Katharina Kalogerakis

Frugal Innovation and Analogies: Some Propositions for Product Development in Emerging Economies

Frugal products and services aim at satisfying the unsaturated demand of a large and growing middle class in many emerging economies. Although research has been conducted in regard to the strategic importance of frugal innovations, so far, the actual development process of such innovations has not been looked into in detail. Some examples show that inventive analogies are used to develop frugal innovations. For instance, the development of a frugal artificial heart was based on the heart structure of cockroaches, which led to a reduction of costs by 20 times. The aim of this paper is to examine the use of inventive analogies in creating frugal solutions and their impact on project results. Based on three explorative case studies from India, the authors generate preliminary evidence that analogies can make a significant impact on the successful development of innovations in environments that are characterized by severe resource constraints and high price-sensitivity. Furthermore, the inherent aim of frugal innovations to create radically new solutions with very restricted resources seems to stimulate the application of inventive analogies. The results point to some valuable learnings in regard to an effective employment of analogies. Besides, useful insights for companies that want to exploit market opportunities in the emerging economies are generated.

Frugal Innovation: An Assessment of Scholarly Discourse, Trends and Potential Societal Implications

The topic of frugal innovation is increasingly gaining relevance in social as well as scholarly discourse. Frugal innovations have been perceived by many to be a phenomenon generally confined to emerging economies where there are large groups of unserved consumers with unmet needs. But there is increasing evidence that this phenomenon is getting relevant also in the industrialized nations potentially affecting the long-term competitiveness of domestic firms not only overseas but also at home. This paper has a twofold objective: (a) It seeks to establish the theoretical antecedents of frugal innovation by examining the scholarly discourse; and (b) It attempts to generate hypotheses about its long-term relevance by examining historical trends of frugality and their disappearance. Based upon an extensive literature review and some preliminary primary data we propose a new working definition for frugal innovation and hypothesize that frugality was a key social value with positive associations before the era of unprecedented prosperity in the industrialized world, which led to saturated markets and inter alia to feature-driven competition and over-consumption of resources. New ground realities, e.g., economic downturn in the industrialized world and the rapidly rising consumption in the economically developing world, are expected to turn frugality, once again, into an important societal value and frugal innovation into a critical success factor in mid-term future.

Frugal Innovation in Scholarly and Social Discourse: An Assessment of Trends and Potential Societal Implications

Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) (Forderprogramm: Innovations- und Technikanalyse)

Generating innovations through analogies : an empirical investigation of knowledge brokers

In this paper we explore how knowledge brokers - specialised design and engineering companies offering services to clients in diverse industries - use analogies for product development. Our research is based on interviews with project leaders of 13 knowledge brokering companies. The interviews focused on product development projects in which analogies were used. First, we categorize these cases according to the motivation to use analogies (efficiency vs. innovativeness). Second, we describe and analyse the process of using analogies. Our results show that analogies are frequently and very pragmatically applied throughout the whole development process. We also found that individual characteristics of the persons participating in such projects are the crucial factor that influences the outcome of the project.

Relevanz und Potenziale frugaler Innovationen für Österreich : Studie im Auftrag des Rates für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung, Österreich

Diese Studie wurde im Auftrag des Rats fur Forschung und Technologieentwicklung (Osterreich) durchgefuhrt.

Developing Frugal Innovations with Inventive Analogies: Preliminary Evidence from Innovations in India

Frugal products and services generally, though not exclusively, aim at satisfying the unsaturated demand of a large and growing middle class in emerging economies such as India. Although research has been conducted in regard to the strategic importance of frugal innovations, so far, there is a lack of in-depth research on the actual development process of such innovations. Some examples show that inventive analogies are used to develop frugal innovations. For instance, the development of a frugal artificial heart in India was based on the heart structure of cockroaches, which led to a reduction of costs by 20 times.

A Comparison of German and Indian innovation pathways in the auto component industry

Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung im Rahmen des Forderprogrammes ITA (Innovations- und Technikanalysen)

Frugal innovation in Germany: A qualitative analysis of potential socio-economic impacts

Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) im Rahmen des Forderprogrammes ITA (Innovations- und Technikanalyse)

Innovation pathways and trajectories in India's auto component industry

Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) im Rahmen des Forderprogrammes ITA (Innovations- und Technikanalyse)

Die kreative Kraft von Analogien

Analogien bieten die Moglichkeit vorhandenes Wissen geschickt zu kombinieren, um Innovationen zu generieren. Wenn es gelingt eine Verbindung zwischen Bereichen zu erkennen, die normalerweise nicht in Verbindung stehen, konnen durch gezielten Wissenstransfer hoch innovative Losungen entstehen.