Colección Aprendizaje 21 · Vol I
Capítulo 1 An Introduction to Design Management: A Global Perspective. Chokeanand Bussracumpakorn King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi Bangkok, Thailand
1. Introduction Design has been part of business since the beginning of the 20th century. During the 1900s to 1950s, design was promoted as the improvement of design in products for industry in the Western Europe, i.e. Germany and UK. Design was linked with business objectives at corporate level. This movement illustrates the importance of design as industrial competitiveness at national level. For example, in 1907, the established Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation) was an association of designers, architects, artists and industrialists. The Werkbund was claimed as an important part in the development of modern architecture and industry design (eNotes, 2011). Its objectives were to partner product industry with design professionals in the improvement of the national competitiveness in global markets. It intended to integrate traditional crafts and industrial mass production techniques. In 1944, the UK Council of Industrial Design was established in order to “promote by all practicable means the improvement of design in the products of British Industry” (Design Council, 2011). In the East, Japan is the first country in Asia to be serious about design and her economic development. The Japanese government has promoted design against the wave of design imitations of products from other countries in order to promote industrial product exports since the 1950s. One effort is the Good Design Award System (G Mark), founded in 1957. This system was set up to encourage the creation of better products. The country also established Export Inspection Law and Exported Product Design Law in order to take action against copied design and promote original design as a national agenda (Hirose, 2008). These histories illustrate the importance of industrial design at both industry and national levels and the movement of design management, i.e. the interaction between product design and industry. Since the 1970s, design management has become apparent. Design Management Institute (DMI), founded in 1975, is to raise the importance of design management for business success and the improvement of design effectiveness between design and business. DMI (2011) defined design management as:
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