• Reimagining Change

    by Venkatesh Shankar

    This article was published in Business Standard.

    Uncertainty is dominating the world agenda now. Economic and political uncertainties threaten to derail progress even as digital technologies and digitization are transforming the way consumers behave and businesses operate the world over. These trends assume special significance for India because its economic future depends on its demographic dividend characterized by half its population being 25 years or younger. Young Indians are increasingly digital savvy and face a future marked by widespread use of digital technology.  However, they face an uncertain economic and political environment with nagging infrastructural, cultural, and ethical challenges. Using a five-step framework, companies can reshape their strategies in an increasingly uncertain world.

    http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/reimagining-change-113122900634_1.html

     

  • How Emerging Markets are Reshaping the Innovation Architecture of Global Firms

    by Venkatesh Shankar and Nicole Hanson

    This article was published in Review of Marketing Research

    In recent years, there has been a fundamental shift in the innovation architecture of global firms. Rapid growth of the middle class in emerging markets, led by China, India, Brazil and Russia, is fueling the need to create affordable innovations in local markets. Such local innovations tend to have a wider global appeal due to commonalities in consumer demand and infrastructure across many developing markets. Additionally, the severity of economic downturns in developed markets is creating increased consumer demand for affordable innovations. Thus, these innovations are reshaping the innovation architecture of many global firms, such as G.E., PepsiCo, and Hyundai. We propose a framework for analyzing: the effects of emerging markets on the innovation architecture; the potential innovation strategies that leverage these effects; and the consequences of these innovation strategies. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our framework.