In a global economy which continues to remain stagnant, businesses must seek new growth strategies through innovation, according to Vijay Govindarajan, professor of international business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

The professor, who spoke on Monday at the August session of Asia Society’s Big Thinkers Small Dinners series, is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation.

His concept of “reverse innovation,” rated by the Harvard Business Review as one of the 10 big ideas of the decade, refers to innovation that is adopted first in the developing world, such as China and India.

In order to penetrate into these developing economies and seek further growth opportunities, business units must completely discard their conventional strategies and establish new ways of thinking, according to the professor.

Through the lecture, Govindarajan gave suggestions on how to develop breakthrough strategies at a time when globalization and technology are constantly forcing business to change.

Asia Society’s Big Thinkers Small Dinners series was created to foster communication on topics related to Asia and the United States, inviting special guests from a variety of expert fields.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization was founded in 1956 under the aim of strengthening the ties and deepening the understanding among the people of Asia and the United States.

“We believe that this special session will create a platform for those sharing thoughts about the development of future global leaders in Asia and the United States,” said an official of Asia Society’s Korea Center.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)