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• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018 (Revised May 2019)

  Tyson Foods, Inc.

  Jose B. Alvarez, Damien McLoughlin and Matthew G. Preble

  Citation:

  Alvarez, Jose B., Damien McLoughlin, and Matthew G. Preble. "Tyson Foods, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 519-003, December 2018. (Revised May 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2015 (Revised April 2019)

  Chicken Republic

  Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

  Deji Akinyanju, founder of Nigerian fast-food chain Chicken Republic, and Ayo Oduntan, founder of an integrated Nigerian poultry operation (Amo Byng Group), are among a growing cadre of skilled food-industry entrepreneurs for whom the opportunities to serve the Nigerian market—a population of over 170 million, including a large and growing middle class—outweigh the challenges of operating there. And indeed, as embodied by Nigeria's status as a net food importer despite having 80 million hectares of potential agricultural land, the challenges are considerable. Animal feed is excessively expensive, driving up poultry production costs and limiting production volumes; illegal poultry imports threaten food safety while undercutting prices of domestic product; corruption is rampant; debt is exorbitantly expensive; commercial real estate is sparse; and electricity is unreliable. Yet, Nigeria has all the natural blessings to be an agricultural powerhouse competitive on an international scale. And it has the large, ambitious population needed to drive its development, both as workers and consumers. Akinyanju and Oduntan believe many of the issues constraining Nigeria's poultry sector can be alleviated with relatively simple solutions—and that doing so can open tremendous growth opportunities for their businesses and the country as a whole. Set in September 2015, this case provides a detailed look at Nigeria's poultry value chain and the complexities of modernizing a traditional and largely informal industry. It also presents an inspiring story of determined entrepreneurs succeeding against tough odds. Finally, for students whose conception of Nigeria is all too often reduced to simplistic headlines, this case offers a more nuanced look into the complexities, potential, and aspirations of what may be one of this century's most dynamic and important economies.

  Keywords: poultry; chicken; value chain; emerging market; Chicken Republic; Amo Byng; Doreo Partners; Babban Gona; reform; MINT; QSR; quick serve restaurant; fast food; corruption; Growth; Leadership; Food; Customer Value and Value Chain; Supply Chain; Infrastructure; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Crime and Corruption; Governance; Growth and Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Nigeria; Africa;

  Citation:

  Alvarez, Jose, and Natalie Kindred. "Chicken Republic." Harvard Business School Case 516-052, December 2015. (Revised April 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018 (Revised March 2019)

  Facebook—Can Ethics Scale in the Digital Age?

  George A. Riedel and Carin-Isabel Knoop

  Since its founding in 2004, Facebook has built a phenomenally successful business at global scale to become the fifth most valuable public company in the world. The revelation of Cambridge Analytica events in March 2018, where 78 million users' information was leaked in a 2016 U.S. election cycle, exposed a breach of trust/privacy among its user community. In the past, growth at any costs appeared to be the de facto strategy. Now many voices such as regulators, advertisers, ethicists, shareholders and users argued for a more responsible approach to addressing their concerns. Mark Zuckerberg (CEO/Chair/Founder) and Sheryl Sandberg (COO) mapped out their six-point plan to address this existential threat. Could they continue to grow and rectify the breach of trust/privacy? Did other stakeholders have some greater responsibility too? In addition to issues of privacy and trust, there is a growing chorus of concern about “content moderation”—not for the easy topics like spam or copyright material—but for the hard things revolving around political points of view, hate speech, polarizing perspectives, etc. How will Facebook strike the balance between free speech and corrosive content across billions of users and dozens of languages? Are they the arbiters of truth/censorship in the digital world?

  Keywords: Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Trust; Business Model; Corporate Accountability;

  Citation:

  Riedel, George A., and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "Facebook—Can Ethics Scale in the Digital Age?" Harvard Business School Case 319-030, August 2018. (Revised March 2019.)  View Details

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