Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to use quantitative analysis to identify the effect that a product development organization’s orientation has on the performance of its product designs. Prior research on design management has discussed how the orientation of a product development organization affects the performance of its design activities. However, most of these studies were merely conceptual discussions and contained little empirical validation. In addition, these studies offer only individual analyses of the effect of an organization’s orientation on its design performance. They do not give adequate consideration to the circumstances and functions of an organization’s orientation. This study, therefore, analyzes how the orientation of a product development organization, be it a “market orientation,” an “entrepreneurial orientation” or a “learning orientation,” affects the performance of its product designs in terms of the degree of competition and market uncertainty. In this study, we conducted an online questionnaire survey of employees at manufacturing firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan. We received responses from 2,226 employees at 391 companies, and our study used these as its sample for quantitative analysis.