This document provides a research proposal on using design processes and methods in large organizations like Volvo Group. It includes: 1. An overview of the research strategy which involves observing Volvo's current design situation, gathering case studies from other companies, and developing new design tools and methods to propose changes to Volvo's hierarchies. 2. A literature review on design management including challenges of implementing design in large companies and measuring its value. 3. An explanation of the framework including concepts like integrated design management and the role of design in corporations. The proposal aims to create influence on Volvo's hierarchies to use design more effectively through redesigning relationships and decision making tools, and providing new ways for

1. Research proposal:
“Volvo Group –
The design challenge vs.
hierarchies in large
organizations”
Artur Lipin
M.Sc. Industrial Management
Saint-Petersburg, 30 April, 2012

2. Structure of research proposal
Introduction – overview of my interests and possibilities
1. Research design (strategy) .......................................................................................................1
2. Preliminary literature analysis ..................................................................................................3
3. Framework and central concepts .............................................................................................. 5
4. Research questions ...................................................................................................................7
5. Limitations ............................................................................................................................... 7
6. Research methods .....................................................................................................................8
7. Possible answers.......................................................................................................................9
7.1. How can be creatively used design processes and methods in new ways in Volvo
Group? .........................................................................................................................................9
7.2. Cases from companies ....................................................................................................10
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................12
References .....................................................................................................................................13
Appendices ....................................................................................................................................15

3. Introduction – overview of my interests and possibilities
Over the last years design management was under the focus of many researches, therefore there
is a large number of articles that brings different points of view of how design can be used, but
generally the process of implementing design functions is not so manageable.
My background in Innovation management and previous work experience are directly connected
with design management in different areas. I started to review the challenges of creation and
implementation of design driven innovation and design management during writing my master
thesis in 2011. I found the gaps caused by poor cooperation between design group and group
composed of management, marketing, and engineering representatives. As a result a formal tool
to simplify decision making process and make design process more efficient was proposed. The
tool contains deployment matrix with values for customers, design elements and manufacturing
costs. In master thesis the score was calculated and the success of concept was measured
depending on market segment. In future PhD work I want to enlarge research framework and
take into account all aspects of design management and prepare a range of tools and methods to
modernize current situation. Diverse working experience in huge companies like Carlsberg
Group, Unilever, Kone Oy provides me with vast knowledge basis to look at these issues from
different perspectives.
“Innovation killers” article of Christensen et al. issued by Harvard Business Review (2010)
showed the typical challenge for innovators (more specific for designers) to protect new idea and
to provide its potential value in terms of ROI (return on investments). During personal discussion
with Vice-President of Marketing of Unilever about organization of work with external
companies like design studio Pininfarina it was highlighted the necessity of creation online tool
to visualize online NPD project in order to make the process more transparent for top
managers(see Appendix A for more details).
During research I also want to focus on implementation process of different tools and methods
for designers because all the changes in large companies should be matched with strategic
directions and targets that additionally require internal long-run submission procedures. For
these purposes I would like to take the Bower-Burgelman (B-B) process model which contains
methodology of integration of strategic initiatives into the corporate programs.(Noda,1996)
These programs are in concordance with the company’s development vision including design
management changes.
In order to gather best practice and experience about what are other ways of using design process
and how it can be fit to the total company’s hierarchy small reference case studies with IKEA,
H&M can be applied. The case-companies should have the same scale as Volvo Group and put
into use eco-rational design principles. Synergy created by this knowledge transfer will cause the
design management improvements. An alternative source of design management knowledge
could be design-oriented Swedish firms like Nudie or Dr Demin.
As for Volvo nowadays Digital Product Development (DPD) is used which allows to present
mock-up that replaces physical items. In addition to this computer tools are steadily replacing
sketching design. For these reasons together with CAD specialists and engineers the designers
should be more effective integrated in this project process. The target is to reduce total time for
product development, minimize the costs and improve the quality. This increasing number of

4. researches shows a growing interest in the Industrial Design Organizational Function considering
that this topic becomes more and more important since severe competition in the market is
making tougher. Industrial Design is important since the organization has a strong impact on the
boundaries of engineering design. (Fuxin, 2005)
In some situations in the companies marketers and brand managers often find themselves
responsible for giving design feedback and making decisions on design concepts but they don’t
have adequate skills. The possible solution to this problem is to receive from these specialists the
brief which includes only one lead insight correlated with the company strategy about directions
of design creation. At the same time from financial point of view for design innovations it is
difficult to calculate ROI. To increase the level of effectiveness in terms of design common
templates with transparent evaluation tools should be provided. Moreover, it is important to
divide the design meetings into three distinct sections: concept presentation, the critics and
discussion, and decision making/ evaluation. Short design research based on interviewing of
customers (for example 5 persons) about their future design vision and feedback can be very
effective and useful. (Alexis, 2011)

5. 1. Research design (strategy)
The strategy of research contains few steps. Firstly, all communication between design
department and others as well as current situation with design management will be observed (see
Fig.1 Research strategy, “Current situation”). In order to achieve final targets several different
approaches how to measure communication and integration between design group and other
departments will be utilized. In Chapter "Framework and central concepts” communication
measurement described in more details. For these purposes business processes modeling will be
drawn (Appendix B as simplified example). Internal guideline, document workflow,
responsibility matrix, KPIs (key performance indicators), non-formal interactions of design
department with other structural divisions with be observed. Decision making is one of the
important parts of organization theory. If the company is going to be more design directed it
should involve new methods for decision making and argumentation. AHP (analytical hierarchy
process – method for evaluating an idea or concept based on comparing criteria) helps to
distinguish influence and preference of design during decision making. The list of currently used
tools and methods will be described and their effectiveness will be measured. Type of working
mode with external design and graphic studious will be presented. Artifacts can be found in
digital product life-cycle systems transactions (SAP as example) which support the activity of
design division. If this system is not in use, in this case the supporting software will be proposed
for launching to increase transparency of design projects. Special attention will be paid to the
role of design leadership in Volvo and improving motivation program.
In parallel with this activity information about design applications in other businesses will be
gathered. In order to make it the extra case studies with transferring knowledge and checking
applicability are proposed. Analyzing scientific articles as well as theories and methods from the
literature the basis for design initiatives will be formed. Examples of such research result can be
found in Chapter “Cases from companies”.
Discovered knowledge will create united data pool ("Accumulator" as presented in Fig. 1.
“Research strategy”) with new design tools and methods which have influence to the corporate
hierarchy. In order to prove my standpoint I suggest variants of possible usage of design in non-
standard ways and will try to argue that design knowledge and tools can be applied across many
functions in the organization, but these functions should be not separate but united under one
idea.
It is important not only to develop new design tools and methods which can be used in new way
inside Volvo Group but also to implement them successfully. Concepts like B-B model and
integrated design management are responsible for promote design initiatives in large
organization and advocate their value as competitive advantage. (Noda, 1996)
1

6. Fig. 1.Research strategy
The final target is to create the influence to the hierarchies to use design in a more effective way.
Based on design thinking, theory of organization and applying practical examples the influence
can be created by redesign of existing relationships, improving information sharing across
project teams, creation of well-balanced decision making tools, providing for top management
new design activities with clear contribution, resource allocation for the new risky innovative
design projects with long-terms perspectives, proposing new tools for cooperation, development
KPIs which reflect fruitful design activity, improvement managerial skills of designers to help
them argue breakthrough design based on future customer needs and trends, application of
design in non-standard situations, for example to use visualization to solve the company’s
problems, improvement of design culture to make the design an integral part of Volvo Group.
The success of implementation would also be measured by feedback metrics – what changes
were made with the maximum efficiency. The positive changes can be easily detected by
comparison picture and graphs “as is” and “to be” after proposing new design thinking and new
communication bridges.
In the article “Design and Business Transformation” Design Council suggests the conceptual
model and a specific survey tool to detect the level of maturity of a company in terms of design
management. The higher company’s level the greater strategic importance of design. Four levels
are as follows: design management has no applications, design management as a Project, design
management as a Function, design management as a Culture. This model has 5 metrics:
awareness of benefits, design planning, resources for design, design management expertise and
design management process. (Best et al., 2010)
2

7. 2. Preliminary literature analysis
Design management literature has a diverse range of scientific approaches. In this research the
highlight is on several Swedish books which have good interconnection of production
companies’ experience with case study. The book “Mötenkring design: om relationer mellan
design, teknikochmarknadsföring” (2008) by Ulla Johansson describes creative use of design
processes in the companies like Pergo, SKF, Swepac, BabyBjörn and Berifors/Stoneridge.
Marcus Jahnke in his book “Från Fråga till FärdigProdukt” (2011) review design in technical
oriented company to create new clothes by means of working very closely with operators in
order to understand actual needs.
Bangle (2001) in his work provides the experience how to act in creative environment and depict
what happens inside BMW Company. He argues that communication of designers with others is
a complicated task and it requires having some protective barriers and transmitter with the help
of which designers will deliver their vision to others.
Keith Goffin in his article “Maximizing the Value of Industrial Design in New Product
Development” (2010) explores the gap in managerial and design languages and metrics which
causes the conflicts during new product development. The author proposes how to fil up this gap.
Michael Antioco in his paper “Integrating service and design: influences of organizational and
communicational factors on relative product and service characteristics” (2008) discovers
antecedents and consequences of the information use by design department and proposes the
theory of reasoned actions including following parts: conflicts, functional dependence, perceived
knowledge and communication that in turn divided in performance, ergonomics, and aesthetics.
Another Antioco’s work “Reducing Ongoing Product Design Decision-Making Bias” (2008)
devotes to the influence of functional membership on the concern for decision-making criteria
during ongoing product design decisions.
Marcus Jahnke in his work (2008) highlights the effect of design methodology in innovation
process. According to him, the companies are quite often can’t fully use all potential of design.
In large companies it is very important to get support of top managers to involve design in
corporate business processes. Jahnke’s paper provides the review of NPD in an organization and
references referring design. The fact of design contribution as firm’ competitive advantage
became obvious.
David Holston in his book “The Strategic designer, tools and techniques for managing the design
process” outlines that design processes such as creation of software are not linear, but clearly
defined processes can increase understanding of measurable results, facilitate resolution of
interdepartmental conflicts, accelerate development of innovation concepts, bring respect and
manage document workflow. Many designers work in idiosyncratic ways that make it difficult
for others to participate in design process. By adapting transparent process that can be shared
with stakeholders the designers take a step forwards in allowing others to take part in the
process. This helps to integrate design into organization. Design processes and obtaining effect
can be measured by different metrics: customer experience, financial performance, brand
relevance. Estimations of Return on investments derive from design activities help to understand
financial drivers. (Holson, 2011)
3

8. One of the main challenges of large companies is to organize creativity groups and to make this
activity easy to understand for other divisions. Margaret Bruce and John Bessant in their book
“Design in Business, Strategic Innovation Through Design” explore these challenges. Firstly,
they outline that in creativity activities there are twice as many managing persons as in other
divisions. Everyone knows their huge contribution and at the same time worries about future
results. Methods of creation of something new are numerous that’s why it is complicated to unite
all tactics into one guideline. In the companies there are various ways to control the design
department and others and divide the tasks among them – by functions, by products, by parts of
the product. The challenge is to do this puzzle and create the whole structure. In car
manufacturing industry the core team comprised of about 100 people and they have direct
responsibilities for NPD, but across the company much more actors are involved. (Bruce, 2002)
Team Dynamic reflects the efficiency of a project. Environmental issues, time frames, size of the
team primary influence on the result and action plan in organization. Bruce Bessant in his work
discusses the mechanical and organic structure of the organization. Effective innovators
including creative designers do not suit well to clearly defined top-down structure of the
company, their roles are not so clear. Hierarchy allows uniting diverse activities and finding the
compromise between individual creative efforts and aims of the enterprise. (Bruce, 2002)
Fig. 2. A complex functional organization, major actors of NPD
Functional structure gives limitations. As depicted in Bruce Bessant’s book processing approach
in this case can be applied to unite and transfer knowledge between actors from different
functional units. The challenge is to recombine actors from a complex functional organization
presented in Fig.2 into product-based structure. During building of a comprehensive product-
based structure sometimes the roles of actors even duplicated or some components/some
expertise are lost. During responsibilities’ sharing in this structure driving forces also can be lost.
The major difficult in KPI measurement is that it’s hard to separate the influence/contribution of
design because design is subdiscipline comprising R&D, engineering and marketing. Anyway, in
particular situations the value should be measured especially for decision makers who are more
concentrated on market share, cash flow, production costs and profits. In this case quantitative
matrix of design engineering project and qualitative matrix for the product identity can be
measured, for innovation design the uncertainty is dramatically increasing. Data about movement
through product lifecycle stages is also a source of information to measure design performance.
The following list of methods that are able to help to make right decision about inputs and
4

9. outputs of design: 1) Product Lifecycle Costing; 2) Target Costing; 3) Activity-based costing; 4)
Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA); 5) Value Engineering.(Bruce, 2002)
3. Framework and central concepts
Integrated design management
To integrate design into the corporate management system it requires to determine a few steps:
put design culture and drivers, determine how design can support culture and business
objectives(industrial design, service design, media design), create awareness and influence of
design (environment), develop appropriate design organization and operations (project
management), measure the value gained by design (design quality), train and empower others in
design thinking methods, get information from end users, experience about design.
Fig. 3.Integrated design management
Integrated design management is a composition of key concepts and methods necessary for
developing the design-minded organization and generating innovations. The companies should
develop these competencies by growing internally and with the help of right external experts.
The most effective way is to build a combination of internal and external resources.
First of all, the role of design as a process (an artifact, communication or the environment)
should be recognized. The role of the designer in corporation also transferred from solving
simple problems and working independently to solving complex problems conjointly with cross-
functional teams. Designers must be independent enough to use the best design processes, but to
integrate design into the business the fully integration of design into the existing company’s
5

10. processes is required. Stage-gate process is not the most convenient way of managing projects in
comparison with an open and explorative methodology. If the company needs to solve its
problems and to really make an impact, in that case from the very beginning the designers should
be on the team and design-oriented processes have to be organized putting design into corporate
culture.(Lockwood, 2009)
Sometimes it happens that executive team does not support a full product redesign caused by
many reasons. General targets of designers are: decrease product cost, decrease new product time
to market and improve the expression of the brand. In addition to this, design can create value in
four categories: more profit, more brand equity, more innovation and faster change. The great
challenge in building design strategy is to bring strategy department and the design department
into alignment. It is also important to understand that every activity and output of the company
depends on design. For these reasons the design vision and a roadmap should be developed as
well as the design principles, signature elements, visual language and businesses need metrics for
measurement. By combination of key design methods and customer research with an emphasis
on observational processes the new solutions of difficult business problems can be
found.(Lockwood, 2009)
Cross-Functional Cooperation
According to previous studies, researchers have suggested a wide variety of definitions for the
cross-functional cooperation with designers. Generally speaking, terms such as “collaboration”,
“cooperation”, “interaction”, “communication” and “coordination” have been used in the papers
exploring the particularities of interfunctional integration in NPD process and other project
processes. These definitions are ranging from simple measures of the frequency of interaction
between two departments to multidimensional measures of collaborative behaviors and attitudes
(Kahn, 1996). Some sources present an interaction underlining the use of communication in the
form of meetings and information flows between functional departments (Ruekert, 1987). Others
see the cross-functional integration as collaboration where departments work cooperatively in
order to achieve mutual goals and strategic aims. For instance, Lawrence and Lorsch (1986)
defined integration as the process of achieving unity of efforts among the various subsystems in
the accomplishment of company tasks.
Some researchers have implied a multidimensional perspective of integration. Gupta, Raj, and
Wilemon defined interdepartmental integration as information sharing and involvement (Gupta,
Raj et al. 1986).
This study also utilizes the definition of Olson et al. (2001) who state that cross-functional
cooperation is the cooperation which includes both the frequency of interaction and the amount
of information and resources shared between functions involved in cross-functional projects.
This overview was adapted for design issues and presented in Appendix C.
B-B model
The Bower-Burgelman (B-B) process model of strategy making in a large complex firm depicts
managerial activities on three levels of organizational hierarchy (designers, middle design
managers, and top managers) and conceptualizes intraorganizational strategy-making processes.
B-B model is a process according to which strategic initiatives are developed primarily by front-
6

11. line managers – designers, marketing department who usually have specific knowledge. Strategic
design initiatives are adopted by middle managers whose role is to translate from design
language to managerial language. Top managers can exercise critical influences on these
activities by setting up the structural context to reflect the corporate objectives. The development
of these strategic design initiatives can lead to the improvement or change of the concept of
corporate strategy. The central feature of the B-B model is a resource allocation process in which
bottom-up design initiatives compete for scarce corporate resources and top managers' attention
to survive within the corporate contexts-structural and strategic contexts. (Noda,1996)
4. Research questions
The purpose of this research is twofold: firstly, to gain a profound understanding of how
communication between design group and other departments can be improved, the influence of
design on the company’s business and hierarchy; secondly, to examine the companies in order to
determine – in what stage of design process integration Volvo group is located, and in what way
it has an impact on the firm’s performance. For these purposes identifying the factors that affect
design management integration is valuable.
For these reasons, the central questions of the research are as follows:
 How design methods and processes can be used in a new way and how design activities
should be implemented correctly in the structure of the company?
 What are particular characteristics of design management in large manufacturing
companies?
 Which design processes from other contexts can be applied to create additional value for
Volvo Group?
 What communication modes would be the most effective for Volvo Group?
 How to overcome challenges connected with design processes in bureaucratic large
companies?
 How current processes and communication between Design Division and other
departments in Volvo Group can be characterized? What should be improved?
5. Limitations
First limitation is connected with the fact that my focus will shift on more practical things. For
analysis of current situation of Volvo Group as a base the business model of only Volvo 3P will
be taken. In order to conduct small case studies those companies which have capability to
cooperate for transferring knowledge will be involved. Another limitation refers to the
applicability of design management tools and methods from other fields to car manufacturing
area. The specific of Volvo 3P is that it is a large manufacturing company with lead engineering
view. Reference case studies with interviews and case study meetings requiring personal
participation are possible first of all in Scandinavian companies and international companies
which have design activity in north part of Europe.
7

12. Research examines communication and all design processes inside the company. For external
communication analysis the most typical experience with design agencies will be selected. For
generalization of results the number of examinations could vary.
6. Research methods
The following research methods will take place in this paper:
1) Empirical study with Volvo Group case study;
2) Small case studies to gather detailed information and to support the main research;
3) Observations of the most advanced design management practice internationally through
participating in the conferences and meetings;
4) Participate in debates of different professional design organization (for example DMI) to
develop the network.
In terms of academic and business value the most effective is a case study with collaboration
elements that are reflected in knowledge sharing and consultancy during research project. For
validating data collected during the case study various methods will be used: qualitative and
quantitative. It is planned to interview different people individually through the meetings, e-mail
discussions, phone interviews as well as observations and involvement in daily activities to
uncover tacit knowledge about communication standards. The aim is to understand non-formal
communications during collaboration projects especially from the perspective of big
manufacturing companies where all processes should be formalized and supported by transparent
document workflow. The main reason is to compare logic of managers about design and find
indicators for decision making. In this case Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) software can be
used to compare the preferences of design values. The examination of documents and
instructions (best practice “To be”) creates a complex vision.
In-depth case study approach was chosen as the best-suited research method by reason of that it
can provide the most elaborated information for each case. As a result, the integrated analysis of
the target research problem will be explored. The research process of this thesis is based on two
research activities: one part is a data collecting; the second part is the data processing. The aim
of this research process is to produce a solution to explicit practical problem that can be further
implemented. The research should also have the utility and a benefit as well as it needs to be
verified and validated. Therefore, the proposed solution needs to be tested by users of the target
organization.
One of the alternatives of the research process is presented. The research process map is shown
in Fig.4.
8

13. Find a practically Find a problem-
relevant Analyzing the data solving
opportunity construction
Obtain
Data collecting:
comprehensive
brainstorming Create a solution
understanding of
sessions
the topic
Examine the scope
Discuss and edit Data collecting: fill
of applicability of
the questionnaire the questionnaire
the solution
Fig.4. An example of the research process map
Qualitative methods: interview, focus groups, case studies, sketches, artifacts.
Quantitative: surveys, databases, measurements.
For collecting secondary data the development of design management from historic perspective
in the company will be observed as well as the changes and key projects which had influence on
the structure of the company and interconnections. For these purposes the documents which
reveal the target of these projects will be used as well as indicators of challenging situations.
Secondary data: bibliometrics, context analysis, media, briefs, presentations, Internet activity.
In addition to findings and concepts about methods of improving the contribution of design
group it will be valuable to make a few minor case studies of other projects which will provide
the results of implementing structural changes or improving internal methods and tools.
Basically, the source of information will be interviews and study visits of those companies which
presented impressive results in certain projects according to public statistics. The reason is to
find applicable sources of ideas and identify measures of evaluation of new model impact on
Volvo performance indicators. By observation outside the study will become more general.
7. Possible answers
7.1.How can be creatively used design processes and methods in new ways in Volvo
Group?
How to use design in different ways? To answer this question the list of possible applications of
design is proposed:
 Steps in new product development (coordination activity with different agents);
 Commercial materials (as said in my previous work all NPD sketches could be used in
future promotion as the brochures);
 Design of documents, reports (typography, composition – art of preparing information or
visualizing it for users);
 Photo of customers with product (collecting artifacts for marketing purposes to detect
covered customer needs);
9

14.  Design of office space (create comfortable environment for workers, furniture
allocation);
 Logos, brand style, corporate style (labels, business cards);
 Cooperating with IT for development web services, interfaces for external and internal
users, mobile applications;
 On production line - design ergonomic tools, posters, instructions (coloration of
indications), graphics, user-friendly architecture;
 Internal communication, journals, magazines;
 Artistic video about workers in Volvo as part of motivation;
 New businesses or business models proposed by design thinking which have value for
main business of Volvo Group.
 Exhibitions, presenting new tracks (Appendix D as example)
7.2.Cases from companies
Many manufacturing companies under stiff competition begin to compete on the basis of value
creation and providing new competences. Taking into account the large scale of these companies
it’s hard to transform quickly their business. Most of them have a formal product development
process and not enough working experience with design, for example IDESTA Foodtech AB.
(Marcus, 2008) For Carlsberg Group one of the market drivers is a new package but design is
involved only via external agencies. (Appendix E)
If the company generally gets innovations from technology push and minor improvements like
Alfa Laval, it follows permanent improvement way through stage gate system and standard tools
for NPD like TRIZ. During further development of my master thesis the concept of design
involvement through different tools can be developed.
The existing literature sets a stress on the fact that the companies like Procter & Gamble,
Phillips, Samsung could have big amount of designers and use different modes of integration
(internal and external) but the main reason of their success is to define design thinking
leadership. If the company has Chief innovation officer or Chief design officer on the staff it
represents firms’ high design expectations as well as proper resource allocation (Lockwood, n.d.)
In some situations in the companies marketers and brand managers often find themselves
responsible for giving design feedback and making decisions on design concepts but they don’t
have adequate skills. The possible solution to this problem is to receive from these specialists the
brief which includes only one lead insight correlated with the company strategy about directions
of design creation. At the same time from financial point of view for design innovations it is
difficult to calculate ROI. To increase the level of effectiveness in terms of design common
templates with transparent evaluation tools should be provided. Moreover, it is important to
divide the design meetings into three distinct sections: concept presentation, the critics and
discussion, and decision making/ evaluation. Short design research based on interviewing of
customers (for example 5 persons) about their future design vision and feedback can be very
effective and useful.(Alexis, 2011)
One of the main questions of this work is what is the designers’ contribution and how through
hierarchy system increase the effectiveness of designers. Scientific literature provides the
tendency to involve designers into NPD process as team players. Océ (Netherland) had
10

15. experience of integration of designers as inside workers in a project using one collaborative
project room with chemists, physics, mechanical, strategic marking specialists. After some time
the company decided to make separate design department for NPD. After that design department
performs only consulting role which means that project teams are free to choose – use or not
design competences. Now it is impossible to work without designers, but designers are able to
select the location of their studio. On one side it provides the freedom for designers, on the other
side it also can be the cause of intercommunication lack. In this research the fact is mentioned
that more often managers during decision making process prefer more functional product
prototypes than aesthetic beauty. That is why the problem of expressing designers’ arguments
and making their judgments strong during decision making discussion. Company also applies
rotation of designers within the projects and even in different project phases for better
collaboration. One of important goals of in-house design at a large company is to provide
unifications across all brand products. (Stompff, n.d.)
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16. Conclusion
The case company, Volvo Group, has the intense interest to the task of improving the
communication channels between design group and other departments and gets a good
understanding what contribution the design group is generated and how this group’ efforts can be
evaluated. This is caused by the company’s intention to use design at the maximum extent
exploring its full potential opportunities and integrate design to the corporate hierarchy in the
most effective way. As far as Volvo Group is known for its dedication to creating value, this
work is initiated to contribute new solution to the firm’s business model.
The proposed research in design management has significant value for the companies because
not all of them have high level of design integration into internal processes. New design thinking
provides the competitive advantage for the company and develops competencies. Nevertheless,
the subject of this research is up to date issue for those companies to tries to create additional
value, the literature has significant lack of studies concerning this narrow theme. Every case
regarding design integration into hierarchy in large organizations is unique. Thus, there is a huge
gap between the company’s intent to provide new solution of the problem and its scientific
support. As a result, supporting the case company, Volvo Group, by the methodologies and
approaches for new solution development is a vital problem to which this research is addressed.
Thus, the relevance of this work is proved.
Volvo Group as a leader in the market accumulates all novelties. The main aim for preparing
Volvo Group’ future design is try to predict the future needs in 2020 by developing innovative
concept that refers to the safety, ergonomics, and operator comfort. Focus of DESMA
organization supports the idea of new value creation through design. The academic interest of
this research is also reflected in unprecedented cross-disciplinary efforts to understand how
design can be exploited as a driver of innovation and competitiveness in Europe.
The methods and tools for implementation new proposed solution will be chosen based on
scientific literature investigation, conducting interviews and case studies with experienced
companies to collect the best practice of the topic. This study provides the formalized methods
for the solution development coupled with the different analysis techniques in order to evaluate
the obtained results better. All of these will form a useful managerial tool for Volvo Group that
can be applied in various design areas.
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17. References
1. Alexis, J., (2011), How do you evaluate design concepts? Brand Packaging, November,
pp 26-28
2. Antioco, M., Moenaert, R.K., Feinberg,R.A. andWetzels M.G.M.(2008), Integrating
service and design: the influences of organizational and communication factors on
relativeproduct and service characteristics, Journal of Academy Marketing Science, Vol.
36, pp.501-521.
3. Antioco, M., Moenaert, R.K., and Lindgreen, A., (2008) Reducing Ongoing Product
Decision-Making Bias. Journal Product Innovation Management, Vol.25, pp.528-545.
4. Bangle, C., (2001) The Ultimate Creativity Machine, How BMW Turns Art into Profit.
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19. Appendices
Appendix A
Design innovation: result of cooperation Unilever and Ferarri designers (Pininfarina)
Fulvio Guarneri, Vice President Marketing Home &
Personal Care Russia
In the interview with Mr. Fulvio Guarneri the NPD
procedures and their effectiveness in order to create
new products were discussed. Unilever is basically
marketing driven company with user-centered
approach. Its principle is as follows: to support 1
engineer 10 marketing specialist are required. This
fact caused by the necessity to adapt products to local
preferences and tastes Globally responsible for new
products Innovation R&D department is supported
by local division management (ice-cream, food,
beauty and health care). Marketing is one of the core
departments that evaluate innovations and new
design. The company is characterized by high level
of bureaucracy but to make the processes transparent
it uses IPM software (Innovation Project Management) where CEO of the company can see
online and check all innovations. To develop new design Unilever always uses external agencies,
and for different segments it engages various actors. For the new design of toothbrush the
company had marketing survey according to which possible end users were asked about their
feedback of the product’s high-tech design. The survey was organized in Italian market that’s
why the most probable supplier was Pininfarina. When the agreement between these 2
companies was reached, in Unilever the internal process from innovation stages was started:
ideas generation, feasibility study, capacity and market identifying (launch).
Unilever internal process has gates with quantitative and qualitative tests and techniques are
focused on customer feedbacks. For example, on the first stage they check product by focus
group that consists of approximately 300 customers (depends on the country). Each concept has
its score. The duration of a good project is 9 months. Probability to success in each step is 38%,
42%, 8%, 12%. During all the stages Unilever works with the same team of designers, it means
that the same designers make the product, package, materials for commercial.
15

20. Appendix B
Business processes modeling
Fig. 5. Example of business processes modeling in NPD, simplified figure for package design
Bottom blocks are main actors with arrows that support the process (required human resources).
The main chain is sequence of processes. After each stage the result is documented for the
following proceeding in the next phase. According to IDEF0 all processes should be supported
by internal standards and templates (gaps) to formalize the output in each block of processes.
16

21. Appendix C
Communication models
Fig. 6. Communications between the actors, “As is” model. Lines mean the strength of
connections.
Fig. 7. Communications between the actors, example of “To be” model
17

22. Appendix D
Volvo Exhibition
Fig. 8.Volvo Exhibition/Show room space model
Appendix E
Carlsberg Group case
Russian market for Carlsberg Group is untypical because of
customer vision. New products driven basically by design of the
battle that’s why NPD focused not on the new taste but on the new
forms and brand reflection. For this market was implemented
complicated glass battles which reflect innovation design and visual
effects. Design of new glass bottle introduced based on sensetive
observation of customer vision. The main point to have angle in case
of Tuborg is take brand name horixontal during drinking.
18