scholarly journals Key capabilities for frugal innovation in developed economies: insights into the current transition towards sustainability

Author(s):  
José Ángel López-Sánchez ◽  
María Leticia Santos-Vijande
Author(s):  
Jaideep Prabhu

The global economy will face significant challenges over the next few decades. On the one hand, it must meet the needs of 7 billion consumers (growing to 9 billion by 2050), including the currently unmet basic needs of large numbers in developing countries in areas such as food, energy, housing and health. On the other hand, it must achieve this growth without exceeding the resources available on the planet or causing environmental devastation. This paper argues that such change is possible through a systemic shift to a frugal economy that involves radical, frugal innovation across sectors. Such a transformation will involve the participation of large and small firms, consumers and governments alike. The paper introduces the notion of frugal innovation—the creation of faster, better and cheaper solutions for more people that employ minimal resources—and discusses strategies and examples of such change already taking place in core sectors like manufacturing, food, automotive and energy in developing and developed economies. It also outlines the role of the interaction between large and small firms as well as between firms and consumers in making change possible, as well as the role of governments in driving change where market mechanisms alone will not suffice. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’.


2021 ◽  
pp. 44-57
Author(s):  
Joanna Markiewicz ◽  
◽  
Piotr Niedzielski ◽  

Purpose – The aim of the article is to present the use of virtual reality [VR] technology as a cost-effective method of training and improving employee competences. Thus, the article indicates the use of VR as an example of frugal innovation, which contributes to increasing the competitiveness of enterprises through cheap and effective methods of educating human resources. Research method – The research method is based on two main areas – theoretical and empirical. In theoretical considerations, a literature review was conducted, presenting theoretical issues that explain the idea of building competitiveness based on the implementation of innovations, including frugal innovations. The empirical dimension was explained by presenting a case study of VR technology applications in personnel training. Results – The use of VR solutions should be considered as a frugal innovation, as it contributes to the reduction of training costs and at the same time significantly improves the safety of training participants. Originality /value / implications /recommendations – Frugal innovations, whose roots are to be found in emerging markets, quickly aroused the interest of the scientific world in the context of a new approach to management in organizations operating in developed economies. There is still no comprehensive literature on the use of cost-effective innovations in modern enterprises, especially in the context of human resources training. The article fills this gap.


Author(s):  
Abhinav CHATURVEDI ◽  
Alf REHN

Innovation is one of the most popular concepts and desired phenomena of contemporary Western capitalism. As such, there is a perennial drive to capture said phenomena, and particularly to find new ways to incite and drive the same. In this text, we analyze one specific tactic through which this is done, namely by the culturally colonial appropriation of indigenous knowledge systems. By looking to how jugaad, a system   of   frugal   innovation   in   India,   has been   made   into   fodder   for   Western management literature, we argue for the need of a more developed innovation critique, e.g., by looking to postcolonial theory.


Author(s):  
Nabil EL HILALI

If design management is worldwide institutionalized especially in developed economies, little is known about African design even though the continent is becoming an attractive economy thanks to his exponential growth and more political stability. Oriented toward one specific country: Morocco, this study through a questioning embedded in institutional theory brings an overview about design in a specific context. This research captures design management emergence in Morocco by spotting the light on the state of design institutionalization toward the creation of design value.


Author(s):  
Basma Kashmoola ◽  
Fais Ahmad ◽  
Yeoh Khar Kheng

Recently construction companies and real state of SMEs sector of Dubai, reported that they have a combine shortfall of skilled staff of up to 500,000.  In addition to that, recently tourism industry of UAE, one of the most dominating service sectors also reported the severe shortage of qualified hospitality staffs. The shortage of workforce in the industry is one of the major causes of unfair distribution of work load and also an unjust compensation and reward system in the overall industry.  The supply and demand of workforces is also one of the crucial predictor factors for job satisfaction and may lead to quit their job or to migration.While examining the various factors that may affect employee’s intention to leave, many research findings confirmed that job satisfaction caused the highest variance on to leaving intention.  To get the deeper analysis of the job satisfaction and its impact on employee’s intention to leave, many researchers argued that there were many facets of job satisfaction that may cause the leaving intentions and therefore job satisfaction has been considered a variables composed of multiple factors. It is evident that there are many studies had been conducted to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and employees leaving intentions. However, not many studies on the same line have been fully addressed in small and medium size firms in UAE working setting and also most of the studies sampling strategies had focused in industries in developed economies.  Therefore, it is believed to be a gap in the literature in the context of the job satisfaction and intent to leave in SMEs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mohd Nizam Barom

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry // // // // // Social, ethical and environmental concerns have been used as important consideration for investment decision by an increasing number of investors. This can be seen by the size and growth of the socially responsible investment (SRI) industry in the developed economies. At the same time, scholars and commentators of Islamic finance have also called for Islamic investment industry to learn from the experience of SRI in incorporating social responsibility issues in the investment process, in line with the ethical principles of Islam and the overall objective of the Shari’ah (Maqasid al-Shari’ah). This would require Islamic investment sector to have a clear understanding of the SRI industry in order to effectively benefit from its experience. This is particularly critical due to the significant diversity of investors and complexity in the issues and strategies adopted in the SRI industry. Hence, this paper adds to the Islamic investment literature by providing an extensive  and systematic survey of SRI industry in terms of its (i) underlying motivations and values; (ii) issues of concerns; (iii) types of investors; and (iv) screening strategies. It then synthesizes these components within the context of the ‘value-based’ investors. This synthesized framework offers a useful tool for Islamic investment practitioners to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of SRI. Subsequently, the paper highlights important implications of the findings for Islamic investment industry in terms of the issues that it needs to consider in emulating SRI practices and a number of lessons that it can learn from the SRI experience.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 935-945
Author(s):  
I.A. Zaikova

Subject. The working time of workers at any stage of economic development is a value reflecting the level of labor productivity. Any progress in productivity contributes to changes in the volume of labor costs and the number of employed. Depending on the relationship between the total volume of labor costs and the number of employed, the duration of working time per one worker may change (it may increase, decrease, or remain unchanged). Objectives. The study aims to confirm the importance of such a macroeconomic indicator as the number of employed in varying working hours. Methods. The study rests on the comparative analysis of countries with developed economies based on some indicators like dynamics of the working time fund, dynamics of the number of employed, average number of hours worked during the year per employee, etc. The analyzed timespan is 25 years (from 1991 to 2016). Results. The comparative analysis revealed that in the non-production sphere and the economy as a whole the macroeconomic determinants correlate so that the length of working time per worker reduces. When considering the analysis results for the manufacturing sector, no single trend was identified. Conclusions. One of the key factors affecting the change in working hours is the number of employed. The relationship between the working time fund and the number of employed directly determines the dynamics of working time per worker.


2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paloma Fernández Pérez ◽  
Eleanor Hamilton

This  study  contributes  to  developing  our understanding of gender and family business. It draws on studies from the business history and management literatures and provides an interdisciplinary synthesis. It illuminates the role of women and their participation in the entrepreneurial practices of the family and the business. Leadership is introduced as a concept to examine the roles of women and men in family firms, arguing that concepts used  by  historians or economists like ownership and management have served to make women ‘invisible’, at least in western developed economies in which owners and managers have been historically due to legal rules  of  the  game  men,  and  minoritarily women. Finally, it explores gender relations and  the  notion  that  leadership  in  family business  may  take  complex  forms  crafte within constantly changing relationships.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Andres Ballesteros ◽  
Carlos Esteban Posada

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