An increasing number of chief executives (CEs) understand the importance of design and show strong interest in design management. What specific traits or behavior factors are common to the CE who values design management? How do these core factors interact with one another to produce successful designs and design management? To answer these questions, researchers reviewed company literature and public press materials in order to identify the influential factors that would most help a CE toward successful designs and design management. The review found four: design awareness, good sense of design, support for design, and involvement in design. Next, a survey was carried out targeted at leading corporations based in Korea and overseas. (The survey was aimed at the senior designers of the companies, rather than the chief executives themselves, in the interests of objectivity as well as knowledge of the subject.) The research examined the extent of the chief executives’ design awareness and its influence on design and the correlation among the four factors mentioned above, as well as correlations between those factors and their effects on design tasks and output. Further, the research demonstrates that the inter‐relationships among the influential factors themselves may have either a positive or a negative effect on corporate design management.
In tandem with the rising importance of design, international product design awards are used as an effective tool for increasing global product visibility.Companies participate in design awards for various reasons and use them strategically to achieve those purposes. Design awards evaluate design excellence, and companies can capitalize on that excellence in many ways-to extol product quality, to highlight financial acumen and design management prowess, and simply to prove design competency. Doing this also has a positive effect on companies' business and management performance going forward.Maximizing the impact and value of participating in design award schemes requires a strategic approach, but many studies dealing ª 2010 The Design Management Institute 72
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