Frugal innovation: a structured literature review of antecedents, enablers, implications and directions for future research

Abstract

Frugal Innovation (FI), a growing field in innovation and management literature, is at the forefront of economic development and growth, more importantly for developing economies. Moreover, the volatile and uncertain times during COVID-19, and the ongoing crisis calls for FI echoed by environmental, social and economic needs across the globe, thus making researchers and practitioners realize the importance of FI. The primary aim of this chapter is to comprehend the extant literature, ascertain the knowledge gaps in the current literature and identify promising future research directions in FI. Through a detailed review of the antecedents, enablers, emerging areas of application and the impact on sustainable development, we propose a conceptual framework for FI in this chapter. Despite the vastness of this market, we argue that there is a huge potential of FI, which presents a prodigious opportunity in the underdeveloped markets to serve and identify fortunes at the bottom of the pyramid. This study links FI closely with concepts like ‘reverse innovation’, ‘sustainability’, ‘circular economy’, ‘digital effectuation’ and offers insights for scaling up FI from developing to developed economies.