From lean towards frugal product development

Abstract

Frugal innovation is considered as a disruptive growth strategy for businesses that focuses on the utilization of limited resources of rural areas. Similarly, lean management targets to develop new products in accordance with the customer requirements while managing the wastage. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight a pathway to frugal product development through lean management experiences. This is particularly of interest to developing territories and rural areas due to their innate characteristics. The analysis highlighted that innovation ideas have high diffusion rates if the product configuration is properly conducted. Despite the common objectives of lean and frugal development, this chapter investigates distinguishing features and conducts a comparison of both methodologies in order to provide specific guidance for companies that follow lean management to capture the benefits of frugal product development.