Barcelona (Spain) - Design is a key aspect of innovation, setting products and services apart from the competition. It is, therefore, an essential ally for our companies and for the country's economy as a whole. But, what level of design integration is there in Catalan enterprise? And above all, what is the economic impact of design on Catalan enterprise?

BCD's Design and Enterprise Observatory presented the study "The Economic Impact of Design on Companies in Catalonia" recently presented by BCD's Design and Enterprise Observatory, an analysis of design incorporation carried out on 400 enterprises of diverse sectors, sizes and typologies, offering an analysis of the current state of the Catalan business sphere regarding design.



This report contains the conclusions drawn from a field study that was carried out to establish the economic impact of design on Catalan companies. The study methodology included a telephone survey and a closed questionnaire.



In total, 400 companies were validly surveyed. Each company had more than 20 employees and fell into one of the following sectors: industry (capital goods and consumer goods), trade or services (knowledge-intensive and non-knowledge-intensive).


The study was divided into two parts. The first part analysed design integration in companies in Catalonia by studying consumption patterns, the application of design to products and services, the perception of design in business culture and the process and organisation of business design functions among others.



Then, there is a review of the impact of design on Catalan enterprise. The scheme used to analyse the results of the surveys was based on the method jointly developed by Robert Kaplan, a Professor at Harvard Business School, and David Norton: the balanced scorecard. The four perspectives of the balanced scorecard are: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth.



Conclusions



It should be said that design is indeed one of the aspects present in the strategic approaches taken by Catalan companies, with 9 out of 10 companies stating that it is something they take into account in their business strategies. Furthermore, there is a relationship between turnover performance and the inclusion of design in business strategies.


Eighty percent of companies outsourced professional design services either on a one-off basis (47%) or a regular basis (33%).



Fifty-five percent of companies had designers on the payroll. Of these companies, 45% outsourced additional design services.




On negative aspects, worthy of note is that 11% of companies neither outsourced design services nor had designers on the payroll, even though they stated that they carried out design activities. Therefore, it must be assumed that these activities were carried out by professionals other than designers.



Another negative aspect worthy of note is the low level of protection that Catalan companies exercised over design. Only 37% of companies stated that they did this, whereas 45% did not do so at all and 18% were unaware of the issue. This issue will need to be studied in greater depth to see whether companies are unaware of the various systems available to them or whether it is a problem of cost or effectiveness of the systems themselves with respect to companies' needs.

Regarding the study of economic variables, in every case design had a positive impact on all the economic variables contained in the study. Of the companies included in the survey, 61% stated that it had had a positive impact on business profit, 59% stated that it had improved productivity and 68% stated that it had had a positive impact on opening up new markets. Also worthy of note is that 84% of companies stated that design had improved their company brand image and reputation, especially in companies that had grown most in the last three years.



Just a few years ago, design was seen as something dispensable, something that only held aesthetic value and something reserved for certain types or sizes of company. Fortunately, it seems that the large majority of Catalan companies have changed their views on the design issue. Now it is important for these companies to make the most of their investments in design and get the biggest business profits from proper management of all the design resources within their reach.

In this sense, BCD proposes:

1. To carry on raising companies' awareness of – and offering them training in – design management.

2. To continue disseminating innovative content and success stories connected with design and its economic value.

3. To develop a professional profile for the design manager position in Catalan enterprise.

4. To consolidate a network of design management consultants in order to roll out implementation projects in companies, and to create a line of subsidies for these companies in the Government of Catalonia's Research and Innovation Plan.

5. To set up a Design Protection Service to advise companies on the various systems; to consolidate the "re-crea" Creations Register and to set up a Design Arbitration Tribunal.

6. To conduct research into design management that shows companies how to measure the Return on Investment (ROI) in design, the impact that design innovation has on companies' operating profit.

7. To promote the services of design professionals in companies in Catalonia.

8. To promote design support measures offered by the Government of Catalonia's departments and agencies (Innovation, Finance, Environment, etc.).

Information and photo from http://www.icsid.org/news/year/2010_news/articles979.htm

01.03.2010.