The Frugal Economy

NAVI RADJOU is a French-American scholar, an innovation and leadership advisor, and a bestselling author. Since 2021, Navi has been ranked by Thinkers50 as one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world. In 2013, Navi won the prestigious Thinkers50 Innovation Award, given to a management thinker reshaping how we think about and practice innovation. He is co-author of Frugal Innovation, published by The Economist, as well as the global bestseller Jugaad Innovation (over 200,000 copies sold worldwide) and From Smart To Wise, both published by Wiley. His TED Talk on frugal innovation has garnered over 2 million video views.

Introduction: Respect and Break All Limits 1

Chapter 1 Doing Better with Less 7

Part I The B2B Sharing Revolution 15

Chapter 2 The Big Benefits of B2B Sharing 17

B2B Sharing Boosts Business Efficiency, Agility, and Innovation 17

The Social and Ecological Benefits of B2B Sharing 21

Chapter 3 Mastering B2B Sharing 29

Level 1: Sharing Waste and Discarded Resources 29

Level 2: Sharing Physical Assets 33

Space 33

Production Capacity 34

Shipping 34

Equipment and Materials 34

Transportation 34

Rivals Unite 35

Level 3: Sharing Purchasing Power 36

Level 4: Sharing Employees 39

Level 5: Sharing Clients 43

Level 6: Sharing Intellectual Property and Knowledge 45

Mastering the Full Spectrum 47

Chapter 4 From Smart Sharing to Wise Sharing 51

Value Versus Values 52

Achieving SDGs Faster, Better, Cheaper 55

Part II Distributed Manufacturing and Hyper-Local Value Networks 61

Chapter 5 Scaling Out Manufacturing 63

9/11, COVID-19, and the Need for Adaptive Supply Networks 65

Scaling Out Versus Scaling Up 69

Scaling Out Auto Manufacturing to Maximize Local Impact 70

Scaling Out Energy Generation to Build Sustainable Communities 72

Chapter 6 Scaling Out Next-Gen Virtuous Economies 79

Turning Waste into Gold 79

Curing Our Fossil Fuel Addiction with the Bioeconomy 81

Enhancing Lives Through Personalized Medicine 83

Capturing and Using CO 2 to Create Local Value 85

Chapter 7 Hyper-Local Value Networks 91

The Value Chain Fails to Engage “Prosumers” 97

The Value Chain Doesn’t Favor External Collaboration 99

The Value Chain Is Optimized for Efficiency and Not Adaptability 99

The Value Chain Is Too Complex to Decarbonize and Reach Net Zero 100

Part III Regenerating People, Places, and the Planet 111

Chapter 8 The Rise of Regenerative Businesses 113

Regenerative Businesses Do More Good 118

Regenerating the Land and the Farmers Who Feed Us: Danone North America 120

Regenerating the Amazon’s Natural and Cultural Biodiversity: Natura 121

Regenerating Local Communities with Factories as Forests: Interface 121

Regenerating Rural America with Knowledge-Based Work: Sparq 122

Chapter 9 Regenerative Development 129

Expanding Awareness and Acting Consciously 131

Regenerating the Spirit of a Broken Town 133

Chapter 10 How Businesses Can Lead Triple Regeneration 141

Humanizing Regeneration and Anchoring It in Places 143

Boosting Corporate Vitality and Longevity Through Triple Regeneration 149

Meiji Yasuda Boosts Your Vitality Rather Than Insuring Against Mortality 152

Beyond Sustainable Fashion: Eileen Fisher Leads Triple Regeneration 155

Part IV Frugal America 159

Chapter 11 The US Must Lead by Example 161

A Pioneer in Frugal Health Care 165

Empowering Women Through Grassroots Entrepreneurship 168

Chapter 12 Let 3,143 Frugal Economies Blossom 173

B2B Sharing: Replacing Competition with Cooperation 173

Distributed Manufacturing: Unleashing Hyper-Local Opportunities 175

Triple Regeneration: Revitalizing the Soul of the Heartland 178

Conclusion: The Rise of Frugal Natives 187

Notes 191

Acknowledgments 229

About the Author 231

Index 233