Building blocks of the reverse innovation process

Abstract

Increasing growth rate of emerging countries and potential mass markets have shifted the attention of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to emerging markets. The specific socio-economic structure of emerging markets led MNEs to develop new strategies for innovation. This paper aims to develop a conceptual model that reveals main building blocks of the successful reverse innovation process. First, the relevant literature is reviewed and global changes, trends and recent approaches are discussed to set the theoretical background. Multiple secondary data-based case study approach is used to investigate the success/failure of reverse innovation attempts in local/global markets. A reverse innovation process model is developed that reveals the main building blocks and critical interactions of the reverse innovation process. The proposed model elucidates three components having a crucial impact on the success of reverse innovation, namely, quality of the innovation idea, cooperation between MNEs and local enterprises, and building appropriate and unique diffusion strategies.