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Page 1: Introduction
Within all types of organisations, managers need to constantly ask themselves Where do we go from here? This is because, in a changing and competitive business environment, there is a continuing need for organisations to move forward and innovate as part of their strategic development. Innovation involves making a change to something in order to make it either different and better, or new. Innovation adds value to processes, products and services by providing either a new solution to a new problem or a better solution to an old one. The UK has many companies that regard innovation as a fundamental part of their everyday thinking and practice. Businesses that innovate are more likely to improve performance and meet their objectives than those that do not. This case study illustrates the importance of design as part of the strategic process of innovation and shows how the design process helps to apply new thinking to fundamental questions that concern all businesses. Key questions include: Who are our customers? What do they want now? What will they want next year? Why should they come to us rather than to one of our rivals? The case study highlights not only how good design improves the quality of peoples lives but also how organisations that innovate through design put themselves in a position where they can develop a valuable competitive advantage over their rivals.
Design Council
The Design Council is funded by the Department of Trade and Industry. The Design Council works with business organisations, government departments and educational bodies to make sure that people in business, government and education not only appreciate the importance of design, but also understand how the effective use of design enables people within business organisations to transform what they do. The purpose of the Design Council is to inspire and enable the best use of design by the UK in the world context to improve prosperity and well-being. To do this, the Design Council works with other influential organisations to make the most of their innovation and creative skills when using design to add value. For example, the Design Council works with: UK businesses. The Design Council helps them to appreciate the contribution of design and also to use design as a central part of business strategy with a view to increasing their commercial success and competitiveness. Government departments. The Design Council demonstrates to departments how they can make the best use of design. By using design well, government departments can improve public sector services and make them more customer-focussed. Education establishments. The Design Council encourages them to develop learning initiatives related to design as well as resources and tools for schools, colleges, universities and businesses. Through events and publications, it also provides platforms for debate about education policy. By working closely with education bodies and organisations, The Design Council promotes the value of design in education and in lifelong learning. The emphasis is on the belief that effective design and the creativity that drives it, starts with education.
inspire their workforce and create products and services that connect effectively with customers and markets.
Inspire
Building a culture of innovation involves leaders and senior managers giving individuals a clear mission that they understand. Individuals also need the freedom to perform and to be creative with their ideas and approaches to design and innovation. Many employees like to work in an environment that is demanding, empowering, inspirational, challenging and supportive.
Create
Organisations use a range of techniques and approaches to create innovative products and services. Such companies finance processes of innovation that may involve taking considerable, carefully calculated risks. Innovation often involves assigning staff to teams that are encouraged to use design and good ideas as a basis for breaking new ground.
Connect
Using the creative processes associated with design and innovation enables organisations to focus upon, connect with and even anticipate customers needs. In this way, innovation provides opportunities for organisations to stay close to their customers. By regularly reviewing their markets and by generating or fine-tuning innovative products, firms are able to develop a competitive advantage over other organisations within the same markets.
Effective design is not just about making minor product adjustments, keeping up with competitors or thinking about how to make the working environment more appealing for staff. These considerations are important, but they are tactical decisions based upon mainly minor improvements that affect parts of the organisations performance within a time frame. In modern organisations, meeting customer needs by creating the right climate for design through innovation involves more than this. It involves strategic development of the whole business in a way that encourages the use of creative skills for design and innovation. Design at a strategic level has, therefore, become something that affects everybody within the organisation. Everyone has a role to play in anticipating and identifying consumer demand and in producing goods and services that meet consumer needs.
Renray manufactures specialist furniture for hospitals and care homes. Renray wanted to introduce new ranges that would: meet the changing requirements of its customers enhance the environments in which they were used. To do this, Renray called in a design advisor from a Business Link to help review the companys approach to design. One conclusion was that while Renray had good in-house skills and facilities to build prototype test products to manufacturing standards, it lacked the design skills to explore and develop suitable concepts. Using specialist designers, Renray developed a new series of designed products that understood and anticipated customer needs and were therefore well accepted by the healthcare sector. This strategic approach to investing in design and upgrading design input has added to
Renrays understanding of markets and healthcare issues. At a time when the UK government is looking to increase expenditure on healthcare, Renrays design-led approach has provided it with a secure base for further developments.
Page 6: Conclusion
Markets for UK companies are worldwide. To serve these markets, firms have to ask themselves: Do we really know what our customers want? How do we generate, capture and develop ideas? How good are we at seeing good ideas through to fruition? In a changing market place, what is the best way for us to develop strategies that will maximise our competitive advantage? How should we set about identifying and meeting business opportunities? The Design Council has been working to demonstrate that the UK is a country with entrepreneurial flair, in which companies and individuals use ideas to develop leading products based upon design and innovation. This case study shows that by using cutting-edge design as part of a process of innovation, an organisation can add value to processes and products that helps to transform their activities while at the same time improving their competitive advantage.