Improving competitiveness in businesses through the application of product design as a knowledge creation management tool

Abstract

Many South African businesses experience a lack of competitiveness against a background of increasing globalised competition. One of the reasons for the lack of competitiveness in South African businesses is as a result of a lack of innovation. In response, many scholars have concluded that design can contribute to the competitiveness of a company. Distinguished and refereed business journals have published articles that claim design can have value. One of the causes of the lack of innovation could be that managers do not use design as widely as it might be. Some say that it is mainly as a result of a poor understanding of the benefits of design. This prompted the research question: How can the competitiveness of businesses be improved through the application of product design as a knowledge creation management tool? This question was investigated by a combination of a literature survey, construction of a conceptual model, a questionnaire survey, a focus group discussion and a curriculum content analysis. Through a literature study evidence was presented that design could contribute to innovation, which could add a competitive edge and could lead to commercial success, provided it is managed properly. Unfortunately, managers do not use design as widely as it might be as a result of a poor understanding of the contribution of design. This raises the question, how can the understanding of design be improved? An alternative to the traditional views was presented whereby product design can be used as a knowledge creation management tool. In this regard, a framework was proposed, which indicated product design as both a user and a producer of knowledge. This framework could assist managers to acquire a sufficient understanding of design. The next step is to ask what managers should understand about design in order to use it as a knowledge creation management tool. A questionnaire survey managed to distinguish, in a statistically significant manner, between certain items that were indicated by the respondents as important for managers to understand and other items that the respondents felt were unimportant. In general, the items that were design specific, such as conceptualisation and the psychology of creativity, were indicated as unimportant and the items close to managing a business, such as the writing of a creative brief and the risk factors, were indicated as important for managers to know. Two focus group discussions agreed in the main with the results of the questionnaire survey, but with one exception. One group felt that managers should have a basic understanding of the whole design process. Another aspect of importance was that the manager should trust the designer. The groups also suggested a number of topics that should be included in a curriculum on a basic understanding of product design for management students.