Farmstar Goes Global: Corporate Entrepreneurship Bringing Sustainable Value Innovation to Agribusiness

This case tells the story of successful corporate entrepreneurship bringing sustainable value innovation to agribusiness. It recounts the history of EADS-Astrium, subsidiary Infoterra and the development of a new product-service called Farmstar to help farmers reduce costs and increase yields. The case describes the creation of uncontested market space through the successful development of an innovative product that increases private benefits (profits) on adoption. Farmstar also generates public benefits (lowers pollution) by reducing the negative externalities of intensive agriculture. The process of simultaneously increasing public and private benefits through productivity increase and cost reduction is known as sustainable value innovation (SVI).

Describing the quest to achieve SVI, the case demonstrates the importance of i) identifying and assessing reliable trends across geographies and traditional industrial sectors when defining long-term strategic objectives; and ii) nurturing effective operational partnerships that span the technology life cycle of research, development and commercialisation.