Recognizing Great Ideas From the Developing World
In this month’s issue, Inc. Magazine discusses the new book, Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, and the importance of ideas ‘trickling up’ from the emerging market. The authors offer examples of companies that have developed innovative products and services for developing economies and then introduced these ideas to developed markets with great success. The book is a call to action for companies to look outside of their traditional markets and to learn and adapt to the needs of the emerging market – a hugely, untapped space that is brimming with ideas and opportunities for growth. Co-author of Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Vijay Govindarajan had this to say about obstacles facing developed-world business leaders and their ability to recognize this potential:
“The biggest obstacle is the mindset. In the developed world, we have been so successful for so long catering to a very sophisticated customer, supplying premium products with high margins. That dominant logic does not work in poor countries. It is a fundamentally different customer set with fundamentally different problems. Sometimes, countries can become insular when they are so successful. For American entrepreneurs to tap into this opportunity, they have to be curious about the problems of people in poor countries. This curiosity—if you can acquire it, then you can succeed.”
Read the full article and more about the book.
Vijay Govindarajan talks about Reverse Innovation as part of TedxBigApple:
