Design and design thinking in building an innovative organizational culture

Abstract

For many companies innovations are crucial for achieving a competitive advantage. Many factors have been revealed to be determinants of company innovativeness. One is organizational culture which can support or diminish innovative attempts of employees. In recent years there is a growing interest in design and design thinking as methods of implementing innovations. Interdisciplinary, multicultural teams, fast prototyping, co-creation with users are only examples of specific methods that are being promoted by designers and design thinkers, that can significantly affect organisational culture. The objective of this paper is to analyse the impact of design and design thinking on the organizational culture. In the first part literature findings are presented. The second part shows results of the exploratory research that has been conducted among designoriented companies from Sweden and Poland. This project was qualitative study aimed to compare managers' attitudes towards design; to look into existing processes in companies connected with design and to explore the different roles that designers play in organizations.

The politics behind design projects: when space, organization, and technology collide

“…According to a second group of authors, design is a science or a discipline of its own (Cross, 2001; Simon, 1988), of which the tools and methods may be transferred to organizations in order to solve specific problems (Auernhammer and Leifer, 2019; Elsbach and Stigliani, 2018). Research on “ managing as designing ”, on “ design attitude ” and on “ design thinking ” suggests that design entails specific modes of cognition and practices that could (and/or should) be implemented in organizational contexts (Boland et al , 2008; Starostka, 2015; Wastell, 2014; Yoo et al , 2006). Such contributions build on an opposition between managers and designers, and argue that the first should seek inspiration from the second, who have mastered specific sets of skills such as creative thinking, continuous experimenting and user empathy (Brown and Katz, 2011; Starostka, 2015; Yoo et al , 2006).…”

“…Research on “ managing as designing ”, on “ design attitude ” and on “ design thinking ” suggests that design entails specific modes of cognition and practices that could (and/or should) be implemented in organizational contexts (Boland et al , 2008; Starostka, 2015; Wastell, 2014; Yoo et al , 2006). Such contributions build on an opposition between managers and designers, and argue that the first should seek inspiration from the second, who have mastered specific sets of skills such as creative thinking, continuous experimenting and user empathy (Brown and Katz, 2011; Starostka, 2015; Yoo et al , 2006). Design, it is argued, could hence lead to develop “ more human-centered organizations ” (Auernhammer and Leifer, 2019, p. 1208).…”

“…Therefore, as emphasized by Aubry and Lavoie-Tremblay (2018), design processes call for collective and sustained efforts which require slow and reflexive project management approaches. Instead of building on day-to-day control, planning and orderliness, complex design projects call for exploration, risk-taking and strategy formulation (Buchanan, 2015; Mahmoud-Jouini et al , 2016; Pfeffer and Salancik, 1977; Starostka, 2015). The project management literature notably emphasizes the necessity to think of the project itself as an “ unfolding journey ” (Rylander Eklund and Simpson, 2020) in which the project manager has to develop lasting trust among project-team members (Lohne et al , 2017).…”

“…Kornberger and Clegg, 2004), organization design (e.g. Starostka, 2015), and technology design (e.g. Ribes and Finholt, 2009), few studies have empirically explored projects combining these three objects of design together, and processes through which they are conjointly shaped.…”

60 years of creativity in business organizations

“…The second argument, derived logically from the previous one, addresses the influence of organizational culture on creativity, a topic that has received considerable attention by scholars in recent decades (Ekvall, 1996;Tesluk et al, 1997;Martins & Terblanche, 2003;Von Keogh et. al, 2000) -including from a design perspective (Chang & Chiang, 2008;Kumar, 2012;Panuwatwanich et al, 2008;Starostka, 2014). Today innovation capability is an active research area (Lawson and Samson, 2001), and design has been identified as a contributor to organizational climates that support innovation (Bertola & Teixeira, 2003;Verganti, 2008;Battistella et al, 2012).…”