Design strategy and its interface with manufacturing and marketing: A conceptual framework

“Product design is a strategic activity, by intention or by default” (Whitney (1988)). An organization has to compete to ensure its survival and the dimensions of competition are cost, quality, reliability, flexibility, service, and speed of delivery. Major commitments to these dimensions are usually made during the design stage of the product. Unfortunately, we observe in most organizations a widening gap between design and other business functions (Meikle (1989)). This article attempts to bridge this gap by: (1) defining “design” as a strategic activity to facilitate its participation in the corporate debate, and; (2) presenting a conceptual framework which integrates design with manufacturing and marketing as equal partners to support the overall corporate mission. In this article we examine the strategic nature of design. We define “design” and “design strategy” in a language that is familiar to business and present a conceptual framework that can be used to plan, implement, and control design activities strategically. According to this framework all dimensions of competition can be expressed by two basic design variables, complexity and innovation. The design strategy formulation process consists of two stages. In stage one we position a design using complexity and innovation levels to identify threats and opportunities, to evaluate consistency of design strategies, and to obtain an aggregate measure of effort required to support a design strategy. In stage two we use the strategic insight gained in stage one to select an appropriate infrastructure to support our design objectives. The framework presented in this article extends the manufacturing strategy framework by Hill (1989) to provide an effective interface between design, manufacturing, and marketing functions. We have used the dimensions of competition as the integrating force. This article also provides a foundation on which future empirical and analytical research can be based. It emphasizes the need for strategic management of design activity instead of relegating design to a traditional reactive role. In this respect the framework is a significant step towards reducing the existing gap between design and the other business functions, and can help corporate strategists use design as a competitive weapon.