Design orientation as a driver of organizational culture

Design is emerging as a major field of study. Most vigorous stimulus to design's rise comes from recognition of its value as source of sustainable competitive advantage, especially in firms engaged in high levels of innovation. However, the youth of the field still determines a lack of theoretical foundations and methodological rigour. Absence of an established paradigm is evident if we consider the basic definition of how design-oriented firm should be. The majority of existing studies look to how the design function should contribute to the production process and how it should be integrated with the rest of the firm's functions. But so far, reduced attention has been given to the most general question of what kind of firms is effectively able to develop such a design function, capable to generate sustainable competitive advantage. Many studies identify culture as a major barrier to design integration and to better design performances. Only way for bypassing this intrinsic obstacle is to have design orientation already integrated in corporate culture and to cultivate this amalgamation from the very beginning. The present study is an attempt to fill this gap, by investigating what type of organizational culture design-oriented firms share.