How Do the Chinese New Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Talents Drive the Business Model Innovation of Agricultural Business Organizations? Case Study Based on Grounded Research

Abstract

BMI in the field of agriculture has attracted more and more attention; it is argued that BMI will help in improving development quality of agricultural business sectors, as well as addressing sustainable development issues. In China’s agricultural business area, the emergence of new farmers has resulted in a large number of BMI actions. This study focuses on how Chinese new-farmer entrepreneurs in the agricultural field promote the BMI of agricultural business organizations. Based on the field survey of 32 agricultural maker spaces (“maker spark”) located in Sichuan Province, China, we followed the research paradigm of grounded theory. After research, we have clarified the core categories of new farmers’ entrepreneurial talent and BMI-innovation behavior, respectively. The network relationship between the two groups of core categories is discussed in order to clearly identify its complex influence mechanism. This study helps us understand how agricultural entrepreneurs promote business model innovation in specific situations.