Less is more: Leveraging bricolage and exaptation for frugal innovation and firm growth

How to deliver more value (functionality, sustainability) with limited resources and lower costs (affordability) presents firms with a paradox in developing frugal innovation. This study draws on the resource orchestration theory to investigate the effects of resource orchestration capabilities (i.e., bricolage and exaptation) on frugal innovation. Furthermore, we examined the moderating role of product modularization. We tested our hypotheses using data from 334 manufacturing firms (two managers in each firm) in China. Results show that both bricolage and exaptation foster frugal innovation, which in turn propels firm growth. Product modularization weakens the positive effect of bricolage on frugal innovation but does not strengthen the positive effect of exaptation on frugal innovation. The study contributes to the frugal innovation literature by exploring the mechanisms that drive frugal innovation from the perspective of resource orchestration.