Corporate and Grassroot Frugal Innovation: A Comparison of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Strategies

Abstract

Frugal innovations aim at the development of basic solutions that are affordable for price- sensitive customer groups. This article looks at the similarities and differences between two major approaches, corporate and grassroot frugal innovation, and identifies initial ideas on how the two streams can learn from each other. The three pillars of sustainability (econom- ic, environmental, and social) provide one of the guidelines for the comparison. The re- search is based on an analysis of case studies from various industries, six of which are presented in this article