The company featured in the book for its innovative practices

(From L to R) – Clas Neumann, Global Head of SAP Labs, Dr. Simone Ahuja, Navi Radjou, Dr. Jaideep Prabhu, Jane Chen, Co-founder, Embrace, Joydeep Nag, Vice President & Chief Financial Officer-South Asia, GE Healthcare and VR Ferose, Managing Director, SAP Labs India

SAP Labs India played host to the launch of the book ‘Jugaad Innovation’ by co-authors Navi Radjou, Dr. Jaideep Prabhu and Dr. Simone Ahuja on June 6, 2012 at its Whitefield campus in Bangalore. The book which presents ways to innovate flexibly was launched in India by V.R. Ferose, Managing Director SAP Labs India, Joydeep Nag, Vice President & Chief Financial Officer-South Asia, GE healthcare and Jane Chen, Co-Founder, Embrace. Jugaad Innovation has received rave reviews in The Economist and Harvard Business review.

The authors of the book explained the concept of Jugaad - a hindi word that translates to an improvised solution born from ingenuity and clevernessand stated that the book is an attempt to turn Jugaad, a cultural trait into an innovative approach. It has three key elements to it – flexibility, frugality and inclusiveness.

In the book SAP Labs India is referred to as being at the forefront of encouraging innovation through frugal and flexible grassroots experimentation of novel ideas. Employees are empowered to experiment with bold new ideas during work time and are exposed to new environments and situations that challenge their existing perspectives.

Emphasizing the importance of frugal innovation, V.R. Ferose, Managing Director, SAP Labs India said, “India is a country of great potential and talent and has significant resources to drive innovation from an emerging nation perspective. Being a propagator of frugal innovation, SAP Labs India is proud to host this launch.”

The event was followed by a panel discussion, in which the panelists consisting of the authors, Jane Chen and Joydeep Nag pointed out the need for frugal innovation, the rapid growth of this trend and its growing acceptance in the western markets.