Man and Nature:  Perspectives on Sustainability from East Asian Philosophy

This article provides a conceptual rationale for environmental sustainability derived from Taoist and Buddhist philosophies. Our goal as a society should be to jointly enhance the quality of human lifestyles and the natural environment, not just one or the other. Innovations in this area can have a nonlinear or exponential impact.

Innovation, Suffocation & Trump Nation

Innovation at best is like watering a nice healthy plant, making it grow and blossom; however, watering without the plant is just getting the dirt wet. Nothing happens. Currently, all over the world and with more than 100 major innovation themed events yearly, complete with great photo opportunities for local and national leadership, most nations have little to show for these super expensive efforts. It seems that we talk a lot about innovation and find ourselves stuck in the suffocation of great ideas. And, suddenly the Trump nation erupts on a high note!

Three Megatrends that will Affect Everybody’s Business

The future is hard to predict and a lot of “experts” regularly get it wrong. However, there are some facts so important and trends so inevitable that leaders would be ill-advised to ignore and not try to anticipate. Here are three of many future megatrends that will not necessarily determine what will happen, but will most likely have a big impact on everybody’s business in the coming years to decades.

2020-03-30T11:56:36-07:00September 29th, 2015|Categories: Enabling Factors|Tags: , , , |

Jugaad Innovation

Studying how companies in the emerging markets innovate can offer Western engineers and designers important inspiration, and challenge them to develop products that are much cheaper. Such “frugal solutions” will become increasingly important in order to stay relevant in the stagnant markets of the West – as well as for the upcoming global middle class of developing countries. This study focuses on the “jugaad” innovation of India.

Jugaad: Lessons in Frugal Innovation

Resourcefulness amid serious constraints is known in India as ‘Jugaad.’ In this article, Accenture’s Mitali Sharma suggests this simple concept — which gave birth to a $2,500 car, a $12 solar lamp, and a life-saving incubator made from car parts — might be the antidote to the complexity plaguing your innovation process.

India’s Emergence as an Innovation Mecca

A mega-trend in innovation is reverse innovation. Reverse or frugal innovation describes innovations originally developed and/or adopted in the developing world which later become prominent in mature world markets. It is an interesting trend that is introducing a new perspective to innovation. It is based on the idea ‘jugaad’, which describes activity in India to adapt existing solutions using low cost technology.

Discover New Possibilities with Reverse Innovation

Before the radical shifts in technology disrupt the industry fabric, there exists a great potential to appropriate value from the market through incremental product and business model innovations. The less intense the competition, less matured the market - larger is the potential. The emerging markets of the world the BRICs (where s could stand for the plurality as well as South Africa), have long been projected as the markets to invest in.

Unleashing Innovations for Sustainability: An Indian Perspective

In this article, Professor Archana Patankar takes an overview of innovations for environment in India, with specific focus on innovative ideas, technologies and programmes in the water and energy sector. It also brings forth the fact that environmental/green innovations are absolutely necessary to move towards the sustainable development pathways.

Collaborating Downstream in Emerging Markets

Not so long ago, internal R&D activities were considered one of the most valuable assets a company could have. The rather “outmoded” concept of closed innovation, in contrast to open innovation, was built on self-reliance and on the principle that successful innovation required control and secrecy.

Innovating Products, Processes and Business Models in India

Over the past few years, innovation in India as a corporate theme has constantly gained importance, becoming a prerequisite for long-term success, or maybe even survival, due to the discontinuous pace of change of the environment. Thus, innovation has now reached for some companies as a corporate priority, affecting every single aspect of an organisation.

Learning to Trade and to Innovate at the Base of the Pyramid

Is sustainable business the missing link in alleviating poverty and boosting global trade and prosperity? If so, how should companies exploit this opportunity in practice? Louise Koch, Danish Anthropologist and Business Innovator, talks about best practice, mindsets and resources for sustainable, people-centred innovation in developing countries.