View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Aaltodoc Publication Archive Examining Reverse Innovation and Collaboration: A Case Study in the Context of Uganda International Design Business Management (IDBM) Master's thesis Mari Terrio 2014 Department of Management Studies Aalto University School of Business Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Aalto University, P.O. BOX 11000, 00076 AALTO www.aalto.fi Abstract of master’s thesis Author Mari Terrio Title of thesis Examining Reverse Innovation and Collaboration: A Case Study in the Context of Uganda Degree Master of Science in Business Administration Degree programme International Design Business Management Thesis advisor(s) Professor Mikko Koria Year of approval 2014 Number of pages 137 Language English Abstract The objective of this research is to establish the increasing importance of reverse innovation and explore the possibility for carrying out reverse innovation collaboratively. A thorough examination of the phenomenon will allow for identification of the essential elements required in the process of reverse innovation. These elements will be utilized to assess a collaborative innovation initiative and explore its potential to engage in reverse innovation. Specifically, the goal of the research is to establish if, how, and why reverse innovation can be carried out collaboratively in the context of Uganda. As existing literature did not provide a substantial framework for the process of reverse innovation, elements of key literature on reverse innovation were first adopted into a framework to model the reverse innovation process. This framework was utilized to examine the case study of the research, which introduced a collaborative innovation initiative, involving UNICEF, academia, and private sector from an advanced country. The case study presented research that had been carried out over the course of 2.5 years, through the author’s primary involvement in the collaboration. Findings from the empirical research led to an adaptation of the theoretical framework, which addressed how UNICEF, academia, and private sector from an advanced country could collaborate in a process of reverse innovation. Furthermore, two models were provided for establishing a collaborative initiative in the context of this case as well as innovating in the context of Uganda. Therefore, findings of this study introduced new additions to existing literature. The findings indicated that collaboration is beneficial in the context of developing countries and it is in fact possible for reverse innovations to be carried out collaboratively, under certain circumstances. Private sector must be involved in the collaboration and one of the partners should be based full-time in the developing country. As it is expected that the innovation will be carried out concurrently in both an advanced and developing country, it will be necessary that a bulk of each phase of the reverse innovation process is spent predominantly in one of the markets. Ultimately, the flow of innovation can reverse between developing and advanced countries as long as it is eventually introduced into an advanced country. Keywords Reverse innovation, frugal innovation, collaboration, developing country, Uganda, UNICEF Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.1. BACKGROUND OF STUDY ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.2. RESEARCH PROBLEM ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE .................................................................................................................................. 6 1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................. 8 1.5. DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................. 11 2.1. INNOVATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES .......................................................................................... 11 2.1.1. Frugal Innovation .................................................................................................................................. 13 2.2. COLLABORATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ................................................................................. 13 2.3. REVERSE INNOVATION .............................................................................................................................. 15 2.3.1. Reverse Innovation Defined ............................................................................................................... 16 2.3.2. Reverse Innovation in Action ............................................................................................................. 19 2.3.3. Needs Gaps as Opportunities for Reverse Innovation ............................................................. 22 2.3.4. Clean-Slate Approach in Reverse Innovation ............................................................................. 24 2.3.5. Local Growth Teams ............................................................................................................................. 24 2.4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................................... 27 3.0 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 32 3.1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 32 3.2. DATA COLLECTION ..................................................................................................................................... 35 3.3. ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF STUDY ..................................................................................... 37 4.0 CASE STUDY ................................................................................................................................. 41 4.1. CASE STUDY CONTEXT: UGANDA ......................................................................................................... 41 4.2. CASE COLLABORATION ............................................................................................................................. 43 5.0 DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................. 85 5.1. THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES OF REVERSE INNOVATION .................................................................. 85 5.2. COLLABORATION AND REVERSE INNOVATION ................................................................................. 89 5.3. COLLABORATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (IDO), ACADEMIA, AND PRIVATE SECTOR IN REVERSE INNOVATION ......................................................... 112 5.4. COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION IN UGANDA ......................................................................... 120 6.0 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 125 6.1. PURPOSE OF THESIS ................................................................................................................................. 125 6.2. SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................................... 126 6.3. CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE ....................................................................................................... 129 6.4. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS ............................................................................................................... 130 6.5. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ............................................................................................ 131 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 134 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................... 137 2 List of Figures Figure 1: Distinction between advanced economies, developing economies, and emerging markets ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Figure 2: A map of global innovation flows with reverse innovation in the strong and weak sense ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 3: The American multinational approach to emerging markets .................................. 19 Figure 4: Reference model for reverse innovation ........................................................................ 21 Figure 5: Theoretical Framework - The process of reverse innovation .................................. 28 Figure 6: Framework - Collaboration between UNICEF, academia, and advanced