Science Circle Lecture - “Affordable Excellence”: How frugal innovations can turn into an engine for growth in India and abroad

Dr. Stephan Buse is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) at Hamburg University of Technology and co-leads the research programs “Global Innovation “ and “Mobile Commerce “. In addition, since 2007 he has been the program-coordinator of the international Joint-Master Program “Global Innovation Management” which he also co-founded. His main research and teaching activities are in the fields of Global Innovation Management and International Business Strategy, particularly questions regarding internationalization and the international division of labor. Furthermore, he is a co-founder and member of the management team of the Center for Frugal Innovation at TIM.

Dr. Buse is also responsible for the industry-related service portfolio of TIM. In 2007, together with other institutional players he co-initiated the series of India Weeks in Hamburg and continues to be a member of its steering committee. In honorary capacity, Dr. Buse is the deputy head of the Hamburg Section of the German-Indian Round Table (GIRT). Besides this, he is a member of the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB), the Academy of Management (AOM) as well as the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).

Dr. Rajnish Tiwari is a Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader at Institute of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) of Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), currently pursuing his post-doctorate. At TIM, he co-leads the research program on “Global Innovation” that includes work on frugal innovations. He is one of the founding members of Center for Frugal Innovation (CFI) and a part of its management team. Additionally, he is a member of the Advisory Circle of ITA, a program imitated by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

His research is centered in the confluence zone of international business and innovation management and his current research primarily focusses on affordability-driven “frugal innovations” that fulfill high quality standards (“affordable excellence”) and are responsible in its usage of resources. An alumnus of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS), Dr Tiwari has received several awards in the pursuit of his academic career, e.g. the “Market and Customer Orientation” prize by Vodafone Stiftung fuer Forschung for his study of Mobile Banking, and a post-doctorate scholarship by Hamburg-based Claussen Simon Foundation in 2014.

Dr Rajnish is also a co-initiator of the series of India Weeks in Hamburg and continues to be a member of its steering committee. In February 2010, he was invited to lead the Hamburg section of German-Indian Round Table (GIRT) and is a member of the Indo-German Society and a member of its Advisory Board.