Saud Bin Aktar
Innovation And Business Concepts
Päivi Karhu
Global Trends, Business
Innovations and Concepts
4.31.2023
Contents
1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Objective .................................................................................................................1
1.2 About ShareTrip ......................................................................................................1
1.3 PESTELE and SWOT analysis on ShareTrip ..............................................................2
2 Scenarios..............................................................................................................................5
2.1 Ecotourism ..............................................................................................................5
2.2 Cultural tourism ......................................................................................................5
2.3 Adventure travel .....................................................................................................5
3 Recognized opportunities....................................................................................................6
3.1 Driving forces for innovation...................................................................................6
4 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................................7
5 Innovation plan ....................................................................................................................8
5.1 Customized tour packages ......................................................................................8
5.2 Business model........................................................................................................9
6 Financial calculations .........................................................................................................10
6.1 Estimated demand ................................................................................................10
6.2 Estimated profit margin ........................................................................................10
6.3 Breakeven point ....................................................................................................11
6.4 5-year cashflow .....................................................................................................11
6.5 Financial arrangements .........................................................................................11
7 References .........................................................................................................................12
1
1 Introduction
In the corporate world, innovation is essential to success. It is what distinguishes thriving busi-
nesses from those that fail to flourish. Innovation is not a choice but a requirement in today's
corporate environment given how quickly it is evolving. To be competitive, adapt to market
changes, and satisfy customers' shifting demands and expectations, businesses must innovate.
Innovation is more than just developing new goods or services. It includes a variety of ideas, such
as innovative business model development, process improvement, and creative problem-solving.
This essay will examine the importance of innovation in business, its effects on organizational
development, and the fundamental ideas in business that underpin innovation.
1.1 Objective
In this essay, I will demonstrate an innovation plan for the next 5 years of a tourism organization.
I will also utilize appropriate tools and theoretical framework to justify my conclusions. Since
tourism industry of Bangladesh was the main subject of my previous essay, I will be creating this
essay based on a tourism company of Bangladesh called “ShareTrip”.
1.2 About ShareTrip
ShareTrip is Bangladesh’s first and leading online travel website. It was initially known as Travel
Booking BD. They are currently operating through website, Android and IOS app. The dynamic
app helps the user book their flight, hotel rooms and even find perfect holiday from thousands of
holiday packages around the globe. The company currently has more than 150 employees.
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1.3 PESTELE and SWOT analysis on ShareTrip
PESTELE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal, and Ethical.
The PESTELE analysis on ShareTrip is shown below:
• Political factors: The demand for travel and the business operations of ShareTrip may
be impacted by government regulations and policies pertaining to tourism and travel,
such as visa limits or quarantine requirements. Political instability or conflicts in certain
regions can also discourage travelers from visiting those areas.
• Economic factors: The ability and willingness of customers to spend money on travel
can be impacted by the status of the economy. For instance, a downturn in the econ-
omy or high unemployment rates may result in less desire for travel. Exchange rates
and inflation can affect the cost of travel for consumers and impact the profitability of
ShareTrip.
• Social factors: The kinds of vacations and activities that consumers are interested in
may change as a result of shifting cultural views on travel, such as worries about
sustainability and environmental effect. Demographic trends, such as the aging
population or increased diversity, may also impact the types of travel experiences that
are in demand.
• Technological factors: Technology advancements like the personalization of trip
recommendations through artificial intelligence and machine learning can aid
ShareTrip in offering a better user experience. Online reviews and social media's
growing influence on consumer behavior and travel choices can both be influenced by
these factors.
• Environmental factors: The kinds of travel experiences that are available and in
demand, as well as the price of travel, may be impacted by climate change and its
effects on the environment and weather patterns. The way ShareTrip develops its
services and markets them could be impacted by growing concerns about sustainability
and responsible tourism.
• Legal factors: ShareTrip's practices for gathering and using consumer data may be
impacted by laws governing data privacy and protection. ShareTrip's operations and
financial performance may be impacted by adherence to local rules and regulations in
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the various geographic areas where the firm conducts business, such as labor laws or
tax laws.
• Ethical factors: ShareTrips’s ethical dilemma could be impacted if promotions of
resource conservation and trash reduction among visitors are not conducted properly.
It's crucial to prevent tourism-related activities from placing an excessive pressure on
resources like water, electricity, and food since Bangladesh underdeveloped nation
with limited resources.
"SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate an organization's internal and
external environment. The analysis identifies the organization's Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats to develop a strategic plan that maximizes opportunities and
minimizes threats.” (Wheelen & Hunger, 2020). The SWOT analysis of ShareTrip is shown below:
Strengths:
• Strong brand reputation and recognition
• Wide range of travel services including flights, hotels, and car rentals
• User-friendly website and mobile app
• Competitive pricing and discounts
• Excellent customer service and support
• Partnership with various airlines and hotel chains
Weaknesses:
• Heavy competition in the online travel industry
• Dependence on third-party providers for flights and hotels
• Limited international presence compared to some of its competitors.
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Opportunities:
• Sharetrip could expand its services to include more unique and niche travel offerings,
such as adventure tourism or eco-tourism.
• Diversification of travel services
• Adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, chatbots, and blockchain to
improve user experience and efficiency.
• Development of strategic partnerships with airlines and hotels to offer exclusive deals
and packages.
Threats:
• Economic downturns and instability affecting the travel industry.
• Security concerns and travel restrictions due to political instability or natural disasters
• Emergence of new online travel agencies with innovative business models
• Changes in consumer behavior and preferences.
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2 Scenarios
"A scenario is a hypothetical sequence of events or a possible set of circumstances that outlines
a specific situation" (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). The development of tourism in Bangladesh over the
next five years were shown in 3 different scenarios during my previous essay. They are:
2.1 Ecotourism
Bangladesh's diverse flora and fauna provide the sector several opportunities. Ecotourism will
allow visitors to experience Bangladesh's national parks, wildlife refuges, and natural beauty
over the course of the following five years.
2.2 Cultural tourism
Just a few examples of Bangladesh's diverse cultural heritage include mosques, historic sites,
and old temples. Bangladesh's tourist industry may concentrate on cultural tourism over the
next five years, allowing travellers to engage with the culture, art, and history of the nation.
2.3 Adventure travel
Bangladesh is a popular destination for adventure travel because of its diverse scenery, which
includes hills, woods, and rivers. During the next five years, adventure tourism—where visitors
can engage in activities like hiking, mountaineering, white-water rafting, and rock climbing—
could be the primary focus of Bangladeshi tourism.
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3 Recognized opportunities
According to Kader (2022), the size of travel industry of Bangladesh was $5.3 billion in 2017 with
local travellers contributing almost 98 percent of the revenue. By 2023, the market is projected
to increase by 6.8% yearly to $7 billion. According to some sources, 350,000 Bangladeshis travel
every day. Given these data, we can conclude that Bangladesh has a lot of areas to develop when
it comes to ecotourism, cultural tourism, and adventure travel. ShareTrip has several opportuni-
ties to evolve themselves by utilizing the existing natural resources here in Bangladesh. Ireland,
Hitt, and Sirmon (2003) define business opportunities as "circumstances and events that present
the potential for profit or growth through the creation or expansion of a product, service, or
business model" (p. 99).
3.1 Driving forces for innovation
What problems if might solve?/ What opportunities it might offer?
• Fullfilling customer needs
• Market gap
• Local business opportunities
• Economic development of the tourism places
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4 Theoretical Framework
According to Christensen (2013), innovation is "a process by which a product or service takes root
initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market,
eventually displacing established competitors". There are different types of innovation that can
be combined in various ways to create new and innovative solutions that meet the needs of
customers and drive growth and competitiveness in organizations. They are:
• Incremental innovation
• Differential innovation
• Disruptive innovation
• Radical innovation
• Breakthrough innovation
One of the type of innovations will be utilized in our essay and it is explained in details in the
innovation plan segment.
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5 Innovation plan
Tidd and Bessant (2018) define innovation as "the process by which an organization develops new
products, services or processes that are novel and potentially valuable." As a member of strategic
development team of ShareTrip, I propose a Breakthrough innovation plan for the next 5 years
based on the increasing demand of tourism in Bangladesh. According to Utterback (1996),
"change that sweeps away much of a firm's existing investments in technical skills and knowledge,
designs, production technique, plant and equipment" is a breakthrough innovation. I am
proposing a breakthrough innovation because Ecotourism and Adventure travel are very new in
this country. There are several tourism organizations in the country but they do not offer
immersive packages in such sectors where consumers can actually experience and enjoy the
natural beauty of the country. ShareTrip can introduce customizable tour packages where a
traveller can customize their whole tour according to their likings based on the ecotourism and
adventure travel. The idea is explained in details below.
5.1 Customized tour packages
Travelers are increasingly favouring personalized vacation experiences. Based on the traveller’s
interests and previous travel behaviour, ShareTrip can leverage data and analytics to provide per-
sonalized travel recommendations. ShareTrip can also utilize the natural resources of Bangladesh
to accumulate in those packages. Based on the scenarios, ShareTrip can easily introduce Ecotour-
ism and Adventure travel to their packages. They can arrange the packages accordingly to capture
the market where adventure and nature loving travellers are available. Bangladesh has a lot of
natural scenarios which can be utilized for such packages. 2 important factors that will be affec-
tive in accomplishing this innovative plan are:
• Natural resource:
Bangladesh is a land of natural resources. A lot of the resources are yet to be discovered
or exploited. Chattogram district has a lot of hilly areas, and it has the longest sea beach
in the world. ShareTrip can easily include ecotourism and adventure travel to their pack-
ages based on these regions where travellers can spend quality times fulfilling their
needs.
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• Integration of AI
AI is the turning stone of technology in this era. ShareTrip can easily utilize AI to person-
alize the tour packages. AI can use different algorithm to understand the personality and
necessity of different travellers and provide them customized packages based on their
preferences, which will attract more customers and eventually change the face of tourism
industry of Bangladesh.
5.2 Business model
ShareTrip was primarily a B2C business that specialized in international travel in 2019. The pan-
demic and the siege severely affected offline travel agencies. The business recognized the mar-
ket's realities and the vertical's enormous potential. In March 2020, the lockdown began. In Au-
gust of the same year, ShareTrip debuted its complete B2B platform. The product immediately
gained popularity. The innovation plan will be a part of Revenue model innovation as it will be a
value proposition by reconfiguring offering and value elements to transform customer experi-
ence. ShareTrip can easily invest on infrastructures in areas where there are hills or tracking fa-
cilities for Adventure travel and Ecotourism to develop the accommodation of the tourists. It will
create value for the locals and also the company itself.
Figure: Business innovation model of ShareTrip
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6 Financial calculations
Hall and Lerner (2012) define financing innovation as "the creation and deployment of new finan-
cial instruments and intermediaries that provide funding to innovative entrepreneurs and firms".
Finance works as the fuel for any innovations to ignite and be functional. It was a challenge for
me to acquire the authentic information regarding the revenue of ShareTrip. However, I will be
demonstrating estimated demand, profit margin, and breakeven point for the next 5 years using
hypothetical data.
6.1 Estimated demand
We can calculate the estimated demand of ShareTrip for the next 5 years by using a simple for-
mula like:
Estimated Demand= Sales price X Quantity
For example, if the selling price of a package is $100 and the estimated number of customers is
1,000, the estimated demand would be:
$100 x 1,000 = $10,0000
6.2 Estimated profit margin
Here is the formula to calculate estimated profit margin:
Estimated Profit Margin = (Total Revenue - Total Cost) / Total Revenue
For example, if the total revenue from selling a package is $10,0000, and the total cost and selling
is $7,0000, the estimated profit margin would be:
($10,0000 - $7,0000) / $10,0000 = 0.3 or 30%
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6.3 Breakeven point
One method to calculate the breakeven point is to use the following formula:
Breakeven point = Fixed costs / (Price - Variable costs)
The breakeven point of ShareTrip can be calculated using the above formula and data collected
from the market survey.
6.4 5-year cashflow
A hypothetical 5-year cashflow of ShareTrip is shown below:
6.5 Financial arrangements
According to crunchbase website, over the course of 3 rounds, ShareTrip has raised a total of
$4.5M in funding. Their most recent funding came from a Non-equity Assistance round, which
was raised on August 24, 2022. Three investors provide funding for ShareTrip. The most recent
investors are Startup Bangladesh Limited and Aurelia Ventures. ShareTrip can propose the
innovation plan to Ministry of civil aviation and tourism to acquire fundings to develop the
infrastructure of tourism industry by creating more business opportunities for local businesses
and complying AI to formulate the packages. By this, there will be an economic growth in that
region. Government of Bangladesh is eager to develop the tourism sector as it is still not exploited
properly. ShareTrip has an opportunity to utilize government fundings to actually implement the
innovation.
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7 References
Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2020). Strategic management and business policy (15th ed.).
Pearson Education.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Scenario. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved April 29,
2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scenario
Kader, R. (2022, August 24). ShareTrip turns three, ShareTrip's evolution, and what’s next for the
travel-tech startup. Futurestartup. https://futurestartup.com/2022/08/24/sharetrip-turns-
three-sharetrips-evolution-and-whats-next-for-the-travel-tech-startup/
Ireland, R. D., Hitt, M. A., & Sirmon, D. G. (2003). A model of strategic entrepreneurship: The
construct and its dimensions. Journal of Management, 29(6), 963-989.
Christensen, C. M. (2013). The innovator's dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms
to fail. Harvard Business Review Press.
Tidd, J., & Bessant, J. (2018). Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and
organizational change. John Wiley & Sons.
Utterback, J. M. (1996). Mastering the dynamics of innovation: How companies can seize
opportunities in the face of technological change.
Hall, J., & Lerner, J. (2012). Financing innovation. National Bureau of Economic Research.
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