Navi Radjou is one of the theorists of “frugal economy”, a term he introduced in 2013 with his bestseller entitled “Jugaad Innovation” (which means “ingenuity” in Hindi). This “art of doing more with less” is, according to him, one of the remedies for the ills of the French economy, which is simultaneously anemic, divided and over-indebted. Frugality consists of making better use of dynamic capacities (creativity and flexibility) and existing natural and human resources. This development must not only be economic, but also social, cultural, ecological and democratic. It must be part of a process of “systemic transition” and “regenerative growth”. ”Democratic regeneration”, however, presupposes that elected representatives and voters no longer reason in terms of ideologies or doctrines, but rather in terms of the real effects of the measures voted on and sometimes applied.
The author provides numerous examples of companies and countries that are striving to mobilize such an approach based on the sharing of resources between companies and administrations in the same region (thus redefining the “French industrial districts”), on a “distributed production” between local networks, on a “hyperlocal value chain” (reducing the distances between production and consumption areas), and on a “triple regeneration” (of people, goods and the planet). The application of these new lessons in industrial economics could be facilitated by the use of AI, which would make it possible to better inventory resources, model their synergies and simulate the effects of their combinations.
Navi Radjou thus engages in a skillful re-reading of the concepts and practices experimented, with more or less success, aimed at developing the circular economy, the relocation of factories, the rehabilitation of short circuits, the search for economic and social synergies, etc. It therefore seems that “jugaad innovation” is the art of re-accommodating the old recipes for managing organizations and life in society.
Navi Radjou is a professor of management at the University of Cambridge and is vice-president of the American consulting firm Forrester.
Jean-Jacques Pluchart