Reverse innovation: a global growth strategy that could pre‐empt disruption at home

Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble · 2012 · Strategy and Leadership

Summary. Western companies typically innovate in wealthy markets then adapt products for emerging economies. Reverse innovation flips this approach: companies develop low-cost solutions for emerging markets that later find profitable applications in wealthy countries. GE's portable ultrasound machine exemplifies this—created for China, it generated a $250 million global business with new uses in the USA and other advanced economies.

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Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C.. (2012). Reverse innovation: a global growth strategy that could pre‐empt disruption at home. Strategy and Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878571211257122

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  title   = {Reverse innovation: a global growth strategy that could pre‐empt disruption at home},
  author  = {Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble},
  journal = {Strategy and Leadership},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1108/10878571211257122},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1108/10878571211257122}
}

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Details

DOI: 10.1108/10878571211257122
Countries: United States, China
Regions: North America, Asia
Categories: innovation-theory, regional-innovation-systems, general-innovation
Added: 2026-04-28