National Design Strategies and Country Competitive Economic Advantage

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the association between economic competitiveness and the existence of strategies for the promotion of design in different countries. It presents the findings of a survey that identified where design programmes, support schemes and national design policies have been adopted. Conclusions are developed comparing this map of design strategies with countries' economic sophistication and geographical position. Evidence shows that more advanced economies have been exploiting design as an asset for their economic advantage and for the international promotion of their image. In contrast, developing countries – with very few exceptions – have disregarded design as a tool for economic and social development.

[1]  Christopher Lorenz The design dimension : the new competitive weapon for business , 1987 .

[2]  M. Porter The Competitive Advantage Of Nations , 1990 .

[3]  Margaret Bruce,et al.  WINNING BY DESIGN , 1992 .

[4]  H. Alpay Er,et al.  Development Patterns of Industrial Design in the Third World: A Conceptual Model for Newly Industrialized Countries , 1997 .

[5]  Kyung Won Chung Strategies for Promoting Korean Design Excellence , 1998 .

[6]  D. Teece Capturing Value from Knowledge Assets: The New Economy, Markets for Know-How, and Intangible Assets , 1998 .

[7]  M. Bruce,et al.  Effective design management for small businesses. , 1999 .

[8]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Winning at new products : accelerating the process from idea to launch , 2001 .

[9]  T. Beck,et al.  Small and Medium Enterprises Across the Globe: A New Database , 2003 .

[10]  David Durling,et al.  Proceedings of Futureground, Design Research Society International Conference, Monash University, 17-21 November, 2004. , 2004 .

[11]  Sulfikar Amir Rethinking Design Policy in the Third World , 2004, Design Issues.

[12]  Sungwoo Lim,et al.  Dancing with design – a study of the national design policy and design support programmes in South Korea , 2007 .

[13]  Kyung-won Chung,et al.  Changing roles of design promotion organizations in the global context and a new theoretical model for a design promotion system , 2007 .

[14]  Michael E. Porter,et al.  Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 , 2007 .

[15]  Jacques R. Giard CANADIAN DESIGN and the National Agenda: Toward the Year 2005 , 2010 .

[16]  Robin Roy,et al.  Can the Benefits of Good Design BE QUANTIFIED , 2010 .

[17]  Gavin Cawood Design Innovation and Culture in SMEs , 2010 .

[18]  Lisbeth Svengren,et al.  Strategic Issues for a Design Support Organization: The Swedish Industrial Design Foundation , 2010 .

[19]  Bettina von Stamm Innovation—What's Design Got to Do with It? , 2010 .