Write an article on frugal innovation: what is the difference between frugal innovation and reverse innovation does reverse innovation represent a threat or opportunities for western companies Paper must be at least 1000 words. Please, no plagiarized work! ing the needs of the markets and the income levels there, and then come up with rather cheap but quality products that can be affordable to the majority of the customers there (Radjou and Prabhu, 2013, para 1-6). The Unilever Company sets a good example while serving the surging populations in Africa, Brazil, India, and China. Other examples include the Tata group and the Coca Cola Company. Majorly, the products design for developed countries are less fit in affordability to the developing countries’ markets.
The cost and the technology may sometimes not be convenient for the less developed economies. In these regards, products that are already designed and produced in the developed economies are only left for use in these countries. Innovation goes a notch higher by going into the developing economies and then by adopting cheaper technology, products are designed that are purposely meant for them (Singh, Sotiropoulos and Duckworth, 2012, 7).
It is done to minimize the production cost, and hence the prices are lower to fit the developing markets (Bound and Thornton, 2012, 6). It is common with durable goods such as telecommunication appliances e.g. radio calls, mobile phones, and accessories, vehicles, etc. This innovation is characterized by the downward movement from the developed countries into the less developed ones.” Tata Nano” is such an innovation where the Tata group designed the vehicle in India targeting the growing middle class population of India. The vehicle is cheap, affordable and well designed to meet family needs and yet uses cheap technology. Need to access the developing markets may push developed countries to venture into frugal innovation (Zeschky, Widenmayer and Gassmann, 2011, 43-44). In other instances, this innovation also ascertains better quality for products due to advanced technology in use by these developed nations.