Question

What was the impact for Cargill and the entrepreneurial employees in creating EBA.
List the benefits to the Cargill company and to the talents that participate in EBA

Answer 1

•Established an Emerging BusinessAccelerator.

•Acts like a business incubator foremerging technologies that don’tfit existing business structures.

•Became a global clearinghouse fornew concepts and valuepropositions.

•Company maintains a Web site forsubmission of new ideas.

•If opportunity emerges the EBAdevelops high-level plan

–Does due diligence.

–Recruits talent.

–Provides capital and funding.

•Exploit crosscutting or disruptiveopportunities.

•Well-connected corporateleadership with full-time staff.

•Significant, independent funding.

•Respected leadership–With internal decision authority

•Expertise in building newbusinesses

•Explicit attention to corporateentrepreneurship incentives–For career enhancement or spinouts

•Requires a significant investmentover a long period of time to beeffective

•Integrating successful projects intoestablished BU can be difficult

•Project teams can become isolated

•New projects can be perceived asthreats by existing BU

•Begins with a mandate for growthand a clearly articulated vision

•Delineate clear and specificobjectives

–Corporate cultural transformation?

–Renovating particular divisions orbrands?

–Finding new platforms or “blueoceans?”

•Point the way–Should be consistent with capabilities

•Delineate objectives–Start with a small team to buildobjectives

•Neutralize naysayers–Build corporate and divisionleadership consensus

•Select and support a corporatemodel–Based on resources and capabilities

•Start with quick wins–Build credibility with tangibleperformance

•Evolve–Successful entrepreneurship adapts–Objectives change and so mustmodels

•Corporate entrepreneurship inaction.