Imperative of Frugal Innovations for Emerging Markets and Beyond

A Report on the Schmalenbach-TUHH Symposium

 By: Dr. Rajnish Tiwari
SG-Group

A group photo of symposium participants / photo: TIM-TUHH/Göldner

On the 9th and 10th October 2014 a well-received symposium on the topic of frugal innovation was held at the premises of Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). The symposium, carrying the title “Frugal Innovation” und die Internationalisierung der FuE: Hintergründe, Strategien, Fallstudien (English title: “Frugal Innovation and the Internationalization of R&D: Backgrounds, Strategies and Case Studies”) was organized by the Working Group on Innovation Management of the Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. (hereafter SG) in collaboration with the Center for Frugal Innovation (hereafter CFI) of TUHH. The symposium with close to 45 participants from the industry and academia was well-attended and saw some very interesting contributions by invited speakers. The insights generated here through a unique setting of business/academia interaction can potentially push the envelope of research and help expand the currently limited understanding of frugal innovations.

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Schmalenbachgesellschaft und TUHH organisieren Symposium zum Thema “Frugal Innovation”

Innovationskugel 120x120Symposium

“Frugal Innovation”
und die Internationalisierung der FuE

Hintergründe, Strategien, Fallstudien

Hamburg, 9./10. Oktober 2014

Direkter Link zu allen weiteren Details sowie zur Anmeldung: hier anklicken


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New paper: “Frugal innovation and analogies: some propositions for product development in emerging economies”

Working_Paper_84A new paper that seeks to generate some preliminary insights on the use of inventive analogies in the process of creating frugal innovations. The paper has been authored by Rajnish Tiwari, Katharina Kalogerakis and Cornelius Herstatt and was presented at the recently-held R&D Management Conference (June 3-6, 2014) in Stuttgart.

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Aiming Big with Small Cars: Emergence of a Lead Market in India

A new book by Rajnish Tiwari and Cornelius Herstatt dealing with frugal innovations and the role of emerging market countries, published by Springer

  • Critical analysis of today’s dominant logic and extension of lead market paradigm
  • Delivers new assessment tools for identifying emerging lead markets
  • Explores opportunities for frugal innovations and their constituent characteristics
  • Detailed analysis of a sunrise industry in India​

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“Too good” to succeed? Why not just try “good enough”!

High-tech, German companies are facing a curious problem: their products are reportedly “too good” for the expanding global markets

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A new paper by Rajnish Tiwari and Cornelius Herstatt with the title >> “Too good” to succeed? Why not just try “good enough”! Some deliberations on the prospects of frugal innovations << (Working Paper No. 76, TIM/TUHH)

Abstract

High-tech, German companies are facing a curious problem: their products are reportedly “too good” for the expanding global markets. So in a way they get “penalised” for offering a superlative quality. At a second glance, though, this doesn’t seem surprising. For, succeeding in the emerging markets like India or China often requires developing market-specific products and services that enable an attractive value proposition without taking recourse to (excessive) over-engineering. Furthermore, the innovations should be able to cope with, and successfully circumvent, the given infrastructural restrictions ever so present in the rural and semi-urban areas in such economies.

[Read/download the full paper, PDF, 740 KB]