INFLUENCE OF RISK-TAKING AND PROACTIVITY BEHAVIOURS ON FRUGAL PRODUCT INNOVATION: THE MODERATING ROLE OF EXTERNAL SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE.

Growing changes in the present global environment is compelling firms to seek and exploit opportunities for market growth. Among others, an innovation that is cost-effective, functional, and sustainable (frugal) is one of the important factors for such growth. To validate this link empirically, we investigate the influence of risk-taking and proactivity behaviours (dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO)) on frugal innovation (FI), and moderation of external knowledge. We nested the data from Small and Medium Entreprises that were engaged in frugal product innovation in Pakistan. The findings reveal that the behaviours of taking the risk and being ahead of competitors (proactiveness) have a significantly positive influence on FI. However, moderation of external knowledge strengthens the influence of risk-taking behaviour while weakens the influence of proactivity behaviour on FI. The authors also discuss some important theoretical and managerial contributions of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]