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- July 2023
- Technical Note
Agricultural Innovation and Sustainability in the Netherlands
By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel, Kelsey Carter, Jennifer Godfrey, Rafaella Mazza and Katrina Yeh
This note describes some of the most significant agricultural innovations in the Netherlands, their drivers, environmental performance implications, some challenges facing the sector, and the potential replicability of these innovations to other contexts.
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- June 2023
- Case
Tractor Supply Co
By: David L. Ager and Michael A. Roberto
In February 2023, Hal Lawton, CEO of Tractor Supply Co, the largest farm and ranch retailer in the United States reflected on the company’s 70% growth between 2019 and 2022. Economists had begun to predict an economic downturn and experts were predicting softening...
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- December 2022 (Revised July 2023)
- Case
Applegate Farms
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred
- December 2022
- Case
Taylor Farms: Adding Value to Fresh Produce
By: José B. Alvarez, Forest L. Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Pedro Levindo
In October 2022, Bruce Taylor (HBS MBA, 1981), Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, the leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods in the United States, wondered whether this was the right time for Taylor Farms to venture into the Controlled Environment...
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- November 2021 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
AppHarvest: Rebuilding the Appalachian Economy Through Agriculture
By: Joshua Lev Krieger, William R. Kerr and Christian Godwin
In 2021, AppHarvest completed construction of a 60-acre indoor farming facility, one of the world’s largest, recorded its first sales, and went public in a multi-billion dollar IPO. Described as “a force of nature,” Jonathan Webb founded the company to bring jobs back...
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- November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
Babban Gona: Great Farm
By: Kristin Fabbe, Tarun Khanna, Caroline M. Elkins, Zeke Gillman, Eleni Kyrkopoulou and Thomaz Teodorovicz
In 2020, Babban Gona was one of the world’s largest farming operations with over 140,000 acres of maize farms, an area over ten times as large as Manhattan, and over 80,000 member-farmers in Nigeria. According to the company, the average Nigerian farmer’s net income...
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- Article
Making Small Farms More Sustainable—and Profitable
By: Lino Dias, Robert S. Kaplan and Harmanpreet Singh
Smallholder farms provide a large proportion of food supply in developing economies, but 40% of these farmers live on less than U.S.$2/day and their deforestation produces environmental degradation. With a rapidly growing global population, it is imperative to improve...
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- February 2021 (Revised June 2023)
- Case
Henry Ford: Changing the World
By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer
This case traces the rise of Henry Ford from a small farm in Michigan to the controlling shareholder of the Ford Motor Company. The case describes how Ford, as young man, acquired engineering skills and the risks he took as he built and marketed one of the first...
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- December 2020 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
Riverstone
By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred
In 2020, Luke Minion and the leadership team at Riverstone, a hog producer founded in 2013 in Shandong, China, were evaluating Riverstone’s strategy as it rebounded from outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in two of its three farm complexes. Riverstone was a joint...
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Keywords:
Strategy;
Globalization;
Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues;
Animal-Based Agribusiness;
Consumer Behavior;
Demand and Consumers;
Disruption;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Risk Management;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Consulting Industry;
United States;
China
- August 2020 (Revised July 2021)
- Case
From Farm Boy to Financier: Eiichi Shibusawa and the Creation of Modern Japan
By: Geoffrey Jones, Gabriel Ellsworth and Ryo Takahashi
This case describes the career of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), a serial entrepreneur who is widely known as the “father of Japanese capitalism” and as a pioneer of socially responsible investment. Born in feudal Edo Japan, following the Meiji Restoration in 1868...
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- December 2019 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Carroll Family Farms
By: Forest Reinhardt, Christian Godwin and James Weber
The Carroll Family, U.S. pig and grain farmers, needed to decide what to plant, whether to purchase land, emphasize pigs or grain, or other investments.
Seven family members across three generations owned and operated Carroll Family Farms (CFF). In... View Details
Seven family members across three generations owned and operated Carroll Family Farms (CFF). In... View Details
- November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Hormel Foods
By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred
In 2019, CEO Jim Snee is weighing how to shape the image of Hormel Foods, one of the largest U.S. meat and food companies, at a time when the industry faces unprecedented scrutiny. Based in the small town of Austin, Minnesota, the nearly 130-year-old firm is best known...
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- November 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Bayer Crop Science
By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Natalie Kindred and James Barnett
In mid-2019, a year after German conglomerate Bayer Group closed its acquisition of U.S.-based seeds giant Monsanto, the leadership of Bayer’s Crop Science division (which absorbed Monsanto) is reflecting on the opportunities ahead. Some observers have questioned...
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- September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Burunda Prince at The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)
By: Linda A. Hill, Eric Mankin and Emily Tedards
After a successful inaugural year, Burunda Prince, the Managing Director of Comcast’s startup business accelerator The Farm, was getting ready for an eventful 2019. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business...
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Keywords:
Innovation;
Accelerator;
Entrepreneur;
Startup;
Outsourcing;
Hiring;
Talent;
Culture;
Ecosystem;
Digital;
Women;
African Americans;
Leadership;
Innovation and Invention;
Entrepreneurship;
Business Startups;
Management;
Diversity;
Selection and Staffing;
Organizational Culture;
Media;
Entertainment;
Transformation;
Atlanta
- May 2019
- Supplement
What Does Experimentation Look Like at a Farm That Buys Your Product?
- April 2019
- Teaching Note
The a2 Milk Company
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and...
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Keywords:
Judo Economics;
Market Entry;
Innovation;
Barriers To Response;
Industry Attractiveness;
Advantage Horizon;
Sustainability;
First-mover Advantage;
Scope;
Strategy Execution;
Strategic Evolution;
Biochemistry;
Genetics;
Branding;
Commodity;
Milk;
Dairy;
Infant Formula;
Farming;
Porter's Five Forces;
Market Entry and Exit;
Disruption;
Innovation and Invention;
Competitive Advantage;
Corporate Strategy;
Value Creation;
Competition;
Brands and Branding;
Five Forces Framework;
Consumer Products Industry;
New Zealand;
Australia;
China
- March 2019
- Case
Mahindra Finance
By: V.G. Narayanan and Tanvi Deshpande
Mahindra Finance is a non-banking lender operating mainly in the rural and semi-urban areas of India. Set up in 1991, the company had grown to become a market leader with assets of $8.5 billion and a presence in 3,30,000 villages across India. Since most of Mahindra's...
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- February 2019 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
The a2 Milk Company
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and...
View Details
Keywords:
Judo Economics;
Market Entry;
Innovation;
Barriers To Response;
Industry Attractiveness;
Advantage Horizon;
Sustainability;
First-mover Advantage;
Scope;
Strategy Execution;
Strategic Evolution;
Biochemistry;
Genetics;
Branding;
Commodity;
Milk;
Dairy;
Infant Formula;
Farming;
Porter's Five Forces;
Competitive Advantage;
Corporate Strategy;
Value Creation;
Competition;
Disruption;
Innovation and Invention;
Five Forces Framework;
Market Entry and Exit
- January 2019 (Revised February 2019)
- Supplement
The a2 Milk Company
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel Fisher and Greg Saldutte
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and...
View Details
Keywords:
Judo Economics;
Market Entry;
Innovation;
Barriers To Response;
Industry Attractiveness;
Advantage Horizon;
Sustainability;
First-mover Advantage;
Scope;
Strategy Execution;
Strategic Evolution;
Biochemistry;
Genetics;
Branding;
Commodity;
Milk;
Dairy;
Infant Formula;
Farming;
Porter's Five Forces;
Competitive Advantage;
Corporate Strategy;
Value Creation;
Competition;
Market Entry and Exit;
Disruption;
Innovation and Invention;
Five Forces Framework;
Consumer Products Industry;
New Zealand;
Australia;
China
- November 2018 (Revised May 2019)
- Case
Almarai Company: Milk and Modernization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
By: Kristin Fabbe, Safwan Al-Amin, Esel Cekin and Natalie Kindred
With SAR 14 billion ($3.7 billion) in 2017 revenues, Almarai was Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy producer, distributor, and marketer, with a large portfolio of branded dairy products, juices, bakery goods, and infant formula and a sales presence across the Gulf region,...
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Keywords:
Dairy;
Agriculture;
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia;
Almarai;
Schorderet;
Food Security;
Public Policy;
Self Sufficiency;
Gulf;
GCC;
Business And Government;
Agribusiness;
Marketing;
Distribution;
Change Management;
Leading Change;
Strategy;
Government and Politics;
Policy;
Diversification;
Integration;
Horizontal Integration;
Vertical Integration;
Food;
Brands and Branding;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Business and Government Relations;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Saudi Arabia;
Middle East