Frugal innovation

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

Principles of frugal innovation and its application by social entrepreneurs in times of adversity: an inductive single-case approach

Abstract: Purpose: This study aims to focus on implementing frugal innovation and its principles by social entrepreneurs to face the challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper discusses the case of an Indian social entrepreneur who works for menstrual health and hygiene of unprivileged and rural women in India. The social entrepreneur’s constant endeavor is to create an ecosystem to ensure rural women’s economic and social upliftment through financial inclusion and livelihood training. When faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the social entrepreneur re-purposed the manufacturing process to produce masks that were the need of the hour. Design/methodology/approach: The research paper is qualitative and follows an inductive case study approach. The underlying principles of frugal innovation are established through content analysis of the social entrepreneur’s interviews and her team members. Findings: The study discusses how adversity can be an opportunity for social entrepreneurs by implementing frugal innovation principles, i.e. re-use, re-purpose, re-combine and rapidity, in times of crisis. Research limitations/implications: One of the major limitations of this study is that it is based on a single case study, as, in the current scenario, this case appeared to be the most suitable one. There is no way to generalize the assumptions of this model. Researchers will have to study the phenomena of frugal innovation in adversity across multiple cases in the future. Also, the study is based on a single emerging economy, i.e. India. Further research may be carried out with such cases from other countries. Practical implications: The proposition of this research paper will help new and established social entrepreneurs understand that the four principles of frugal innovation and their practical application by a social entrepreneur. This will act as a guiding light for the present and future entrepreneurs regarding how one can respond to a crisis. This will also help advance our understanding of the distinct ways in which social entrepreneurs’ activities can help society in times of crisis. The findings of this research paper provide timely implications for social entrepreneurs. To respond efficiently to various crises, it is important to consider its effect on social entrepreneurship. Social implications: The research paper shows that the social enterprise has implemented frugal innovation principles to manufacture the COVID-19 protection items supplied through existing supply chain networks. Also, a social entrepreneur is not intimidated by the sudden changes in the business environment;instead, they look at the situation as an opportunity to do something new. They are always willing to take the risk to innovate a solution that will address people’s problems. frugal innovation, due to its highly collaborative nature and its ability to make the most from limited resources, is the only way social entrepreneurs can create an inclusive, secure and sustainable future. Originality/value: There are several challenges in social entrepreneurship, especially in emerging economies like India. During the pandemic, availability of resources was the major challenge, due to which social entrepreneurs had to find solutions through frugal innovation. This paper provides the practical application of the four principles of frugal innovation implemented by a social enterprise to manufacture and supply Covid protection items. It also presents the practical and managerial implications of the principles of frugal innovation by social entrepreneurs in low resource settings. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Frugal Knowledge Sharing for Frugal Innovation Diffusion in Africa: The Church Woman and Related Models

Abstract: This study explores mechanisms of frugal knowledge sharing for frugal innovation diffusion drawing upon concepts from social capital and diffusion of innovation theories. Three frugal innovations projects from Uganda, Malawi, and Ethiopia are used to undertake a preliminary appraisal of a proposed theoretical model. The study identifies a frugal knowledge sharing mechanism based on “The Church lady model”. From a practice perspective, the study informs how to leverage social capital to facilitate frugal knowledge sharing. Insights drawn from this study cover the surrounding network structure, mode of communication, frugal knowledge sharing modalities, and the opportunity for combination and exchange to spark varied frugal IS innovation projects. From a research point of view, it serves as a basis for frugal knowledge management for frugal innovation diffusion in an African context.

A Proposed Instrument for Measuring Frugal Innovation: The First Stage of Development a New Scale

Abstract: In both academia and the press, Frugal Innovation has been gaining more space and attention from researchers and managers, mainly for showing itself as an alternative for competitiveness in times o...

The making and sustaining of leaders in health care.

Abstract: Many nations are focussing on health care’s Triple Aim (quality, overall community health and reduced cost) with only moderate success. Traditional leadership learning programmes have been based on a taught curriculum, but the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate more modern approaches through procedures and tools.,This study evolved from grounded and activity theory foundations (using semi-structured interviews with ten senior healthcare executives and qualitative analysis) which describe obstructions to progress. The study began with the premise that quality and affordable health care are dependent upon collaborative innovation. The growth of new leaders goes from skills to procedures and tools, and from training to development.,This paper makes “frugal innovation” recommendations which while not costly in a financial sense, do have practical and social implications relating to the Triple Aim. The research also revealed largely externally driven health care systems under duress suffering from leadership shortages.,The study centred primarily on one Canadian community health care services’ organisation. Since healthcare provision is place-based (contextual), the findings may not be universally applicable, maybe not even to an adjacent community.,The paper dismisses outdated views of the synonymity of leadership and management, while encouraging clinicians to assume leadership roles.,This paper demonstrates how health care leadership can be developed and sustained.

Frugal innovation in supply chain cooperation considering e-retailer’s platform value

Abstract: E-retailers have recently paid close attention to frugal innovation in their supply chains. However, there are few studies on frugal innovation considering the e-retailer’s platform value raised by the increase in the platform user scale. Motivated by industrial practice, we consider a supply chain consisting of an e-retailer and a manufacturer in the context of frugal innovation, where the platform value of the retailer is characterized by Metcalfe’s law. We use game models to investigate the frugal product price and optimal degree of frugality decisions for the centralized, decentralized, retailer-led revenue-sharing contract and bargaining revenue-sharing contract scenarios. Our results indicate that the bargaining revenue-sharing contract can improve the frugal degree of the development-intensive frugal product (DIFP), while the frugal degree of the marginal cost-intensive frugal product (MIFP) cannot be improved by cooperation in the supply chain. We then compare the supply chain profit, the platform value of the retailer and the profit of the manufacturer in different scenarios. The results show that the centralized scenario is the optimal scenario where the platform retailer implements vertical integration strategy. Otherwise, establishing strategic partnership through the bargaining revenue-sharing contract is suboptimal for both the platform retailer and the manufacturer.