Patentes e inovação frugal em uma perspectiva contributiva

Abstract

This current research contributes to the studies on innovation, by investigating one of its possible faces: the innovations that are develop with almost no resources, called, frugal innovation. The current research brings together conceptual, theoretical and practical aspects of Frugal Innovation, seeking to obtain enough elements to systematize the discussion of the use of patents in this context. From a management point of view, observing the conceptual, theoretical and practical aspects of Frugal Innovation carried out in environments of intense restrictions, whether natural or financial resources, seems to facilitate reflection on the use of resources, as discovered in this research. These discoveries also favor the construction of more effective structured innovation processes. These processes can contribute as a structuring guideline for the construction of new business models, processes, products, services, organizational arrangements and marketing methods. It is possible, for example, to enter companies in emerging and underdeveloped countries or, on the other hand, the valorization of products developed by modest communities or the improvement of living conditions in regions with severe resource constraints. Therefore, research encompasses intrinsic social responsibility. Using mixed methods, especially qualitative for the inductive interpretation of results, quantitative analysis and text mining techniques to carry out the multivariate analysis of the texts segments that form the patent abstracts, eleven propositions were discussing and corroborated. In addition to the methodological contributions, such as the full text analysis, it was concluding that Frugal Innovation is not a type of innovation but a response to an observable restrictive context and, therefore, can coexist with incremental, architectural, modular and radical innovations. The theoretical contributions go beyond the definition of Frugal Innovation, including the definition of semantic classes in patent contexts, demonstrating that patents can contribute to Frugal Innovation and offer some directions on how to make this contribution (Patents-Frugal Innovation) more effective.