How disruptive is frugal?

• This work characterizes frugal-innovations.
• It expounds numerous examples of frugal-innovations in various business sectors.
• It describes the disruptive potential of frugal-innovations vis-à-vis other innovations.
• A new methodology has been proposed for undertaking frugal-innovations.
• This methodology can transform an arbitrary innovation into the frugal type.

Global warming and the recent financial crises have prompted a rethink among businesses on the production of cost-effective products and services. Frugal-innovations, with their genesis mainly in India, are accordingly becoming popular in emerging and developed economies due to their lower costs and no frills structure. By studying a variety of frugal-innovations, this effort brings out the features of these innovations and also examines their disruptiveness vis-à-vis other innovations. Furthermore, this paper has formalized the frugal-innovation process based on examples covered in this effort. Such a formalization will aid in the metamorphosis of an ordinary innovation into the frugal type.