Abstract

MONTOYA BAYARDO, Miguel Ángel; CERVANTES ZEPEDA, Mauricio  and  LEMUS DELGADO, Daniel. From frugal to inverse innovation: the case of the ‘medical-pharmacy’ model in Mexico’s health sector. Intersticios sociales [online]. 2018, n.15, pp.117-140. ISSN 2007-4964.

This article analyzes the innovations at the base of the pyramid (BOP) in Mexico’s health sector. From the perspective of this sector, it analyzes how innovations for poor people are created and transformed over time in terms of both their content and their commercial objectives. For the case of the medical-pharmacy model, we describe its evolution in terms of transit from a frugal innovation to an inverse innovation. The essay discusses the conditions required for the emergence of a frugal innovation, and describes how an innovation of this nature, designed initially to meet the needs of low-income people can enjoy success, as well, in higher income markets. The contribution of this article is to help understand the growing literature on frugal and inverse innovation.

Keywords : frugal innovation; reverse innovation; base of the pyramid; health sector; Mexico.

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