FORE International Conference on “Frugal approach to Innovation” 2019 is the eighth conference of the annual international conference series hosted by FORE School of Management at New Delhi, India. This conference, a first of its kind in India, has the vision to present India’s competence around the frugal approach to innovation. Situated in New Delhi, this conference is well poised to symbolically represent India’s soft power. The conference acknowledges the fact that frugal innovation may not be discussed unless we bring together the practitioners (who are presently doing it, as well as, those who may be inspired to do it), policymakers (who can provide impetus for developing the required ecosystem) and academicians (who will study and disseminate the knowledge around this approach). Thus we have two parallel academic and practitioner tracks so that practice can inform theory as well as vice versa. We also provide a platform where the policymakers, practitioners, and academicians would have a meaningful and systematic dialogue through a panel discussion. Thus, this conference is an effort to look for answers and push forward the research in the field of frugal innovation.
Taxonomical interpretations of “frugal innovation” are being discussed (Bhatti, 2012; Brem & Wolfram, 2014; Hossain, 2018; Weyrauch & Herstatt, 2017) in order to distinguish it from and also relate it to “reverse innovation” (Lee & McNamee, 2014), “jugaad innovation” (Radjou, Prabhu, & Ahuja, 2012), “constraint-based innovation” (Agarwal, Grottke, Mishra, & Brem, 2016) etc. Particularly, in the resource-constrained environment (Liu & Wei, 2018), the term is often related to doing more and better with less (Radjou & Euchner, 2016) for many (Bhatti, 2014). Thus researchers note the cultural roots of frugal approach to innovation in emerging economies, especially in India (Grover, Caulfield, & Roehrich, 2014). Particularly in the case of frugal innovation, researchers have emphasized the inclusiveness dimension (Prabhu & Jain, 2015). Thus this term is often used in the context of people at “Bottom of Pyramid” (BoP) (Chliova & Ringov, 2017).
However, over time the usage of this approach is cutting across boundaries of geographies (Zeschky, Widenmayer, & Gassmann, 2011), or industries (Prabhu, 2017). It also transcends the dichotomies of developed-developing nations (Tiwari, Fischer, & Kalogerakis, 2017), top-down or bottom-up approach (Leliveld & Knorringa, 2018), or intentional-unintentional application (van Beers, Knorringa, & Leliveld, 2012). The reason for this could be evident in the economic conditions of the markets. As price increasingly becomes a differentiator for firms, the suppliers end up being under pressure to be more frugal (Fishman, 2006). Similarly, in emerging markets, affordability is an important new product requirement by customers (Agarwal, Brem, & Grottke, 2018). Such conditions may create a cycle of miserliness. As a result, the firms may try to cut down the cost on some employee amenities (Cascio, 2006). These quick-fix approaches, however, may not be sustainable in the long run. Thus firms are realizing the need for alternatives by embedding the frugal approach in employee mindset, organizational processes, outcomes, or business models (Soni & T. Krishnan, 2014).
As the natural resources are depleting at a fast pace, organisations (like Unilever, TATA, GE, Nokia, etc) are already taking up “frugal innovation” as a challenge and employing “cutting edge technologies” (George, Schillebeeckx, & Liak, 2015; Rao, 2013) in order to contribute towards these SDGs. Thus, the frugal approach to innovation can act as an impetus for developing novel dynamic capabilities for organizations (Grover et al., 2014). Another reason for increased attention towards frugal innovation may be because of its perceived relevance towards the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) 2030. However, a systematic review of research on these two fields points to the need for better “understanding of challenges, barriers and strategies” for embedding a frugal approach to innovation to contribute to SDGs (Rosca, Reedy, & Bendul, 2018).
Although India is supposed to be a key benefactor of the frugal approach to innovation, not much has been done to study it systematically. For instance, promotion and consumption of innovation in India have contextual challenges that need to be studied through a cultural lens (Nair, Guldiken, Fainshmidt, & Pezeshkan, 2015). However, the route to systematization would involve bridging the formal and informal dichotomy (Kumar & Bhaduri, 2014). As pointed out by Kaur (2016), frugal innovation needs to be studied as socio-economic mobility of aam aadmi (common man) through the use of technology. This way researchers may study the diffusion of changing trends in population with the rapid developments in digital technologies (Leliveld & Knorringa, 2018).
In a country that is full of challenges, frugal innovation may hold the key to issues like rapid urbanization, slow industrial growth, the pressure on healthcare and educational infrastructure, as well as poor access to basic amenities like drinking water, clean air, and sanitation. However, there are polarizing views on use of frugal innovation to achieve development (Knorringa, Peša, Leliveld, & Van Beers, 2016). There are open questions that need to be explored, like, how can India harvest its “native knowledge and ingenuity” (Soni & T. Krishnan, 2014) to create frugal solutions? Can we attempt to unravel the process of frugal innovation (as by Rao, 2013) further by taking novel cases? Can frugal innovations propel the economic growth (“Frugal innovations seminar | DWIH.IN,” n.d.)? How can we set the pace for a frugal economy with cohesive application across sectors (Prabhu, 2017) and identify its drivers and consequences (Liu & Wei, 2018)? Can the digital platform based frugal solutions (Ahuja & Chan, 2016) provide emerging economies with an opportunity to play on its strengths? How can frugal innovations strengthen the “circular economy” movement (Agarwal & Brem, 2017)? How can frugality be embedded into policymaking (Bhaduri, Sinha, & Knorringa, 2018) for social inclusion (Tiwari & De Waal, 2018) and larger good? As an outcome, can frugal approach to innovation help us find solutions to the vexing problems and set a tone for a sustainable future of this planet?
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Agarwal, N., & Brem, A. (2017). Frugal innovation-past, present, and future. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 45(3), 37–41.
Agarwal, N., Brem, A., & Grottke, M. (2018). Towards a higher socio-economic impact through shared understanding of product requirements in emerging markets: The case of the Indian healthcare innovations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 135, 91–98.
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Bhatti, Y. A. (2014). Frugal innovation: social entrepreneurs’ perceptions of innovation under institutional voids, resource scarcity and affordability constraints.
Brem, A., & Wolfram, P. (2014). Research and development from the bottom up-introduction of terminologies for new product development in emerging markets. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 3(1), 9.
Cascio, W. F. (2006). Decency means more than “always low prices”: A comparison of Costco to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s club. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(3), 26–37.
Chliova, M., & Ringov, D. (2017). Scaling impact: Template development and replication at the base of the pyramid. Academy of Management Perspectives, 31(1), 44–62.
Fishman, C. (2006). The Wal-Mart effect and a decent society: who knew shopping was so important? Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(3), 6–25.
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George, G., Schillebeeckx, S. J., & Liak, T. L. (2015). The management of natural resources: An overview and research agenda.
Grover, A., Caulfield, P., & Roehrich, K. (2014). Frugal innovation in healthcare and its applicability to developed markets. In British Academy of Management.
Hossain, M. (2018). Frugal innovation: a review and research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 926–936.
Kaur, R. (2016). The innovative Indian: Common man and the politics of jugaad culture. Contemporary South Asia, 24(3), 313–327.
Knorringa, P., Peša, I., Leliveld, A., & Van Beers, C. (2016). Frugal innovation and development: Aides or adversaries? The European Journal of Development Research, 28(2), 143–153.
Kumar, H., & Bhaduri, S. (2014). Jugaad to grassroot innovations: understanding the landscape of the informal sector innovations in India. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 6(1), 13–22.
Lee, A., & McNamee, R. (2014). In search of a theoretical framework for reverse innovations. 2014, 16863. Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510.
Leliveld, A., & Knorringa, P. (2018). Introduction: Frugal Innovation and Development Research. European Journal of Development Research, 30(1), 1–16.
Liu, Y., & Wei, J. (2018). Frugal Innovation in Resource-Constrained Emerging Markets. 2018, 11629. Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510.
Nair, A., Guldiken, O., Fainshmidt, S., & Pezeshkan, A. (2015). Innovation in India: A review of past research and future directions. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32(4), 925–958.
Prabhu, J. (2017). Frugal innovation: doing more with less for more. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 375(2095), 20160372.
Prabhu, J., & Jain, S. (2015). Innovation and entrepreneurship in India: Understanding jugaad. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32(4), 843–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-015-9445-9
Radjou, N., & Euchner, J. (2016). The Principles of Frugal Innovation: An Interview with Navi Radjou: Navi Radjou talks with Jim Euchner about jugaad and frugal innovation and their place in corporate R&D. Research-Technology Management, 59(4), 13–20.
Radjou, N., Prabhu, J., & Ahuja, S. (2012). Jugaad innovation: Think frugal, be flexible, generate breakthrough growth. John Wiley & Sons.
Rao, B. C. (2013). How disruptive is frugal? Technology in Society, 35(1), 65–73.
Rosca, E., Reedy, J., & Bendul, J. C. (2018). Does frugal innovation enable sustainable development? A systematic literature review. The European Journal of Development Research, 30(1), 136–157.
Soni, P., & T. Krishnan, R. (2014). Frugal innovation: aligning theory, practice, and public policy. Journal of Indian Business Research, 6(1), 29–47.
Tiwari, R., & De Waal, G. A. (2018). Frugal Innovations for Food Security: An Australian Case Study. ISPIM Innovation Symposium, 1–20. The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).
Tiwari, R., Fischer, L., & Kalogerakis, K. (2017). Frugal innovation in Germany?: a qualitative analysis of potential socio-economic impacts [Working Paper]. https://doi.org/10.15480/882.1369
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