Tag Archives: Lead Markets

Report: “7 companies with over-average rural exposure fare better in stock market”

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According to a report appearing the Economic Times (Mumbai, Oct. 4, 2013), “India Inc’s rural champions have probably never had it so good.” A good monsoon is seen as having “kindled hopes of a turnaround in demand for key products”.

A Hero SPLENDOR-NXG

A Hero SPLENDOR-NXG. Photo courtsey: Hero Motocorp

The ET report citing an unnamed study by the Deutsche Bank says: “At a time when the rest of India Inc is either groaning under heavy debt or struggling to sell in a sluggish market, companies with heavy rural focus are literally licking their lips in anticipation of a surge in demand in India’s villages and towns. Already, two-wheeler sales are inching up, tractor sales are booming and banks are hiring employees in far-flung regions, hoping to benefit from a monsoon that has increased the kharif area by 5% and water reservoir levels by 15%.”

The 7 firms examined in the study are Hero Motocorp, Emami, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, M&M Fin Services, and ITC. All of these companies can be regarded as champions in having mastered the “frugal challenge“.

BBC report: “A novel use for mosquito nets”

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In this report BBC reporter Anna Lacey looks into how “the most low-tech methods can produce good medical results” and dwells on how mosquito nets are now being used to repair hernias.

According to the report, an Indian surgeon, Dr. Ravi Tongaonkar, came up with the idea of “using sterilised mosquito mesh as a low-cost substitute for the expensive commercial meshes currently in use.” “His mosquito meshes work out around 4,000 times cheaper than imported mesh and he has used them to fix 591 hernias”, says the report.

And, apparently, they are performing quite well. “The only difference is the polymer used to make them,” says Dr Sanders, “but it makes no difference clinically.”

Apparently, India too is performing quite well as a lead market for frugal innovations….

Read the full report at bbc.co.uk…..

“India can show the way on health”

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Teaser to an article in The Economist (21 Nov. 2012): “Innovative thinking can bring health care to the uninsured billions, argues Devi Shetty, founder and chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals”.

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“Innovating more with less in India”

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An article on the GE Look ahead blog of The Economist says, “Solar-powered ATMs and other frugal energy projects point the way to a more sustainable global future”. Continue reading →

“Aiming Big with Small Cars”

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A forthcoming publication on the emergence of a lead market for frugal products in India:

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

By: Rajnish Tiwari and Cornelius Herstatt

India Studies in Business and EconomicsSpringer Verlag, Series: India Studies in Business and Economics

(2014, Approx. 180 p. 42 illus.)

Hardcover edition (ISBN 978-3-319-02065-5, Due: December 31, 2013)
E-book edition (to be available shortly, ISBN 978-3-319-02066-2)

About the book

  • 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​
This book focuses on the small car segment of India’s automotive industry to explain the emergence of lead markets. The authors contend that the current understanding of lead markets does not sufficiently explain the business practices that are born out of the intensified globalization of innovation. Lead markets are considered crucial for the global diffusion of new products and this book investigates whether sustainable lead markets can also emerge in developing economies, and if so, under which conditions. The authors question the conventional wisdom and propose updates and extensions to the lead market theory to better reflect the changing ground realities on ground.

Content Level » Research

Keywords » Automotive Industry – Frugal innovations – Indian economy – Innovation systems – Lead markets