Harnessing the 'essential tension' of design: The complex relationship between the firm and designer consultants

Filippetti, Andrea (2010): Harnessing the 'essential tension' of design: The complex relationship between the firm and designer consultants.

Abstract

A central factor which characterizes design-related innovative activities is that a major source of knowledge – that is designers – is very often located outside the firm. This raises a central management issue for the firm and unavoidably generates a tension between designer consultants and the firm which I name the essential tension. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on this complex relationship on the ground of the evidence provided by a multiple case study. The findings confirm that designer consultants can make a substantial contribution in enhancing firms’ innovation capabilities. We show that a better understanding of the types of knowledge that designers need for their activity is key. This affects the way designer consultants are integrated within the organizational structure of the firm, and it also impinges on the strategies put forward by firms to manage this relationship in order to gain a competitive advantage driven by innovation. Implications include the crucial role played by the product manager, the strategies to foster trust and to coordinate designers.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: industrial design, innovation, product development, case study
• Subjects: M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M1 - Business Administration > M11 - Production Management; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

References

Arora, A., Gambardella, A. and Rullani, A., 1998. Division of labour and the locus of inventive activity. Journal of Management and Governance 1 123-140.

Bernsen, J. 1990. Twelve principles of design management in design management: A handbook of issues and methods. M. Oakley. Basil Blackwell, Oxford.

Bessant, J. and Francis, D., 1997. Implementing the new product development process. Technovation 17 (4), 189-197.

Bruce, M. and Bessant, J., 2001. Design in business Pearson Education, London.

Bruce, M. and Cooper, R., 1997. Marketing and design management. International Thomson Business Press,

Busoni, B. 1986. Il centro stile fiat. Il disegno del prodotto industriale. V. Gregotti. Mondadori, Milano.

Chiva, R. and Alegre, J., 2007. Linking design management skill and design function organization: An empirical study of Spanish and Italian ceramic tile producer. Technovation 27 (10), 616-627.

Chiva, R. and Alegre, J., 2009. Investment in design and firm performance: The mediating role of design management. The Journal of Product Innovation Management 26 (4), 424 - 440.

Czarnitzki, D. and Thorwarth, S., 2009. The design paradox: The contribution of in-house and external design activities on product market performance. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 09-068.

De Fusco, R., 1985. Storia del design. Laterza, Bari.

Dumas, A. and Whitfield, A., 1989. Why design is difficult to manage. A survey of attitudes and practices in British industry. European Management Journal 7 (1), 50-56.

Filippetti, A., 2010. The prominence of design within the innovative activities of firms: A micro level analysis SSRN Working Paper.

Follesca, S., 2009. Pane e progetto. Il mestiere di designer. FrancoAngeli, Milan.

Gemser, G. and Leenders, M., 2001. How integrating industrial design in the product development process impacts on company performances. Journal of Product Innovation Management 18 (1), 28-38.

Gisele, R., Gavin, C. and Larsen, P., 2008. National design strategies and country competitive economic advantage. The Design Journal 11 (2), 119-135.

Kahney, L., 2008. Inside Steve's brain. Penguin Book, New York.

Khun, T., 1977. The essential tension. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Kotler, P. and Rath, A., 1984. Design: A powerful but neglected strategic tool Journal of Business Strategy 5 16-21.

Lorenz, C., 1986. The design dimension: The new competitive weapon for business. Basil Blackwell,

Mozota, B. B., 2002. Design and competitive edge: A model for design management excellence in european smes. Design Management Journal 2 (1), 88-104.

Nonaka, I., Toyama, R. and Konno, N., 2000. Seci, ba and leadership: A unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. Long Range Planning 33 (1), 5-34.

Perks, H.,Cooper, R. and Joned, C., 2005. Characterizing the role of design in new product development: An empirically derived taxonomy. Journal of Product Innovation Management 22 111-127.

Quinn, J. B., 1985. Managing innovation: Controlled chaos. Harvard Business Review 63 (3), 73-84.

Ravasi, D. and Lojacono, G., 2004. Managing design and designers for strategic renewal. Long Range Planning 38 51-77.

Ravasi, D. and Lojacono, G., 2005. Managing design and designers for strategic renewal. Long Range Planning 38 (1), 51-77.

Ravasi, D., Marcotti, A. and Stigliani, I., 2008. Conditions of success and failure in collaborations between business firms and design consultancies: The designers' perspective. DIME Working Papers on Intellectual Property Rights.

Roy, R., 1994. Can the benefit of good design be quantified? Design Management Journal 5 (2), 9-17.

Roy, R., 2000. The long-term benefits of investing in new product development by SMEs International Journal of New Product Development and Innovation Management 1 (4), 281-295.

Roy, R. and Potter, S. 1997a. The commercial impact of investments in design. Marketing and design management. M. Bruce, R. Cooper. International Thomson Business Press, London.

Roy, R. and Potter, S., 1997b. Managing engineering design in complex supply chain. International Journal of Technology Management 12 (4), 403-420.

Roy, R. and Riedel, J. C., 1997. Design and innovation in successful product competition. Technovation 17 (10), 537-548.

Scott Swan, K., Kotabe, M. and Allred, B. B., 2005. Exploring robust design capabilities, their role in creating global products, and their relationship to firm performance. The Journal of Product Innovation Management 22 (2), 144 - 164.

Talke, K., Salomo, S.,Wieringa, J. E. and Lutz, A., 2009. What about design newness? Investigating the relevance of a neglected dimension of product innovativeness. The Journal of Product Innovation Management 26 (6), 601-615.

Utterback, J. M., Vedin, B. A.,Alvarez, A., Ekman, S., Sanderson, S. W., Tether, B. and Verganti, R., 2006. Design-inspired innovation. World Scientific Publishing, New York.

Verganti, R., 2010. Design, meanings, and radical innovation: A metamodel and a research agenda. The Journal of Product Innovation Management 25 (5), 436 - 456.

Von Stamm, B., 1998. Whose is design it? The use of external designers. The Design Journal 1 (1), 41-53.

von Stamm, B., 2003. Managing innovation, design and creativity. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Walker, D., 1990. Managers and designers: Two tribes at war? In design management: A handbook of issues and methods. Blackwell, Oxford.

Walsh, V., 1996. Design, innovation and the boundaries of firms. Research Policy 25 (4), 509-529.

Walsh, V.,Roy, R.,Bruce, M. and Potter, S., 1992. Winning by design: Technology, product design and international competitiveness. Blackwell, Oxford.

Whyte, J.,Bessant, J. and Neely, A. 2007. Management of creativity and design within the firm. D. T. Piece’.

Yin, R. K., 2003. Case study research. Design and methods. Sage Publications, London.