Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Spalk Business Analysis and Proposal

This project presents a detailed analysis of Spalk, a sports commentary service. It begins with customer segmentation, dividing the target market into demographic (age and gender), psychographic (interests and lifestyle), and behavioral segments (buying patterns and benefits sought). A stakeholder analysis identifies internal stakeholders (commentators, management, employees) and external stakeholders (channel partners, customers), detailing their needs, interests, and power. Competitive analysis assesses Spalk's market positioning and marketing strategies. The project also includes an environmental analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and an evaluation of innovation using VRIO and Timmons frameworks. Finally, the project concludes with a business proposal, offering a comprehensive overview of Spalk's operations and strategic direction.

Running head: INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Innovation and entrepreneurship
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Table of Contents
Customer segmentation of Spalk.....................................................................................................3
Demographic customer segments................................................................................................3
Psychographic customer segments..............................................................................................4
Behavioral customer segments....................................................................................................5
Stakeholder analysis........................................................................................................................6
Needs of the stakeholders............................................................................................................7
Interests of the stakeholders.........................................................................................................8
Power of the stakeholders............................................................................................................9
Competitive analysis........................................................................................................................9
Market positioning.......................................................................................................................9
Marketing strategies...................................................................................................................10
Environmental analysis..................................................................................................................10
Strengths....................................................................................................................................10
Weaknesses................................................................................................................................11
Opportunities.............................................................................................................................11
Threats.......................................................................................................................................11
Evaluation of Innovation...............................................................................................................11
Business Proposal..........................................................................................................................14
Reference.......................................................................................................................................17

2INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

3INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Customer segmentation of Spalk
The target market of Spalk can be divided in different segments such as demographics,
psychographics and behavioral characteristics. Thus, the customer segmentation of them will be
discussed in these three parameters.
Demographic customer segments
The target customers of Spalk in terms of the age group are vast ranging from 16 years to
65 years. This is due to the reason that, Spalk is catering in the sports market and sports are
having different types with different target age groups. Moreover, Spalk is having their
commentary services for different sports around the world, which further enhancing their target
age groups. However, it is also to be noted that the younger and teenage groups are more to be
targeted due to the reason that the sports market is having the highest penetration among the
younger age groups.
Figure: 1

4INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Sports market segmentation in Australia
Source: (Roy Morgan, 2018)
According to the above figure, it is seen that the market penetration among the younger
groups of population is more and thus, the target market of Spalk in terms of age groups is more
concentrated towards younger age compared to the older age. Moreover, in terms of gender, the
target market of Spalk is equally segregated due to the reason that in the current time, women
viewership in the sports is at par with the male counterparts. The above figure also shows that
there is very less differences between the market penetration among male and female viewers.
Psychographic customer segments
Psychographic customer segment of Spalk can be divided in different aspects. One is
interest. Customers with having interest in different types of sports or particularly in one sports
and with having the interest in commentary in different languages are the target customers of
Spalk. In terms of the lifestyle, customers with having time for sports but they are not having
much time to attend in physical are the target customers for Spalk. They will be able to hear the
commentary of their favorite sport in their preferred language at any point of time.

5INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Figure: 2
Percentage of online viewership
Source: (Crane, 2018)
The above data shows that, the rate of market penetration of online streaming is more
with the younger age groups. Thus, the target market for the Spalk will be younger generation
due to the fact they are only catering to the online market of sports.
Behavioral customer segments
In terms of the buying patterns, the target customers of Spalk are the customers who are
more interested in the online services. These customers will be more interested in viewing the
sports in more in online medium. The key benefit that they mainly sought from the service is the
convenience. This is due to the reason that, these customers are having less time to attend the
sports events and they do not have the convenience to watch the events live on the television. In

6INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
addition, another benefit sought by the customers is the variety in the language of commentary.
In the case of the television, this cannot be fulfilled; however, customers opting for Spalk are in
the need of commentary in their preferred language.
Stakeholder analysis
Prior to the commencement of the stakeholder analysis, it is important to first identify the
key internal and external stakeholders of Spalk. Internal stakeholders of them include freelancing
commentators, management team and other employees of the organization, while the external
stakeholders are the channel partners and the customers. Hence, in order to identify the impact
and intensity of these stakeholders in the operation of the organization, stakeholder analysis will
be incorporated.
Figure: 3
Stakeholder analysis matrix

7INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The first element of the stakeholder analysis is the high power and low interest. In the
case of the Spalk, these stakeholders are the channel partners. The second element is the
stakeholders with having high power and high interest. This element will include the
management team of Spalk. They are having majority of the interest in the business operation of
the organization and they are having the power in the decision making process. The next element
in the matrix is the stakeholders with having low power and low interest. In the present time,
Spalk is not having any such stakeholders in place. The last element is the stakeholders are the
ones who are having low power and high interest. In the case of the Spalk, these stakeholders are
the customers, employees and the freelancing commentators.
Needs of the stakeholders
Needs of the stakeholders refer to the requirement of the stakeholders in enhancing their
performance in the organization. In the case of Spalk, the need of the employees is the proper
and effective working environment in the organization with having proper infrastructure and
facilities in order to maintain their job effectiveness and performance. The need of the
management team is to have skilled and right employees in right place with having the ability to
deal with different organizational challenges. Moreover, their need also includes having diverse
and varied number of commentators to offer commentary service in different languages to the
audience.
The need of the customers of Spalk is to have reliable and quality online service, which
will work seamlessly in every location and at any point of time. Moreover, the customers are also
in the need of having the options of hearing commentary in their chosen language. From their
point of view, they are in the need of having the required infrastructure in order to avail the

8INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
services of Spalk. Need of the freelancing commentators includes proper pay scale for their
services and effective communication process with the management team. Moreover, they are
also in the need of a laptop and internet connection in order to do the job with Spalk. The
channel partners of Spalk are in the need of reliable partners who will be able to stream their
content properly in the online medium and who will be able to reach the content to the maximum
number of the target customers.
Interests of the stakeholders
Interests of the stakeholders refer to the impact of the business operations on them. The
intensity to which the business operation of the organization is having positive or negative
impact on the stakeholders is the interest of them. In the case of the Spalk, employees are having
high level of interest due to the reason that, profit or loss in the business operation of the
organization will have financial impact on the employees. Moreover, their salary and job security
are also depending on the business operation of Spalk. On the other hand, customers are having
moderate interest in Spalk. This is due to the reason that, ineffective customer service and
service offerings will affect the user experience of them. Interest of the management team is also
high due to the fact that, their financial benefits are also depending on the business operation of
the organization.
Channel partners are having less interest in the organization due to the reason they are
having number of options and substitute services available in the market, which can be switched
over at point of time. Moreover, the effectiveness of the channel partners is also not depending
on the business performance of Spalk. Freelancing commentators are also having higher interest

9INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
in the organization due to the reason that, their income and earnings are depended on the
business performance of the organization.
Power of the stakeholders
Power of the stakeholders refers to the level of influence that the particular stakeholder is
having with him in the daily business operation of the organization. In the case of Spalk,
employees are having less power in the organization due to the reason that, they are not much
having any opinion on the decision making process in the organization. On the other hand, upper
level management is having higher degree of power in the organization. This is due to the reason
that upper level management is having the major power in the decision making process.
Customers and commentators are also not having any power in the organization.
Competitive analysis
Currently, Spalk is having number of competitors in the global market. Some of their
direct competitors are Pundit sports, iHaertmedia and Argus media. These competitors are posing
one of the key challenges for Spalk in the global market. Apart from these direct competitors,
there are various other mediums already present in the market, which are not directly competing
with them but posing challenges in the global market. These mediums are the live television
streaming and attending the events in physical. The more people will get attracted towards these
mediums, the less will be the customer traffic for Spalk.
Market positioning
Spalk can be considered as market leader in its segment. This is due to the reason that,
they are one of the early entrants in the market and rapidly increasing their market presence in

10INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Resources
Tangible
Human resources.
Financial resources.
Registered offices.
Assets.
Intangible
Brand value
Brand logo and
trademark.
Organizational culture.
Skills and attributes.
different regions around the world. According to the recent reports, in the recent time, Spalk is
eying to tap the growing market in the United States (MCNICOL, 2018). In the market of the
United States, Spalk will be late mover due to the presence of other competitors already in the
market.
Marketing strategies
Spalk is having mass market marketing strategies rather than having niche marketing
strategies. In accordance to that, they are having their presence in more markets around the world
compared to their competitors. On the other hand, they involve online marketing extensively due
to the reason that they are catering to the online customers only. Traditional marketing strategies
include advertising the brand in the sports events, which helps the customers to relate the brand
with the sports related content effectively. They in order to enhance their presence in maximum
markets and to have maximum market reach are also initiating market development strategies.
Resources of Spalk

11INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
VRIO framework
Valuable  Human resources
 Financial resources
 Brand value
Rarity  Skill and attributes
 Organizational culture
Imitation cost  Assets
 Brand value and trademark
 Skills and attributes
Organizational
capability
 Organizational culture
 Human resources
 Financial resources
Environmental analysis
Strengths
The availability of huge variety of language in commentary is one of the key strengths of
Spalk. This is due to the reason that, offering services in different languages is helping them to
cater to larger society and to different cultural groups around the world. Other strength of them is
their distribution channel. Spalk is having their entire distribution channel online. Thus, the cost
is relatively lower compared to traditional distribution channel and reaches effectively to the
target customers.

12INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Weaknesses
Spalk is currently not having huge and extensive brand value in the global market. This is
due to the reason that, they are actually startup and founded just a few years ago. Thus, they are
not having to the access to the latest technologies and organizational processes. Moreover, the
facility of online streaming is limited to the metro cities only. Thus, the market opportunity is
also limited.
Opportunities
Rapid advancement in the technology will help Spalk to increase their market
opportunity. Moreover, in the recent time, major population is having less time for live television
streaming. Thus, they will more prefer online streaming of sports commentary.
Threats
Entry of new competitors in the market will reduce the profitability. In addition, rapidly
developing the technology will further change the preference pattern of the customers, which
will reduce the potentiality of Spalk.
Evaluation of Innovation with VRIO and Timmons Model
With the analysis of the different marketing strategies and SWOT analysis, it can be seen
that innovation is required to be done in the respective company. The respective company can
adopt disruptive or radical innovation technology, as this will create significant kind of impact
on the economic and market activities. Furthermore, it has been seen that Spalk is a new start up
business wherein proper analysis has been done with the SWOT analysis that helped them in
understanding weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats.

13INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In order to gain the competitive advantage, they need to analyze their strengths in such a
manner that this will help in reducing the cost of the different products as this will help them in
cater to larger societies. The distribution channel has to be created in such a manner that will
help them in targeting different kind of customers in the marketplace. The company needs to
differentiate the different products and services in an effective manner wherein this will help
them to spread their presence in the global market(Hodson, 2016).
The opportunities of the company have to be analyzed effectively as this will help the
company in gaining competitive advantage in the market. The VRIO analysis can be done, as
this will help in evaluating the resources of the company, as this will help them in gaining
competitive advantage in the entire competitive market. The VRIO stands for Value, Rareness,
Imitability and Organization(Merigó et al., 2016). With the help of VRIO analysis, the internal
analysis is helpful to be conducted wherein this will help in assessing the growth of the firm in
an effective manner.

14INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Figure 4: Timmons Model
(Source: Bain &Kleinknecht, 2016)
From the Timmons Model, it can be analyzed that the opportunity factor needs to adopted
in an effective manner as this will help in identification of different opportunities in an effective
manner. With the help of Timmons Model, the VRIO analysis needs to use the resources of the
company in a sustainable manner as this will help the company in gaining competitive advantage
and parity.
Furthermore, Spalk is a new organization wherein the resources are valuable and
uncertainty has to be reduced in an effective manner to generate creativity in the market. The
requirement of the rare resources has to be analyzed as this will help in creating effective team.
In the VRIO analysis, it has been seen that there are gaps in the supply chain management and
financial resources wherein the imitability is low and there are differences that has to be
improved.
Partic
ulars
Va
luable
Rar
e
Imit
able
Organi
zation
Impli
cations
Financial
Resources
Yes Yes No Yes Realized
sustainable
competitive
advantage
Producti
on and SCM
Yes Yes Yes No Easy to
gain sustainable

15INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
competitive
advantage
Marketi
ng and
Innovation
Yes Yes No Yes Moderat
e in nature to
gain sustainable
advantage
The proper analysis of the customers and competitors is required to be done by the Spalk
Company, as this will help them in gaining competitive advantage in the market. The VRIO
analysis is required to be done by the company in such a manner that will help in analyzing and
implementing the strengths to secure their position in the entire competitive market (Min et al.,
2016). The financial resources of Spalk have to be based on financial health of the company.
Furthermore, it can be seen that Spalk is a new company, the growth is no stable in nature and
there are few issues relating to the access to the new technologies in the market (Sarin, Haon &
Belkhouja, 2018).
The rapid development is required to be made by Spalk, as this will help them in using
different technologies for online streaming of different programs related to advertisement of
foods and services in an effective manner. However, there are different threats as there are
different competitors in the market that can reduce their profitability in the market. The
respective company needs to understand the need of the shareholders in an effective manner
wherein the company needs to create mass strategies of marketing that will help them in
spreading their presence in the entire world (Bain & Kleinknecht, 2016).

16INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Finally, the positioning of the market has to be done in such a manner that will help in
rapidly increasing their presence in the market and this will help them in becoming one of the
growing markets in the entire world. There are large number of competitors in the market
wherein the interest and needs of the stakeholders is required to be analyzed, as this will help in
becoming popular with the help of the SWOT and VRIO analysis (West & Bogers, 2014). The
company needs to spread their presence in an effective manner throughout the competitive
market.
Business Proposal
Key
Partners
 Providers of
materials and
manufacturer
s of contracts
 Tournaments
and leagues
 Providers of
payments
 Sport
celebrities
 Distributiona
l network
Key
Activities
 Marketing
 Quality
control
 Selling and
marketing of
sportswear
and athletic
footwear
 Equipment
 Design and
development
 Production
and
sponsoring
Value
Proposition
 In order to
bring
innovation
and
inspiration
to each and
every athlete
 Concept of
unique
personalizati
on
 To create
different
experiences
and products
for the
athletes of
today and
they solve
problems for
the next
generation
Customer
Relationships
 Customizatio
n is required
to be done as
this will help
the respective
company in
attracting
lucrative
young
shoppers
 Sustainable
kind of
innovation
 Online and
offline
experience
and channels
 Loyalty
programs
 Fashion and
celebrities
Custome
r Segments
 Sport fans
 Young
generation
 Massive
market
Key
Resources
Channels
 Spalk.com
 Internet

17INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
 Designers
for
designing
the different
sportswear
apparels
 Excellence
of the supply
chain
 3D printing
kind of
technology
 Technology
of Knitting
 Events
 Independent
distributors
 Media
Cost Structure
 Taxes
 Staffs
 Distribution
 Marketing and IT infrastructure
 Taxes
 Sponsorships
Revenue Streams
 Sale of different products
From the above business canvas model, it can be analyzed that proper cost structure and
the revenue streams is required to be analyzed as this will help them in selling different products
in an effective manner. The different process of the channels and the key activities and resources
has to be analyzed effectively as this will help the company in gaining competitive advantage
and compete with the other competitors in the market in an effective manner. The company
Spalk needs to analyze the key activities as to generate huge productivity in the end.

18INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Reference
Bain, D., & Kleinknecht, A. (Eds.). (2016). New concepts in innovation output measurement.
Springer.
Crane, V. (2018). TV Battle Royale. Talking Trending Tech. Retrieved 9 March 2018, from
https://talkingtrendingtech.com/2017/12/07/tv-battle-royale/
Hodson, R. (2016). Open innovation. Nature, 533(7602), S53.
MCNICOL, H. (2018). Spalk eyes US market for 'unique' sports commentary technology. Stuff.
Retrieved 9 March 2018, from https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/94745640/spalk-eyes-us-
market-for-unique-sports-commentary-technology
Merigó, J. M., Cancino, C. A., Coronado, F., & Urbano, D. (2016). Academic research in
innovation: a country analysis. Scientometrics, 108(2), 559-593.
Min, B. S., Min, J. H., Jang, W., Han, S. H., & Kang, S. Y. (2016). VRIO Model Based
Enterprise Capability Assessment Framework for Plant Project. Korean Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management, 17(3), 61-70.
Roy Morgan. (2018). Roy Morgan. Retrieved 9 March 2018, from
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7182-decline-in-competitive-sports-participation-
australia-december-2016-201703200905
Sarin, S., Haon, C., & Belkhouja, M. (2018). A Bibliometric Analysis of the Knowledge
Exchange Patterns Between Major Technology and Innovation Management Journals
(1999–2013). Journal of Product Innovation Management, 35(1), 2-8.

19INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
West, J., & Bogers, M. (2014). Leveraging external sources of innovation: a review of research
on open innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31(4), 814-831.