An in-depth case study on the role of industrial design in a business-to-business company

Published Date

October–December 2013, Vol.30(4):363–383, doi:10.1016/j.jengtecman.2013.08.002

Title 

An in-depth case study on the role of industrial design in a business-to-business company

• Author 

• Ana Valencia ^a,,
• Oscar Person ^a,d
• Dirk Snelders ^b,c

• aDelft University of Technology, Department of Product Innovation Management, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft, The Netherlands
• bEindhoven University of Technology, Department of Industrial Design, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands
• cAalto University, School of Business, International Design Business Management Program, Lapuankatu 6, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
• dAalto University, Department of Design, PO Box 31000, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland

Available online 28 September 2013.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate how managers perceive the roles of industrial design, based on their experiences with designers in two product development projects in a business-to-business environment. The study demonstrates that designers can make contributions that surpass the design of physical products, and that influence the effective implementation of product development processes. Our findings extend the limited literature on the role of industrial design in industrial markets, and are of value for managers looking to strengthen their product development processes.

JEL classification

• L23
• M11

Keywords

• Industrial design
• Management
• New product development
• Business-to-business

---

 Table 1

Table 1.

 Table 2

Table 2.

 Table 3

Table 3.

 Table 4

Table 4.

Fig. 1.

• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 1527 87392; fax: +31 1527 87662.

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092347481300043X