BUS368: TMA (Tutor-Marked Assignment) SUSS- Innovation Management and Digital Transformation, Singapore

Background

Air taxis, if it is commercially launched in the future, will be considered as a disruptive technology. Volocopter announced in February 2022 that it will launch air taxi services in Singapore in 2024. This German air taxi service company plans to be based at Seletar Aerospace Park, which has been designated as the Advanced Air Mobility hub. The company had plans to launch a 15-minute air taxi flight in the Marina Bay area around early to mid2024. In addition, there were long term plans to provide air taxi services to Indonesia and Malaysia (Raj, 2022).

However, in November 2023, Volocopter announced that the air taxi launch timeline in Singapore has been put on hold indefinitely. One of the reasons provided was that there was a lack of capital funding in Singapore and globally for this innovative technology due to the economics uncertainties. Furthermore, there is also a need for Volocopter to work with local authorities for the adaptation and construction new infrastructure, the on-going development of the regulatory framework and the expansion of the digital network (Loi, 2023).

This assignment requires you to think about and analyse innovation in the transport industry. Where appropriate, conduct research on real-world examples in support of your answer. In this submission, the website links must be specified, in-text citations and an end-text reference list are required for your answers.

Adapted from the following sources:
1. Raj, A. (2022). Volocopter to launch commercial air taxi services in Singapore. Techwire Asia. https://techwireasia.com/2022/02/volocopter-to-launch-commercial-air-taxi-services-insingapore/

2. Loi, E. (2023, Nov 17). Lack of local funding partners forces Volocopter to put air taxi launch in Singapore on hold. Straits Times.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/lack-of-local-funding-partners-forcesvolocopter-to-put-air-taxi-launch-in-singapore-on-hold

Question 1

(a) Discuss if the Volocopter is considered as innovation as of November 2023. Justify your answers using the appropriate framework. Discuss one likely fatal challenge that Volocopter may face in Singapore.

(b) Examine the term Disruptive Innovation and the three (3) current disruptive trends in the transportation industry based on market growth and technology investment. Select the one trend that will become the norm by 2030 and discuss your justification with the support of relevant references (e.g., website links, industry reports, etc.).

(c) Based on the selected trend in (b), appraise the current uncertainty management of a realworld company that is involved in this trend. Discuss the annual growth rate and strategy of this real-world company that is supported by website links.