A bricolage perspective on technological innovation in emerging markets

Product innovation strategies of emerging market companies are increasingly challenging conventional wisdom. Drawing on a qualitative case study of Mahindra Reva, the only electric vehicle producer in India, the paper explores how a bricolage strategy enabled a resource-constrained emerging market firm to deliver affordable, innovative and high-tech products with minimal capital investments. The findings of the study illustrate how multiple forms of bricolage can be implemented and managed at organizational and inter-organizational levels. They show how different bricolage activities relate to different stages of the new product development process and further, highlight the complementarities between bricolage and engineering activities. The paper argues that bricolage, which is typically regarded as a behavioural trait or skill that allows entrepreneurs and innovators to operate in challenging environments, can also be a carefully planned and executed strategy conducive to innovation. Thus, it suggests that a cost-effective bricolage strategy can underpin emerging market companies’ development of discontinuity-creating and market disrupting technology products.