Strengthening entrepreneurship is an important strategy for stimulating the transition to sustainable agriculture. But how is that done? One example is the Interactive Strategic Management method, which supports entrepreneurs in the creation and execution of future-focused strategies

Beldman, A.C.G.

English

Wageningen Yield 

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The environment surrounding agrarian entrepreneurs is changing 
fast. They have to deal with not only globalization and competition 
of the World market but also a national and local environment that 
puts demands on their production methods. In other words: the 
market determines if you can produce (price) and the environment 
determines if you are allowed to produce (license to produce). 
In this complex situation entrepreneurs must carefully calculate 
which long-term choices they want to make. 
Diverse projects focused on increased sustainability in business 
management show that the most successful entrepreneurs are not 
those that adopt the advice of experts without further thought, but 
rather those that create their own strategies based on a broader 
perspective and integrate sustainable measures into that strategy. 
This finding has led to the development of the Interactive Strategic 
Management (ISM) method to support entrepreneurs in the forma-
tion of strategies and prepare them to work according to their own 
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Strengthening entrepreneurship 
through coaching and developing 
competencies
Strengthening entrepreneurship is an important strategy for stimulating the transition to sustainable 
agriculture. But how is that done? One example is the Interactive Strategic Management method, which 
supports entrepreneurs in the creation and execution of future-focused strategies. 
integral strategy (Smit et al., 2002; Smit 2004). ISM has three 
basic principles: emphasis on the entrepreneur, business in inter-
action with its environment, focus on actual progress or actions  
of the entrepreneur.
>> Emphasis on entrepreneur 
Placing the entrepreneur at the center means they themselves  
are responsible for the content of their strategic plan rather than 
the advisor. The entrepreneur must therefore write the strategic 
plan themselves; the advisor is only there to guide and stimulate 
the process. 
In an ISM-track the entrepreneurs are challenged to thoroughly 
examine their business, the environment and themselves; for exam-
ple by analyzing current business performance. The entrepreneur 
can have a benchmark made in which he can chose which group  
of businesses he wants to be compared with. Based on the results 
of the benchmark the entrepreneur establishes – with the aid of  
an advisor – the strong and weak points of his business. Because  
the ISM-track almost always takes place in group situations, the 
entrepreneur can also make use of the expertise and feedback  
of his colleagues.
The intent is that the entrepreneur intensely experiences the entire 
process and simultaneously develops the competences necessary 
for the future of his business. You could say that the approach 
focuses on the empowerment of the entrepreneur. The literature 
also discusses the internal locus of control (Fishbein, 1975); the 
larger this internal locus of control, the more control an entrepre-
neur has over his own future. A small internal locus of control 
means that his future is largely in the hands of developments in  
his environment; things that happen to him. Research (Bergevoet, 
2005) shows that working on strategic choices in groups leads  
to a larger internal locus of control and therefore more control  
over one’s own future. 
>> Business in interaction with environment
While the entrepreneur may be central in Interactive Strategic 
Management, he is by no means isolated. In present-day society, 
especially in the crowded Netherlands, agrarian businesses cannot 
be seen as an isolated link in the food chain. Depending on the  
proposed strategy of the entrepreneur, he must enter into a dia-
logue with his environment: with his neighbors concerning plans  
for expansion, for example, or with (new) chain partners, colleagues 
or nature and environmental organizations. 
The role of the advisor or coach is to challenge the entrepreneur  
to include the developments in his direct environment or in broader 
society into his strategy and to involve these in his plans. This  
prevents the tendency some entrepreneurs have to set themselves 
apart from the community (‘the municipality wants nothing’). 
Because the entrepreneur is a part of the community he must  
gain more insight and learn how to deal with situations pro-actively. 
Strategic decision-making is about more than simply choosing the 
best technical-economic long-term direction for the business, after 
all. It’s also about legitimizing the business (Schans, 2008).
>> Focus on actions of entrepreneur
Interactive Strategic Management is meant more to bring entrepre-
neurs in motion than to transfer (theoretical) knowledge. This also 
means that the supplied knowledge is often adapted to the context 
in which the entrepreneur must work. An example is the use of 
game simulations that allow an entrepreneur to calculate the neces-
sary measures for his own business. In this way he is offered 
implicit knowledge which, by using his own business data, can be 
directly translated into his own context. The criteria for the use of 
knowledge is more “what works the best in these circumstances” 
rather than “why does this work the best and when would it work in 
another situation?”. This approach attaches as much importance to 
knowledge of the entrepreneur and of his colleagues as to science-
based knowledge. This applies not only for technical matters but 
also for knowledge about the process of making strategic choices. 
The core of the ISM-approach is therefore not so much to come  
to a total objective image of the entrepreneur, his business and  
environment but rather to generate so much energy and confidence 
that the entrepreneur can take (solid and well-founded) steps  
Figure 1. With the Strategic Management Tool the entrepreneur can judge his own 
situation by filling in scores for the three E’s of Entrepreneur (competences), Enterprise 
(structure and performance) and Environment (market and society).
Entrepreneur
Enterprise Environment
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forward. It’s about simultaneously thinking and doing. Apart from 
that it is necessary that the entrepreneur forms as realistic an 
image of his possibilities as he can in order to make good plans. 
The interactive approach of ISM is pre-eminently suited to bringing 
ideas into focus (Schans, 2008).
>> ISM-training in practice
A customized approach has been developed in a variety of projects 
based on the three ISM principles, depending on the goal and con-
text of the project. Here we focus on the group-training “Enterprise 
with vision” to support entrepreneurs in making long-term strategic 
choices. In order to further support the process the entrepreneur 
must go through, a number of web-based tools have been designed. 
The entrepreneur can use the Strategic Management Tool (SMT) to 
judge his own situation by filling in scores for the three E’s: 
Wageningen UR AgroCenter
Wageningen UR AgroCenter for Sustainable Enterprise is a network of researchers from Wageningen UR with the motto “putting knowledge  
in motion.” The network strives to be a leader in strengthening enterprise in the agricultural sector through developing scientifically based 
methods for practical application. In order to do so the network has made strategic links with partners such as the platform Partners voor 
Ondernemerschap (Partners for Enterprise) and the Groene Kenniscoöperatie (Green Knowledge Co-operative) through which ‘green’ 
education is united. 
The network is active in many different sectors – dairy, arable farming, greenhouse cultivation, fishery, multifunctional agriculture – and 
works with a variety of themes – innovation, sustainability, chain, region. Recording practical knowledge in concepts and tools is an important 
aspect of the network’s system. These are then transferred with a ‘train-the-trainers’ approach to advisors or teachers. The approach 
designed to support entrepreneurs in the making of long-term choices (Interactive Strategic Management) is highlighted in this article.  
Other examples of AgroCenter projects are PlattelandsImpuls (Rural Impulse), focused on the professionalizing of multifunctional agriculture 
and Bedrijf als Schakelplaats (The Business as a Link) in the green chain, where students can learn the ins and outs of the trade and the 
competences of enterprise at real businesses of entrepreneurs (Schoorlemmer, 2008). More information at: www.agrocenter.wur.nl
Entrepreneur (competences), Enterprise (structure and performance), 
and Environment (market and society). Based on these scores, the 
tool calculates a score for fifteen possible business strategies. For 
example; developing added value for products, bulk production, eco-
nomically efficient enterprise, specialization, etc.. The entrepreneur 
can then compare the scores of the various strategies with the strat-
egy/strategies that he has developed for his business. The analyses 
result in a profile for each E. It is important that the entrepreneur 
doesn’t think too much in terms of strong or weak, chance or threat. 
Whether something is strong or weak depends mainly on the context 
and more often than not on the (still to be chosen) strategy. An 
example is the location of the business. If it is situated near a village 
or city, a strong growth strategy is unfavorable, but a strategy focus-
ing on direct farm product marketing is very favorable. Once again, 
creativity is essential. 
In the Strategic Management Report – also a web-based tool – the 
entrepreneur records the process of strategy formation and the 
eventual choice of strategy in a personal document (see figure 2). 
The process is completed with a concrete action plan and a pre-
sentation for the group.
>> What does it provide?
The integral Strategic Management track provides the entrepreneur 
with a well-founded plan. These plans and the corresponding  
presentations are often used by entrepreneurs in negotiating  
with financers or making agreements with other stakeholders.
For more information: Alfonds Beldman, t +31 320 293540, e alfons.beldman@wur.nl
However, this plan is “just” a by-product. The strengthening of 
enterprise is the biggest gain. The approach is especially focused 
on the development of a position in which changes and develop-
ments in the market, society, governmental policies, the business 
and private situation are continually observed and translated into 
possible consequences for the strategy and business management. 
Because the entrepreneur continually works from within his own sit-
uation and with his own passion combined with surprising perspec-
tives, he sometimes arrives at unexpected strategies. Sometimes 
the process can be confrontational, because a certain proposed 
direction of development turns out to be unsuitable or unattainable.  
Figure 2. Results of the Strategic Management 
Tool with profiles for the three E’s (Entrepreneur, 
Enterprise (2x), Environment) and the scores for 
the fifteen strategies.


Strengthening entrepreneurship through coaching and developing competencies

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