HD Group: Business model based on innovation and diversification in shopping centres, supermarkets and hotels

Abstract

The HD Group (Canary Islands, Spain) is an interesting case study in the field of intrapreneurship. Having its origins in food distribution, this business group has progressively expanded and diversified its products and services, entering the tourism sector in 2004 with the launch of the HD Hotels chain. As a proactive response to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and clearly focusing on the customer, innovation and the company’s contribution to sustainable development, the management of HD Hotels made a strong commitment to a strategy of intrapreneurship in an uncertain and convulsive environment. By creating an internal team responsible for devising and implementing a wide range of measures to differentiate its business in the tourism sector, this hotel chain has made significant progress in its business development and in strengthening its brand. Based on an interview held by the authors with its current general manager, Armando Rodriguez, this paper describes this entire process of intrapreneurship, including an analysis of the difficulties and lessons learned by the organisation.