New publication on “Soft Power of Frugal Innovation”

New working paper by Rajnish Tiwari and Jaideep Prabhu: “Soft Power of Frugal Innovation and its Potential Role in India’s Emergence as a Global Lead Market for Affordable Excellence”

In a fruitful cooperation between Center for Frugal Innovation (CFI) and the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Rajnish Tiwari and Jaideep Prabhu have published a conceptual paper on the potential role of frugal innovations in contributing to “soft power” of its creators.

An edited version of this paper is scheduled to appear as a chapter in a forthcoming book on Indian soft power by the Ananta Aspen Centre (AAC). The paper has been published in the Working Paper series of the TUHH Institute for Technology and Innovation Management. The project was initiated after being requested by the AAC to contribute a chapter to the aforementioned contributed volume in May 2017. The chapter was finally contributed in January 2018 and is now in the process of publication.

Abstract:

Continue reading

Frugal Innovieren, aber wie? Methoden-Workshop am 9.11. in Hamburg

Methoden-Workshop zur Realisierung von frugalen Produkten und Geschäftsmodellen am 9. November 2017

SG-GroupMit weniger mehr erreichen – nicht weniger versprechen frugale Innovationen. Aber wie? Frugale Innovationen stehen für Produkte und Dienstleistungen, die eine erhebliche Kostenreduktion, eine Begrenzung auf die wichtigsten Funktionen und ein optimiertes Leistungsniveau im jeweiligen Kontext ermöglichen. Um in Schwellenländern wie Indien und China langfristig Erfolg zu haben, sind frugale Innovationen im Unternehmensportfolio zunehmend unverzichtbar. Frugale Innovationen können jedoch nicht nur in Schwellenländern, sondern auch in Industrienationen bedeutendes Absatzpotenzial freilegen, wie unsere Studienergebnisse zeigen.

Continue reading

Course on “Product Planning and Design for Frugal Innovations” at Santa Clara University

Prof. Herstatt teaching a SCU

Prof. Herstatt teaching a SCU

Taking the collaboration between Center for Frugal Innovation (CFI) and the Frugal Innovation Hub at Santa Clara University (SCU) to next level, we have developed a new course on “Product Planning and Design for Frugal Innovations” which is being offered currently to graduate students of the School of Engineering at SCU. The course has been developed by Prof. Dr. Cornelius Herstatt and Dr. Rajnish Tiwari and covers modern tools and methods for product design and development. It is based on a five phase stage-gate process model which integrates all major tasks that need to be paid attention to while creating new products and services. Continue reading

Investigating Frugality and Innovation in Japan

TUHH and TokyoTech collaborate with support of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to investigate relevance of frugal innovations in the context of Japan

Group photo (L2R): R. Tiwari, M. Tsujimoto and C. Herstatt

Group photo (L2R): R. Tiwari, M. Tsujimoto and C. Herstatt at TokyoTech (Tamachi Campus)

The Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) via its Center for Frugal Innovation at the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TokyoTech) via its Department of Technology and Innovation Management at School of Environment and Society (Tamachi Campus), have decided to join hands to conduct joint research to investigate the phenomenon of frugal innovation in the Japanese context. At first, a preliminary research is being conducted with support from JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) to generate initial impressions and take stock of the status-quo of frugal innovations in Japan. A mid-term objective is to conduct comparative studies between Germany and Japan with the objective of enabling mutual learnings. Continue reading

Expert workshop predicts high relevance of frugal innovation for German industry & society

On 12 January 2016, around 30 stakeholders from industry, academia and politics met in Hamburg to analyse and discuss the relevance of frugal innovations for German companies and society-at-large. Frugal innovations are defined as (technological) solutions, focussed on their core functions robustness, user-friendliness and affordability. This phenomenon has, so far, predominantly been observed in emerging markets. The model of frugal innovations could, however, also hold great potentials for industrialized nations, such as Germany, and other international marketplaces. The importance of frugal innovations is, as evidence shows, expected to increase for the domestic market, too.

pfi_participants

Continue reading