Systematic Review - Network for Business Sustainability

appendix 6: frugal, reverse and social innovations
Frugal, reverse, and social innovations are important areas of exploration for companies.
This table details recent examples.
INNOVATION INNOVATOR DESCRIPTION SOURCE
Tata Nano Tata Motors Ltd. The world’s cheapest car Ray and Ray (2011)
Tata Ace Tata Motors Ltd. A small commercial vehicle costing 50 per cent less than
any other four-wheeled commercial vehicle in India
Tata Swach Tata Chemicals Ltd. The world’s cheapest household water purification
system
Solar-powered Automated
Teller Machine
Vortex Engineering
(India)
Addresses local conditions, namely unreliable power
supply and end users’ higher illiteracy levels
ChotuKool refrigerator Godrej & Boyce Small size, high-end insulation, battery-operated
capability and portability are design responses to the
local context
Weighing scale Mettler Toledo Limited functionality, sufficient accuracy, conventional
materials, high reliability
Portable ultrasound
machine
GE Simple functions, standard laptop for data processing
and imaging unit, support of local language, portable,
easy to use
Computer mouse M215 Logitech Simple functions, established technologies (e.g. USB
dongle, wireless connection), basic packaging, ease of
use
Bedside patient
monitoring system
Computed tomography
(CT) scanner
Philips Simple functions, robust design, high reliability, ease of
use
Siemens Simple functions, designed for intensive use and fast
workflow, high reliability, ease of use
Tiwari and Herstatt (2012)
Tiwari and Herstatt (2012)
Tiwari and Herstatt (2012)
Tiwari and Herstatt (2012);
Bhatti and Ventresca (2012)
Zeschky et al. (2011)
Zeschky et al. (2011);
Immelt et al. (2009)
Zeschky et al. (2011)
Zeschky et al. (2011)
Zeschky et al. (2011)
Micro-finance Grameen Microloans Bhatti and Ventresca (2012)
Intraocular lens Aravind Eye Hospital AuroraLab’s $5 intraocular lens Bhatti and Ventresca (2012)
Suzuki Maruti Suzuki Low-priced car for developed markets Kang et al. (2009)
$800 cardiac surgery Narayana Hrudayalaya
Hospital Bangalore
Application of mass-production techniques to heart
surgery
Zhongxing X-ray machine Zhongxing Medical At $20K, approximately 1/20th price of Western X-ray
machines through designing out extraneous functionality
Bhatti and Ventresca (2012)
Sehgal et al. (2010)
Aakash Tablet DataWind $35 tablet for India’s school children Bhatti and Ventresca (2012)
Innovating for Sustainability 93