Management Practice Insights
DOI: 10.59571/mpi.v4i1.6
Year: 2026, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 34-40
Original Article
Vidyut Lata Dhiri, Archita Waglei*
iS.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Received Date:10 December 2025, Accepted Date:19 January 2026, Published Date:31 March 2026
Breakthrough innovation – the kind that impacts the lives of millions – is challenging precisely because of the grand scale of the problem it seeks to solve. ‘Grand’ challenges, such as affordable healthcare and managing climate change, are usually at the intersection of technology, commercial interests and society and are often accompanied by uncertainty and complexity. Innovation leaders who seek to address such ‘wicked’ problems can benefit from leveraging innovation ecosystems, especially when high uncertainty is coupled with severe resource constraints. Especially in emerging economies, which often lack strong institutional support, ecosystemdriven innovation can prove to be the difference between breakthrough and breakdown. How can organisations, both commercial and non-profit, pursuing such breakthrough innovation effectively leverage an ecosystem? The answer draws upon recent research by Sreevas Sahasranamam, Vivek Soundararajan and Debabrata Chatterjee, who lay out a phased approach to create and orchestrate an ecosystem for cost-effective innovation1
1 Sreevas Sahasranamam et al., ‘Co-Creating Innovation Ecosystems in Contexts of Absolute Uncertainty: The Case of Low-Cost Heart Valves in India’, Journal of Product Innovation Management 41, no. 2 (2024): 501–26, https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12715.
2 Kyril Kotashev, Startup Failure Rate: How Many Startups Fail and Why in 2025?, 31 July 2025, https://www.failory.com/blog/startupfailure-rate.
3 Justin Manly, Michael Ringel, Amy MacDougall, Johann Harnoss, Jacob Wolke-Perten, Wendi Backler, Ketil Gjerstad, Ryoji Kimura, and Beth Viner, ‘Innovation Systems Need a Reboot’, BCG Global, 24 May 2024, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/innovationsystems-need-a-reboot.
4 Soprasteria, ‘The Open Innovation Report 2023’, Sopra Steria Corporate, 30 March 2023, https://www.soprasteria.com/newsroom/pressreleases/details/the-open-innovation-report-2023.
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7 Laura Millan, A Flawed Green City of the Future Holds a Secret to Taming Heat, 5 December 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-masdar-uaeextreme-heat/.
8 Ryan Hite, ‘Masdar City: The Rise and Stagnation of the UAE’s Eco-City Dream’, Www.Ryanjhite.Com, 13 November 2024, https://www.ryanjhite.com/2024/11/13/masdar-city-the-riseand-stagnation-of-the-uaes-eco-city-dream/.
9 DHL, ‘Delivering Help When Disaster Strikes’, DHL, 2024, https://group.dhl.com/en/sustainability/social-impactprograms/disaster-management.html.
10 PIB Delhi, Low-Cost Sree Chitra Valve Facilitating the Government’s Commitment to Inclusive Healthcare for All, 1 March 2024, https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=2010577.
11 Junli Hao, A Study of CleanTech Innovations in the Israeli Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, August 2018.
12 Dmytro Spilka, The Blogs: How Israeli Clean Tech Is Transforming Sustainability on a Global Scale, 20 October 2025, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-israeli-clean-tech-istransforming-sustainability-on-a-global-scale/.
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14 Cameron Crowley, ‘Israel’s Innovative Water Solutions: A Global Blueprint’, Israel Economic Mission to UK, 23 April 2025, https://itrade.gov.il/uk/2025/04/23/israels-innovative-watersolutions-a-global-blueprint/.
15 I.C. Mayer, Water in Israel: Innovations Help Water a Thirsty Planet, 2 January 2025, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/israelwing/agriculture/agro-technology-and-innovation/israeliinnovations-help-water-a-thirsty-planet.
16 OECD, ‘Israel’s Sustainable Water Management Plans’, OECD, OECD Publishing, 7 November 2022, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/ipac-policies-inpractice_22632907-en/israel-s-sustainable-water-managementplans_d81db5f5-en.html.
© 2026 Published by SPJIMR. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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