| Responding to the Economic Downturn: Exploiting the Value of Design Management Education
By David Griffiths, Internal Consultant, Royal
Mail
August 2002
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David Griffiths
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If the professional management of design is a key contributor to
corporate success, the prosperity of design consultancies, and in-house
teams, then in times of economic downturn it becomes a matter of
survival. Yet neither designers nor client managers can affirm with
confidence that they have easy access to professional development
opportunities.
To get the best from design management education we need to differentiate
between two different situations. Designers—whether in consultancies
or in-house teams—need to improve their knowledge of business
issues (their own teams as well as their client’s organization).
Consultant account managers need to better understand how to manage
design and exploit its opportunities for competitive advantage.
Design management education offerings also need to have a clear
proposition: are they to be short training courses focused on knowledge
transfer and skills development; or longer executive education programs
which seek to develop strategic thinking abilities; or a complete
design management degree program?
Definitions of design management vary, but in the context of this
article, three viewpoints are relevant:
- The management of design consultancies or in-house teams (often
referred to as "Firm Leadership" in the USA and "Professional
Practice" in other countries)
- The management of specific design projects and programs
- The strategic use of design leadership as a focus of an organization's
competitive advantage
It is not only the external pressures created by the economic downturn
that increases the need to step up professionalism in the management
of design and design projects. There is also internal pressure arising
from within both the design and business communities to ensure that
design is used effectively to its full potential.
Two clear viewpoints are heard. One audience wants to raise the
professionalism of their design consultancy or in-house design team.
Standard offerings from business schools are viewed with suspicion
since design is rarely visible in the course material and the faculty
is not able to connect with credibility to a design-aware audience.
On the other hand, design schools may be perceived to lack the depth
of business knowledge when they include business topics within their
courses. Knowledge about marketing, project management, corporate
strategy, and aligning a design team's capabilities to the client
view of the world are all topics that arise in these conversations.
A second audience, not necessarily with a design background, wants
to develop an in-depth knowledge of design as a business resource
and the capability to argue for its proper use and professional
management in a business context. Avenues open today are either
design-led, e.g. an MA in Design Strategy, or business-led, e.g.
an MBA Design Management.
The only way to inject more professional management into the design
sector is to step up education in this area. The training type of
education offering is well illustrated by the portfolio offered
by the UK’s Design
Business Association (a trade body for design firms). This focuses
on developing capabilities that support improved management of the
design team or the consultancy.
The middle ground of executive education seems sparse—neither
business schools nor design schools seem alert to the opportunities
or comfortable with its hybrid nature. The best propositions would
combine faculty from both areas with industry practitioners. Developing
jointly understood tools and techniques, allied to a common language,
will enable designers and managers to bridge the gap between the
two professions.
The existing Design Management Masters programs are good, but they
are few in number and only suitable for those with the time to commit
to them. An opportunity exists to extend their reach through distance
learning and residential workshops outside of their home cities.
In addition, modules from the programs could be packaged as short
executive education offers.
DMI's Web site lists a number of design
management degree programs and DMI itself offers short professional
development courses. The challenge is to increase the availability
of design management offerings while at the same time broadening
and deepening the quality of the courses.
For those unable to attend courses, there are some alternatives
when it comes to acquiring tools and techniques. DMI’s own
Web site is a growing resource. In the UK we are fortunate to have
the Design
Council which is publishing an increasing amount of research
and case study material. Designers can use this in their dialogue
with clients, and corporate management can use it to make the case
for the strategic value of design.
Many of today’s designers and clients have not been through
a serious economic downturn before. I believe the experience will
force the issue of design management education onto many people’s
agenda. Economic pain will sharpen the focus as business plans are
rewritten and the value of investing in professional development
is reevaluated. When the demand is there, educators need to respond
positively and appropriately, thereby contributing to increased
professionalism.
David Griffiths is an internal consultant
with Royal Mail and is currently involved in developing design management
programs with UK and US universities. He may be contacted at david.j.griffiths@consignia.com
and would welcome conversations about this topic.
He would also like to acknowledge the contributions of colleagues
in the writing of this article, in particular Dr Bettina von Stamm
of London Business School.
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