John Pribble III -- Strategic marketing, branding and design management

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts
School of Journalism and Mass Communication 1992

Evidence presented here strongly suggests that there is a need for a design management function in business. Design, in its various forms (product, environmental, information and corporate identity), is a powerful tool that should be used in every area of an organization's operations to provide a strategic competitive advantage and to achieve corporate objectives. Recognizing the need for more and better design work, a two-way education process must occur. Marketers must develop an understanding of the design process and designers must develop an understanding of the marketing process. Higher education, in both design and marketing, could play an important part in creating awareness and understanding of the potential of the integration of these two disciplines.

This study attempts to determine what progress, if any, higher education has made (in both design and marketing) in the emerging field of design management Integrated design and management education is defined as business school programs that include design-related courses and design school programs that include marketing courses. Included in this determination is the definition of a set of curriculum criteria (for both business and design) that should be used in the integrated education of designers and managers.

The course offerings catalogs of three top graduate business school programs and three top design school undergraduate programs were analyzed and compared in context of a design management curriculum. Findings show some evidence of integration of design and management in higher education; however it is minimal. Design schools appear to be taking the lead in developing this area.

Future research in this area should include identifying common management elements across design disciplines, defining subject areas and developing quantitative design decision-making models.

Ch I Intro