It's all in a relationship: a comparative study of client-design consultant relationships

Visual aesthetics in product development: A balance between commercial and creative imperatives

“…The interdependence discussed earlier, and the search for such trust, lead to the careful selection of a business partner by both the designer and the manufacturer. The study supports the importance of personal chemistry in creating a close client---designer relationship, as suggested by Bruce and Docherty (1993). However, the study further reveals that such personal chemistry is an important factor in the evaluation of possible external designer resources.…”

“…Instead, it is common interests and goals that lead to a trustful relationship, as well as a belief in both parties' will and competence to achieve these goals. Moreover, in support of Bruce and Docherty (1993), the results reveal that the personal chemistry between the designer and the manager was an important basis for the creation of trust and was thus also important when selecting a designer. The findings are somewhat different from the often---presented view in the literature, i.e.…”

“…Also, the CEO of Karl Andersson & Söner says that the hiring of a previously unknown designer entails the risk of a less fruitful collaboration and, in the end, an unsuccessful product. A good personal relationship with the designer was mentioned in terms of "ʺpersonal chemistry"ʺ, as suggested by Bruce and Docherty (1993), and in Study 4, both Lammhults Möbel and Karl Andersson & Söner emphasized collaborative skills as being important for the company'ʹs choice of designer. Lammhults Möbel describes its long---term business relationship using the word "family", meaning that its relationship with its designers is close and functions smoothly.…”

“…The sourcing of designer resources has been an issue in some previous research, e.g. in studies focusing on organisational issues such as the outsourcing decision, in various research contexts (Bruce & Morris, 1994;Bruce & Morris, 1998;Jevnaker, 1998a), on the nature of the relationship with the external designer (Bruce & Docherty, 1993), with a focus on the incorporation by SMEs of external resources (Berends et al, 2011). Still, as also pointed out by Dell'Era and Verganti (2010), little research has been conducted on collaborating with externally---sourced designers during new product development.…”

“…less innovative ideas due to knowing the needs and wants of the buying company. Also, the possibility of creating a close relationship with a designer is dependent on the degree of "ʺempathy"ʺ or "ʺcompatibility"ʺ, something which, in the literature, is argued to be dependent on "ʺpersonal chemistry"ʺ and the ability to "ʺspeak the same language"ʺ (Bruce & Docherty, 1993).…”