No abstract

Selecting award winner companies as research sample is frequent in Design Management studies (Guo, 2010; Borja de Mozota, 2003; Desbarats 2006), especially those developed in North America and Europe. The assumption underlining this research option is clear: when a designer or a team of Design wins a prize its processes are supposed to be exemplary. This aspect is more clearly seen in international market. However, in other countries, especially in Latin America, is not easy to keep this pattern of samples for Design Management researches. Dutra (2014) notes that large Brazilian companies, when questioned about their design management practices, mention to have no interest in competing or getting awards in design. This finding raises some issues, like: (a) what is the real value of design prizes? (b) how interesting for research is to focus solely in winning companies? and (c) which kind of information regarding Design Management could researchers lose when nonwinning companies don't take part of the samples? This paper focus on those issues, analyzing them through a qualitative research based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with company's design teams. Performed in Brazilian companies, the research presents well-established Design Management processes. The results indicate the need of discussion regarding the concept and value of awards in general. Finally, this paper also discusses the implications for design management research on disconsidering not awarded companies as research samples; and the gaps uncovered by this practice.