25/05/09 | Innovation

Success stories in design management

Everyone thinks they are familiar with design, a core component of the development stage in a product's life cycle. But they may not be aware of its importance as a driver of innovation, provider of a competitive edge and wealth generator. Successful companies depend on a constant stream of innovative designs.

This requires design to be hardwired into an organisation's culture and for the organisation to follow a systematic, structured approach to it. This is what is known as 'design management' (DM), which acts as the interface between design and management. Despite the importance of DM, a lot of businesses and other organisations are unaware of it.

To raise awareness and provide innovative companies employing DM with the recognition they deserve, PRO INNO Europe®, which is the EU's "focal point for innovation policy analysis, learning and development", funded the Award for Design Management Innovating and Reinforcing Enterprises (ADMIRE). The project defines its goal as stimulating companies and organisations to enhance their own innovation and competitiveness, as well as those of their respective regions and Europe in general through the implementation of good design management.

To recognise creative DM utilisers, ADMIRE started granting awards for design management in 2007. From 2008, awards have been given in seven categories: micro-enterprises, small companies, medium-sized firms, large enterprises, public organisations and NGOs, first-time users, and design strategy for sustainability. Companies from all over Europe with strong experience in DM are invited to compete. In 2008 winners came from Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

Designer spin-offs

ADMIRE's success and popularity has created a lot of traffic on the Design Management Europe (DME) platform which provides support and a set of useful tools for companies already implementing DM or interested in doing so. One of the key resources on the site is the DME library which contains an ever growing number of DM success stories, as well as articles and videos on design management.

The case studies cover a wide range of sectors. One example is that of a company, which went from a small family enterprise to Germany's fastest-growing beverage producer by radically re-branding the firm's patented non-alcoholic fermented soft drink.

For organisations not sure of where they stand on the design management scale, the DME platform hosts a powerful self-assessment tool which employs a detailed questionnaire to evaluate a company's DM performance. The tool provides practical feedback and relates the profile of the company to helpful case studies and articles.

Given the importance of design to innovation, the DME Awards 2009, to be hosted by the City of Eindhoven, is associated with the European Year of Creativity and Innovation which "aims to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development". Targeted at young people, educators, businesses, policy-makers, civil society and the public at large, the Year encompasses everything from policy debate to exhibitions and awards.

Integrating design into innovation policy

ADMIRE is one of several European Commission initiatives supporting innovative design, which include, for instance, the Community design in the area of intellectual property rights protection. However, design could play a more important role in European innovation policy. To find out how, the Commission has launched a public consultation on design and innovation on the basis of a document recently published by the Commission, "Design as a driver of user-centred innovation".

This document argues that design is not only about aesthetics but also about function, user-friendliness and the environmental characteristics of a product, such as durability, energy efficiency and recycling. Research shows that companies which pay attention to design tend to be more innovative, more profitable and grow faster than those that do not.

Both the document and the public consultation on design and innovation are available on the website of the Enterprise and Industry DG. Further details will also be published in the magazine shortly.

The text only of the articles can be republished as long as the source of the article is quoted: Enterprise & Industry magazine (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/magazine/index_en.htm), © European Union, 2008 - 2012