Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

"In Norwegian:
Hvordan skal du få noe nytt - en idé, et nytt samarbeid eller et nytt produkt - til å bli til noe interessant og relevant for andre? Hvordan finner prosjekter, produkter og virksomheter sin form? Design og innovasjon er noe som må utvikles - med og for andre. Hvordan jobbe godt og effektivt tverrfaglig, med ledere, ingeniører, håndverkere, kunstnere, markedsfolk, faktiske brukere eller andre fagfolk som er involvert i prosessen?

Denne boka gir deg en rekke nyttige innganger til kreative prosjekter:
- hjelp til å foreta gode valg underveis
- støtte til å tenke og tilrettelegge for tverrfaglig samarbeid
- teorier som øker forståelsen av design- og innovasjonsprosesser
- tips til få frem mangfold og nytenking
- hjelp til å holde fokus underveis"

"EXTRAPOLATING from detailed case studies, Birgit Jevnaker describes three approaches to managing assets that allow organizations to leverage design resources more effectively. First, executives should integrate competencies in a dynamic, rather than a linear, fashion. Second, they should nurture talent-rich design/business relationships and a broad range of external and internal multidisciplinary networking. Third, building on what is ideally a creative mix of talents and content, they should emphasize the modeling of design experiences capturing value from business/design opportunities.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1948-7169.2000.tb00286.x/abstract"

Publisher´s book description
"…the management of design alliances has become necessary for business to be successful, responding to challenges of new complexity. …ever increasing specialisation pushes people in different disciplines away from each other, so that managing alliances between members of multidisciplinary teams poses a continuing challenge. This book shows us how to meet these challenges and manage these and other alliances. It is deeply researched and full of interesting and relevant examples." Bill Moggridge, co-founder, IDEO Design is a creative source of competitive advantage for companies. Trends indicate that design expertise is increasingly outsourced by companies. This book focuses on design alliances and how these can be most effectively managed to achieve commercial success. It argues that the creative knowledge is located in the alliance formed between the client and design firm and that this can become a strategic competence which impacts on the company’s innovative ability and business performance. If the design alliance is nurtured and incorporated into decision-making at a strategic level, then the commercial benefits are high. But if the design alliance is neglected, then the outcome can be disastrous. A unique feature of the book is the way in which it brings together a conceptual framework for examining design alliances, coupled with practical examples in the form of international case studies which deal with all aspects of the process, so as to cover the acquisition, absorption and sustenance of a design-based competitive advantage. These cases include, among others, Ericsson’s mobile phone, Novo Nordisk’s Novo Pen, HAG’s office furniture, Ingersoll-Rand’s tools and IBM’s Notebook computer. By using examples, cases and dialogue with practitioners, the book’s appeal is enhanced to include both academics and practitioners. This includes students of design, strategic management, product development, marketing and technology, and managers involved in design and product development.

"(In Norwegian):
Det er behov for økt kunnskap om hvordan man skaper og realiserer mer attraktive og brukervennlige produkter, tjenester, merker og bedriftsprofiler med et egnet særpreg. Forskningen om dette er i en startfase, men et nyttig verktøy i flere bedrifter har vist seg å være industri- og kommunikasjonsdesign. Vår kunnskap om hvordan kvalifisert design utnyttes i organisasjoner, er foreløpig skrinn. Norske og internasjonale undersøkelser har like fullt dokumentert at en rekke fordeler kan oppnås. Spesielt er det verdt å notere at bak resultatene ligger en «skjult formue» av entusiasme, ekspertise, konseptuell kreativitet og samarbeidserfaring. Slik utvidet designkompetanse kan gi ny dynamikk i bedriftens innovasjonsprosesser.
"

"The Design Management Journal´s edited abstract
Birgit Jevnaker, a faculty member in the Department of Innovation and Economic Organization at the Norwegian School of Management, looks at how having voices that champion design can influence and enhance corporate strategy. The article is based on case-study observations, a literature analysis, and interviews. The outcome of this effort is a distillation of the many ways design has an impact on management—from resource allocation to the development of cross-disciplinary teams, to innovation and the development of strategic initiatives. What is intriguing is that, in addition to these global perspectives, Jevnaker notes the many details and personal elements that contribute to design management success. An interest in design, for instance, often starts with a conversation or even a cold-call from a design consultant. The depth of design integration in an organization is also dependent on a designer’s initiative and the ability to overcome or move outside existing corporate structures. Within a company, storytelling and hands-on experiences are critical to embedding respect for design’s value. Observing and talking with customers are frequently the basis for innovation. Design must be championed, but that role is really an education process that works best if it comes from a variety of internal and external sources. To have an impact on strategy, the relationship with a design consultant should be an ongoing, long-term exchange. So Jevnaker’s revelations continue as she gathers evidence to make the point that design management is also about leadership and human interaction.
Source: http://www.dmi.org/dmi/html/publications/academic/fullabstract_d.jsp?itemID=00AJEV25"

"Based on a competence view and a comparative case study method, this paper explores how a new ergonomic design approach transformed two Scandinavian firms. The interactions between innovative product designs, marketing and business strategy highlight the need for improved knowledge development in firms. Inaugurative learning, that is familiarizing top managers and others with new design practices, emerged as an essential contribution from professional design consultants. Thus, ‘inaugurative design learning’ is proposed as an important way to incorporate new design competence in firms.
Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0142694X93800144"

That chairs should be designed to support the human body and offer valuable mobility while doing routine desk work is not a new idea. But building a successful product line and international reputation based on innovative solutions to this problem is a unique situation. Birgit Jevnaker analyzes two Scandinavian firms that have adopted this strategy and thoughtfully enumerates the similarities and differences in their approaches to design management as it relates to this interesting segment of responsible design.

Trends indicate that design expertise is increasingly outsourced by companies. A fresh and creative input by external designers can be highly valuable for innovation and business success. Surprisingly, however, few firms have fully exploited the business potential of design investment. One approach to build up and leverage design expertise would be to establish a strategic alliance with an external design resource to supply a constant flow of fresh ideas and insights to enhance product development and innovation. A conceptual framework delineates both the main advantages and challenges of design alliances and links this with the resource-based perspective of strategic management. Three company cases are compared to explore how innovation and advances in industrial design may occur through a design alliance.

How can executives assure quality and consistency when design comes from diverse and independent directions? Birgit Jevnaker’s analysis of the success of the Lillehammer Olympic Games offers insights into the structure, activities, and catalysts that kept this multiyear, billion-dollar adventure on track. Interestingly, in spite of literally hundreds of participants in design activities, it was organizational and communications strategies—rather than design guidelines—that made the most important contributions to positive results.