長久以來，「創新」一直被視為經濟進步與企業競爭力的重要來源，各國政府或企業，都積極地進行創新活動。然而，過去的創新多由西方已開發國家發動與主導，鮮少由新興國家開創。近年來由於新興市場的興起，使得來自新興國家的「簡約創新」受到廣泛矚目。「簡約創新」的起源，主要是因為新興國家資源匱乏，廠商只好在資源受限的狀況下發展針對當地特殊需求的產品或服務。隨著窮人市場的興起，這種著眼於需求的本質、削減不必要的功能、減少資源使用的創新，逐漸為許多人所接受，而基於簡約創新的產品與服務也愈來愈多，逐漸蔚為風潮，然而，由於簡約創新仍處於萌芽階段，過去對於簡約創新的報導或研究較為片段零碎，缺乏全面的探討與分析，因此，筆者針對簡約創新進行深度的探討與剖析。研究主要發現，在不同的新興國家中，啟動簡約創新的組織均能因地制宜，重新構思與設計可行的產品或服務，找到適合當地的解決方案，因此創造出足夠的價值。此外，簡約創新的思考，也已逐漸擴散到資源充沛的已開發國家，倘若未來人們的環保與生態永續意識繼續增強，社會風氣將更傾向「簡單生活」，簡約創新則將更廣泛地為人們所推崇。對於廠商而言，必須留意此趨勢，並及早因應，以免在競爭環境中遭到淘汰。

Innovation has long been viewed as the driving force of economic growth. Governments and firms from all over the world have been endeavoring to innovate. However, past studies on innovation focuses mainly on innovations from developed countries, leaving those originating from emerging countries untapped. As emerging countries are gaining more ground on the global economy, frugal innovation has attracted increasing attentions. This type of innovation focuses on the fundamental needs, spare in the use of resources, and eliminates non-essential functions to make products or services affordable for consumers at the bottom of the pyramid. An increasing number of frugal products and services have been launched by different companies and gained popularity in the market. However, past reports and studies on frugal innovation are mostly sparse and fragmented, lacking a holistic perspective. In this study, we investigate thoroughly on frugal innovation. The results indicate that organizations take actions that sui t local circumstances, endeavoring to re-think and re-design their product to address unsatisfied essential needs, and thus create enough value. In addition, the thinking of frugal innovation has diffused from emerging regions to developed countries. If people increasingly emphasize sustainability and environmental issues, the lifestyle of “simple living” will be more prevalent, and frugal innovation will be even more widely accepted and praised. For all firms, it is a must to keep monitoring the rising of frugal innovation to stay competitive.