Understanding managers perspectives in the face of global socio-economic shifts – towards an instrument to measure the recognition of opportunities for frugal innovation
Addressing the growing global middle class and emerging markets with fitting products offer large business opportunities for companies worldwide. Frugal innovation is an innovation concept that has resulted in successful cases of products for these markets that are characterized by a substantial cost reduction, concentration on core functionalities and an optimized performance level. Previous research suggests that a frugal mindset is needed in the organization and its members to enable the successful development of frugal innovations in firms. Operationalizing the frugal mindset for organizations is, therefore, an important step in enabling companies to innovate frugally. A systematic literature review and focus group discussion were performed to identify key influencing factors on the decision-making of individuals towards frugal innovation projects in organizations. The literature review identified influencing factors, which were then discussed and extended with 16 experts, practitioners and stakeholders from the field of frugal innovations in a focus group. This study identified 32 key influencing factors that are relevant for the initiation and performance of frugal innovation projects in organizations. The results of this study offer implications for academic research on frugal innovations and the frugal mindset as well as managerial implications for organizations looking to engage in frugal innovations.
