PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the influence of transformational leadership (TL) on firm's frugal innovation. It also deepens understanding of appropriate mechanisms and conditions to improve specific aspects of frugal innovation namely frugal functionality, frugal cost and frugal ecosystem by examining the mediating role of knowledge management capability (KMC) and moderating mechanism of collaborative culture.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilized structural equation modeling and cross-sectional design to test hypotheses in the proposed research model using data collected from 351 participants in 112 Vietnamese firms.FindingsThe findings indicate that KMC significantly mediates TL's effects on aspects of firm's frugal innovation namely frugal functionality, frugal cost and frugal ecosystem. In addition, the influence of KMC on frugal functionality is different and depended on the extent of collaborative culture in an organization.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper has significantly contributed to increasing the understanding of the link between TL and specific aspects of frugal innovation by highlighting the important role of KMC and positive effects of collaborative climate in an organization.Originality/valueThe paper is unique in the attempts to provide the valuable initiatives and integration view of leadership practices for improving specific dimensions of frugal innovation of firms in developing and emerging market.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the antecedents of process innovation to provide more alternates for Vietnamese firms as they are still struggling to find an appropriate innovation strategy. Design/methodology/approach The research analyzes the separate impacts of each innovation strategy on process innovation using logistic regression models. Data were collected using a stratified random sampling method. Findings The results show that having an innovation strategy is good for innovation, regardless of whether the strategy is internal or external. Internal and external strategies are proved not complements but substitutes. However, the internal strategy seems to be most beneficial. Weak institutional settings further strengthen the importance of internal strategies, whereas strong institutional settings favor external strategies. Originality/value This paper analyzes the impact of different innovation strategies on process innovation in Vietnamese firms using firm-level data. The findings strongly recommend that in weak institutional settings such as Vietnam, firms should focus on an internal strategy because the emphasis on external innovation strategies might be a western bias stemming from research in mostly strong institutional contexts.

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