Jugaad Innovation:Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth

Innovation is a major directive at corporations worldwide. But how do you drive innovation and growth as the global business landscape becomes increasingly unpredictable and diverse? Western corporations can no longer just rely on the old formula that sustained innovation and growth for decades: a mix of top-down strategies, expensive R&D projects, and rigid, highly structured innovation processes.

Instead, our summary of Jugaad Innovation, by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, and Simone Ahuja, argues that the West must look to places like India, China, and Africa for a new, bottom-up approach to frugal and flexible innovation.

Radjou is an independent innovation and leadership consultant based in Palo Alto, California, and a fellow at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Prabhu is professor of Indian business and enterprise and director of the Centre for India & Global Business at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. And Ahuja is the founder of Blood Orange, a marketing and strategy consultancy with content production capabilities headquartered in Minneapolis and Mumbai.

Building on their deep experience of innovation practices with companies in the United States and around the world, the authors articulate how jugaad — a Hindi word meaning an improvised solution born from ingenuity and cleverness — is leading dramatic growth in emerging markets.

This groundbreaking summary explains why the time is right for jugaad to emerge as a powerful business tool in the West — and how you can bring the jugaad mindset and practices to your organization so you can succeed in our hypercompetitive world.