Frugal innovation

About: Frugal innovation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 472 publications have been published within this topic receiving 9290 citations.

How much can we influence the rate of innovation

Abstract: Innovation is how organizations drive technological change, but the rate of innovation can vary considerably from one technological domain to another. To understand why some domains flourish more rapidly than others, we studied a model of innovation in which products are built out of components. We derived a conservation law for the average size of the product space as more components are acquired and tested our insights using historical data from language, gastronomy, mixed drinks, and technology. We find that the innovation rate is partly influenceable and partly predetermined, similar to how traits are partly set by nurture and partly set by nature. The predetermined aspect is fixed solely by the distribution of the complexity of products in each domain. Different distributions can produce markedly different innovation rates. This helps explain why some domains show faster innovation than others, despite similar efforts to accelerate them. Our insights also give a quantitative perspective on lean methodology, frugal innovation, and mechanisms to encourage tinkering.

Mobile training in micro business: Design science research for frugal innovation

Abstract: The loan relationship between micro finance institutions (MFI) and micro businesses (MB) is crucial for the growth of small and micro businesses in Tanzania. Increase of smartphone ownership has opened possibilities to support small businesses with technology innovation. Our previous research has shown that the training services offered by MFIs to MBs face a number of challenges, for example poor attendace due to time and travel constraints. In this design science research (DSR) study, we engaged a team of a total of 50 MB and MFI owners, together with local software specialists and researchers, and designed a simple mobile application for delivery of learning materials, contextualised for the needs of MFIs and MBs. This paper describes the progress of this project, the developed prototypes, observations gained in each phase of the project, and recommendations for future research.

Frugal innovation and its application in manufacturing networks

Abstract: The newcomer concept of Frugal Innovation is moving towards turning the drawback of resources constraints into an advantage by adapting to local market requirements, resulting in a new business model through low cost and high customer value solutions. Current literature has mainly focused on the theory and characteristics of Frugal Innovation, while only limited work regarding its practical application is observed. Therefore, this work presents a framework, which by supporting regional customization and near-optimum production network generation via advanced information and communications technology (ICT) tools, aims to facilitate the implementation of frugal innovation in manufacturing.

Discovering frugal innovations through delivering early childhood home-visiting interventions in low-resource tribal communities.

Abstract: Early childhood home-visiting has been shown to yield the greatest impact for the lowest income, highest disparity families. Yet, poor communities generally experience fractured systems of care, a paucity of providers, and limited resources to deliver intensive home-visiting models to families who stand to benefit most. This article explores lessons emerging from the recent Tribal Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) legislation supporting delivery of home-visiting interventions in low-income, hard-to-reach American Indian and Alaska Native communities. We draw experience from four diverse tribal communities that participated in the Tribal MIECHV Program and overcame socioeconomic, geographic, and structural challenges that called for both early childhood home-visiting services and increased the difficulty of delivery. Key innovations are described, including unique community engagement, recruitment and retention strategies, expanded case management roles of home visitors to overcome fragmented care systems, contextual demands for employing paraprofessional home visitors, and practical advances toward streamlined evaluation approaches. We draw on the concept of "frugal innovation" to explain how the experience of Tribal MIECHV participation has led to more efficient, effective, and culturally informed early childhood home-visiting service delivery, with lessons for future dissemination to underserved communities in the United States and abroad.