scholarly journals Innovating with Limited Resources: The Antecedents and Consequences of Frugal Innovation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quan Cai ◽  
Ying Ying ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Wei Wu

Frugal innovation is a resource scarce solution for emerging market firms. Based upon the resource-constrained innovation perspective, this research theoretically explores and empirically examines the drivers and consequences of frugal innovation. The results of a firm-level survey show that two types of frugal innovation (cost innovation and affordable value innovation) positively affect the performance of emerging-market firms. We also address the issues of how emerging-market firms deal with institutional, technological, and market constraints in emerging markets, and we show how these constraints drive frugal innovation. We find that emerging-market firms with higher levels of capability for institutional leverage and bricolage, and firms that face perceived dysfunctional competition, tend to generate more affordable, value-added new products. Overall, these findings have important implications for emerging-market firms seeking to conduct frugal innovation in resource-constrained emerging markets.

Author(s):  
TeWhan Hahn ◽  
Ravi Chinta

We investigated the changes in behaviors of firms in emerging markets in response to the U.S. economic recession and the impact of those changes in strategic behaviors on subsequent periods’ operating performances. Specifically, we adopted an event-study methodology, using a sample of emerging market firms, to investigate the nature of the effects of the U.S. economic recession on firms in emerging markets. Based on 5,887 firms in nine emerging countries, our results show that firms in emerging markets exhibit changes in strategy variables, and those changes have a significant effect on the subsequent periods’ operating performance. In addition, we found that the impact of changes in strategy variables on the subsequent periods’ operating performance is stronger among more resource-unconstrained firms than among more resource-constrained firms. We ascribe this latter finding to the lack of slack resources that are necessary to make changes in strategy variables during the aftermath of the global economic recession for more resource-constrained firms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Latif Alhassan ◽  
Nicholas Asare

Purpose This paper examines the effect of intellectual capital on bank productivity in an emerging market in Africa. Design/methodology/approach The Malmquist Productivity Index is employed to estimate productivity growth of 18 banks in Ghana from 2003 to 2011 while the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient is used to measure bank intellectual capital performance. The panel-corrected standard errors estimation technique is used to estimate a panel regression model with Malmquist Productivity Index as the dependent variable. Bank market concentration and bank size are controlled for in the regression analysis. Findings We find productivity growth to be largely driven by efficiency changes compared to technological changes. The results from the regression analysis indicate that Value Added Intellectual Coefficient has a positive effect on the productivity of banks in Ghana. We also find human capital efficiency and capital employed efficiency as the components of Value Added Intellectual Coefficient that drive productivity growth in the banking industry. Bank size and industry concentration are also identified as significant drivers of productivity in the market. Practical implications The study’s findings support investments in intellectual capital as a means of improving the performance of banks in emerging markets Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to empirically examine the relationship between intellectual capital and productivity in an emerging banking market in Africa.


Author(s):  
Seda Ekmen Özçelik

This chapter provides basic understanding of firm performance in emerging markets by focusing on labor productivity and total factor productivity. In the study, labor productivity is measured in terms of average value added per worker. Total factor productivity is obtained from estimations of Cobb-Douglas production function where value added is a function of labor and capital. Data is obtained from the firm-level Enterprise Surveys by the World Bank. According to the results, differences in average labor productivities are significant among the sectors within each emerging region. Also, the value of factor elasticities changes across sectors as well as across regions. Moreover, the elasticity of capital is lower than the elasticity of labor for all sectors in regions. It implies that labor plays a more significant role and the firms are operating in a more labor-intensive production process in emerging markets.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Nagasimha Balakrishna Kanagal

Emerging markets, as of recent times, are going through phases of liberalization towards market economies, increasing privatization, and are witnessing an emphasis of emerging markets’ governments towards globalization. There has been a rise in the contribution of emerging market firms to the economies of emerging markets. A study with a purpose to conceptualize strategic marketing issues for an emerging market firm to go global is significant, given that success in overseas marketing ventures is critical to sustain the phases of globalization. The challenge is to enter, obtain market share, and sustain in advanced economies and other emerging markets. This paper attempts to address the conceptualization and the challenge. The method of the study is to (i) define strategic marketing, outline and distinguish the different types of firms marketing overseas – international, multinational, and transnational / global; and (ii) analyze using extant literature, the aspects and issues of global entry and implementation of global marketing strategy. The study, post analysis, conceptualizes and postulates three moderating success factors, wherein consideration of these factors will aid the emerging market firm in improving its performance (i) acculturation processes in global businesses; (ii) achievement of global marketing synergies; and (iii) the importance of overcoming global negatives. Given that conditions for global entry and implementing global marketing strategy are met, and the three success moderating factors are addressed, the study recognizes that it is necessary to address the competitive forces in the global environment to be able to obtain an optimal share of the market. The study includes a discussion based on an in-depth interview with a leading garment exporter in Bangalore, India, to understand global entry and global marketing strategy implementation. In conclusion, it can be stated that that (i) an explicit process to address global negatives is required to overcome the perceptual gap of emerging market firms on deliverables; (ii) explicit attention to the achievement of global market synergies has to be given by global marketing strategists.


Author(s):  
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra ◽  
Alicia Rodríguez ◽  
C. Annique Un

This chapter analyzes the internationalization of emerging-market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) to clarify past contributions and outline suggestions for future research. We critically review the novelty of the phenomenon associated with the foreign expansion of firms from emerging markets, the new theoretical concepts introduced from analyzing these firms, and the new explanations related to their internationalization. We propose that future research can advance our understanding of these firms by studying how the underdevelopment of the home country’s economy and institutions influences firm internationalization. We specifically discuss four areas that can yield promising insights for internationalization research: frugal innovation, contractual innovation, upgrading escape, and institutional escape.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Yang

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adopt a multi-level approach to investigate what factors shape the content of emerging market firms’ foreign market entry decisions, particularly the ownership participation in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). In addition, the author would like to know if companies from emerging markets that possess higher (or lower) ownership in cross-border M&As receive higher valuation in the market. Design/methodology/approach – Using panel data of cross-border M&As by emerging market firms from 2000 to 2012, the author tests the hypothesized effects of the independent variables on the level of ownership participation; and uses a standard event study methodology to assess the market reaction of a particular cross-border M&A deal. Findings – The author finds that a country-level factor (institutional distance), an industry-level factor (industry unrelatedness) and a firm-level factor (board concentration) have significant impact on ownership participation in cross-border M&As. The author also finds that investors do give high valuation to those emerging market firms that chose high ownership participation in cross-border M&As. However, the author did not finds the support for the relationship between ownership participation and cultural distance. Neither did the author finds the support for the relationship between ownership participation and board independence. Originality/value – This study enhances the understanding of conditions under which the level of ownership participation in cross-border M&As would increase (decrease) and how the market reacts to high (low) ownership participation of cross-border M&As by emerging market firms.


2018 ◽  
pp. 127-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol M. Sánchez ◽  
Kevin Lehnert

Emerging market firms often face corruption and institutional weakness in their environments. Firm-level trust may help with these challenges. In these countries, firm-level trust may engage employees and reduce pressure on firms from weak institutions and corruption. This is a study of employees of firms in Mexico and Peru, and it measures perceptions of corruption, trust, and institutional strength. Using confirmatory factor analysis and linear regression, the study tests hypotheses that trust moderates the weak institution - perceived corruption relationship. Findings suggest that trust may help employees be productive despite these challenges. Firms that build trust among employees may be better able to confront the challenges of corrupt and uncertain institutional environments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Samiee ◽  
Suthawan Chirapanda

Unlike their counterparts in developed markets, emerging-market firms are characterized by limited resources, including international experience and access to relevant information, which are essential for developing suitable international marketing strategy (IMS). Under such circumstances, strategies are expected to produce suboptimal results, especially when targeting competitive markets in advanced economies. Prior IMS research has largely focused on developed markets. In contrast, the authors examine IMS of exporters in Thailand, an emerging market. Despite major differences in environments and processes in emerging markets, they establish that Thai exporters that match their IMS to local market conditions realize superior performance, as predicated by strategy coalignment. The authors validate these results and discuss emerging-market firms’ capacity to adapt their strategies and succeed in highly competitive advanced economies, despite relative inexperience, volatility, and information asymmetry at home. Exporting remains of critical importance to the economies of emerging markets, and the findings provide greater optimism for their firms’ ability to address host-market conditions in their marketing strategies, as well as pointing to the competitive threat posed by these emerging-market neophytes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-163
Author(s):  
Keith J. Kelley

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to revisit the causal relationships of the liabilities of inter-regional foreignness to show that the process of regionalization itself has affected firms’ strategic capabilities and focus. The constraints of these regions, a consequence of regionalization that limits the strategic options of multinational enterprises, are known as the liabilities of regionalization (LOR). Design/methodology/approach This study reviews previous literature and uses a mixture of theory and inference to make propositions regarding the existence of liabilities attributable to the regionalization process. The propositions discuss macro-level, and industry and firm-level strategic impact on firms of Triad and non-Triad regions. Findings It is argued specific emerging market attributes, in relation to the developed Triad regions, will influence strategic focus of those emerging market firms. This in turn will also influence global strategic behavior and capabilities in the future, creating additional LOR in some cases and reducing them in others. Originality/value Previous scholars have focused on the liabilities of inter-regional and regional foreignness and its effect on international diversification strategy both upstream and downstream. This study attempts to explain the formation of regions that shape the FSAs that limit global strategic diversification, which are characterized as the LOR. More importantly, it discusses them from perspective of emerging market firms, which on the outside of the Triad regions, may form their own regions and FSAs.


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