Approach for a Pattern-Based Development of Frugal Innovations

In 1980, almost 80% of global gross goods turnover was generated in industrialized countries. Since then, this share has been steadily declining; by 2013, almost 40% of gross goods turnover had already been converted to developing and emerging countries (McKinsey Global Institute, 2015). In recent years, markets in developing and emerging countries have thus increasingly become the focus of international companies (Högl & Weiss, 2014). However, customers in these markets are much more price-sensitive and demand products and services that are adapted to their local needs. One of the most common names for such products and services is the term frugal innovations (Basu et al., 2013; The Economist, 2010), but see Box 1 for a list of related terms. Besides the redesigning of products, the adaptation of the entire value chain and of the business model is equally important for frugal innovations (The Economist, 2010). We define frugal innovations in accordance with Eagar and colleagues (2011), Tiwari and Herstatt (2014), and Lehner (2016):