean by leadership in health care? Does it mean to take formal positions in senior leadership teams in hospitals, trusts, health boards, ministries of health, and professional societies-what might be termed leadership with a big "L?" Or does it mean... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Health Industry

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October 2005
Case

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 2005

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian business corporation. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) now faced the future with a... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Capital; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada