The Objective–Conflict–Resolution Approach: A Novel Approach for Developing Radical and Frugal Innovation

Abstract

Despite the interest in frugal innovation, both in research and in business practice, little is known about methods, approaches, or procedures that specifically support the systematic development of frugal innovations. In this article, we propose a novel approach that can be applied for developing frugal innovations, which also appears to be suitable for developing radical innovations. We present one in-depth case study that shows how the approach can be applied for successful concept development of a frugal and even radical innovation. The study follows an exploratory action research method conducted in a U.S. engineering company over 19 months. The action research resulted in a novel approach that we call objective-conflict-resolution (OCR). Applying this approach in the company led to the development of a frugal innovation-for which a patent application was submitted-that is significantly less expensive, requires fewer resources, and offers greater ease-of-use than previous solutions. The OCR approach has two main advantages over existing approaches. It can be applied for developing frugal and radical innovations when established approaches result in rather incremental solutions (such as value engineering) and is less complex and easier to implement than existing approaches that are deliberately used for developing radical solutions (such as TRIZ).