Frugal products and services aim at satisfying the unsaturated demand of a large and growing middle class in many emerging economies. Although research has been conducted in regard to the strategic importance of frugal innovations, so far, the actual development process of such innovations has...

Analogies can trigger breakthrough ideas in new product development. Numerous examples demonstrate that substantial innovations often result from transferring problem solutions from one industry or domain to another. For instance, the designers of the new running show generation of Nike, "Nike...

Recent years have seen the emergence of low-cost innovations targeted at economically weaker sections of the society, seeking to align business with social welfare. In many instances, results on the ground have been, however, rather sobering as firms have generally (probably justifiably) worried...

Within this paper we examine the strategic perspective of the emerging phenomenon of performance-oriented systems (e.g. car-sharing, cloud computing). Based on twenty-seven system examples from four industries, we derive six founding propositions that delineate their strategic characteristics...

Prior research on user innovation has concentrated on markets in which products (e.g., mountain bikes, kitesurfing equipment, tools, etc.) are typically purchased by those users who modify them. However, in numerous markets, this is not the case, for example, those in which equipment is rented....

The trend of population aging is affecting an increasing number of countries around the world, especially advanced economies. One consequence of a growing population share of aged persons is a shift in consumer needs, reflected by a rising number of products and services designed particularly...

High-tech, German companies are facing a curious problem: their products are reportedly too good for the expanding global markets. So in a way they get penalised for offering a superlative quality. At a second glance, though, this doesn't seem surprising. For, succeeding in the emerging markets...

This study builds on our previous work, which had questioned the validity of certain assumptions of the lead market theory in the face of changing ground realities in a globalized world. Sustained economic growth and proven technological capabilities in some emerging economies like China and...