Frugal innovation: models, means, methods

"To date, books on low-cost or 'frugal innovation' have been practitioner-oriented and largely based on anecdotal evidence. This ground-breaking book provides a scholarly understanding of frugal innovation, drawing on empirical research. The resulting theoretical framework provides a basis from which readers can parse the voluminous literature on this increasingly popular and ubiquitous but under-theorized set of ideas and practices, and paves the way for further academic research in the fields of social innovation, social entrepreneurship and development studies. The book's models and metrics enable practitioners and policymakers to identify and evaluate frugal innovations. Furthermore, given increasing competition from low-cost global competitors, its findings demonstrate to business leaders how they can use frugal innovation to become globally competitive, with the end goal of improving lives for everyone, everywhere"--

"Over the last few years, frugal innovation has been widely cited in popular literature and has gained the attention of innovation scholars, practitioners and policymakers. However, many claims have been based on conjecture or anecdotal evidence at best, relying on a handful of cases, which have been described and discussed many times over. This book aims to be one of the most extensive and in-depth empirical studies of this loosely understood phenomenon"--

Foreword / Anita McGahan -- Part I. Models of Frugal Innovation -- 1. Outline of the Context, Literature and Methodology -- 2. Conceptualising innovation: MODEL 1 -- 3. Conceptualising innovation under constraints: Model 2 -- Part II. Towards a Theory of Frugal Innovation -- 4. Integrative Results and Theory Development -- 5. Test of Models Using Seconday Cases -- 6. Emerging Concepts in Innovation -- 7. Implications for Research, Practice and Policy -- Conclusion -- Part III. Tools for Practice and Research -- Appendix A. Toolkit to Identify and Categorise Frugal Innovations -- Appendix B. Lessons from the Frugal Innovation Lab -- Appendix C. Detailed Research Methodology and Design.