Driving competitiveness in industry

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We're helping businesses seize new opportunities by exploiting design

Can design help businesses survive today's tough economic climate?

Stage: The Design Council will soon publish case study evidence of how design has helped small businesses overcome tough market conditions
Addressing: Driving competitiveness in industry

How have other SMEs succeeded when times are tough?

In the middle of a recession, SMEs need all the help they can get to survive the tough times. Design can help them take advantage of new market opportunities.

Perspectives

Ian Pearson

Minister for Science and Innovation

'If we’re to remain a force to be reckoned with in the global market place, UK companies must continue to develop new high-value added products and services and that’s an even greater priority during challenging economic conditions, with the credit crunch, high fuel and food prices. Investment in design is a necessity, not a luxury, for start-ups, for companies seeking to grow, for SME’s, for multi-nationals.' This is a quote from a podcast of Ian Pearson speaking at a Designing Demand event.
Listen to the rest of his speech.

Sir George Cox

Author of The Cox Review

'No business can survive and succeed with what it was doing yesterday. No business. Innovation has always been the key to success, and now it is essential for survival. And that applies to services, big companies and small companies, so in this world you have to be much more innovative to introduce the new, to use design to that effect.'
This comes from a podcast on design and management thinking

More perspectives and the chance to contribute

How can design help deliver better health services?

Stage: The Design Council is demonstrating how design can help hospitals stay clean and individual people manage their own healthy active lifestyles
Addressing: Driving competitiveness in industry, Improving innovation in public services

What can design do to help improve our nation's health?

Bad health is putting pressure on us and on our health system. We think that design can help find ways to motivate people to lead more active lifestyles and to manage their health more effectively.

Design for technology transfer

Stage: The Design Council has run a pilot scheme to help Technology Transfer Offices use design to commercialise technology
Addressing: Driving competitiveness in industry, Design skills development

Why is technology transfer an interesting new market for UK designers?

The UK has a world class science and technology base. Results show we are getting better at commercialising research outputs from our universities but there is scope for further improvement. And design can help.

What stops small companies using design?

Stage: We have launched a programme called Designing Demand to help SMEs increase profit, sales and market share using design
Addressing: Driving competitiveness in industry, Design skills development

How can design make sense for smaller businesses?

The share prices of design-led companies out-performed key FTSE indices by 200% over ten years, but SMEs don't always understand the value design can add to their business

This project is part of The Cox Review of Creativity in Business

Can universities bring business studies and creativity closer together?

Stage: We have been looking at international examples of best practice
Addressing: Driving competitiveness in industry, Design skills development

Why is this an issue for design?

Designers need to help decide what kind of centres should be set up to enable multidisciplinary groups of designers, scientists, anthropologists, economists and others to drive innovation

Lord Sainsbury addressed UK science and innovation in his Treasury Review of October 2007

Can design make science and technology more competitive?

Stage: The government has pledged to implement suggestions from the Sainsbury Review of science and innovation with a £1billion fund
Addressing: Driving competitiveness in industry

Why do science and technology businesses need design?

We know the UK has a great research base for science and technology, but how can design help stop its products falling behind in the race to market?