Jugaad – A Stepping Stone to Process Led Innovation
Addressing the 1st edition of CII Conference on “Jugaad” with the theme ‘Dare to Innovate’, Mr Ninad Karpe, Vice Chairman, CII Maharashtra State Council and CEO & Managing Director, Aptech Ltd highlighted the need to promote great ideas and scale them up. In his Welcome Address he also stated that Jugaad is not only an innovative fix but also a unique way of responding to the challenges of resource constraint faced by individuals and corporates. Mr Piruz Khambatta, Conference Chairman and Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna Pvt Ltd, mentioned that Jugaad Entrepreneurship is not cost cutting, compromising of quality or short cut with compliances but is rather a way of life for an entrepreneur especially in developing markets.
Dr Arup Basu, President – New Businesses & Innovation Centre, Tata Chemicals Limited, in his Keynote Address mentioned that Jugaad today as a concept is also being used overseas. Citing an example, he shared that innovation at Apple can be termed Jugaad, as the company has successfully brought innovation from different parts of the world and integrated it smartly in a single product. Sharing more examples, Dr Basu mentioned about the Solar Plant Project on the water canals of Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi’s use of civil disobedience as tool to get people together, etc.
One of the Panel Discussions at the conference focused on addressing the question “Are we looking at more frugal innovation in the light of dropping growth, high inflation and scare resource scenario?”. Addressing the question, Mr Rajiv Narvekar, Research Head, Tata Management Training Centre mentioned that today the focus is currently on growth through Innovation & there is a rising demand for low cost improvement solutions. Mr Arvind Chinchure, AVP – Innovation, Reliance Industries Ltd stated that even Reliance is investing in intellectual talent, as it believes the next wave of growth will be through Innovation.
The conference also focused on the rising need of corporate participation to promote new ideas and invest in R&D facilities for Jugaad to be formalized as Innovation. Dr Basu also highlighted that currently the Government of India is spending more on R&D than the corporate sector and that India Inc. needs to re-focus their strategies vis-à-vis R&D. Mr Anil Joshi, Head, Mumbai Angel Network shared that India is far behind when it comes to acquiring technology through Mergers & Acquisitions. He also added that capital raised by Angel Investors in the west is close to US $ 20 Billion a year whereas back home, it’s only a percentage of the amount.
The conference also focused on case studies from companies, whose ideas have been Game Changers in the Market. Mr Damodar Mall, Director, Future Group, while speaking about innovation in retail asserted that solutions for Indian markets should come from within. Mr Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison World, highlighted how Innovation in the west is getting expensive and how they are trying to adapt the Indian concept of Jugaad. Mr Sabaleel Nandy, Business Head, Tata Chemicals & Dr R Raju Kondru, Head – Innovation Centre Procter & Gamble, India, also shared with the participants how products like Tata Swach & Gillette Guard can be termed as Jugaad and how & why they have appealed to the masses.
The Conference was well attended by over 150 participants from across the country.
Mumbai, 5th December 2012