Fortunes and misfortunes of integrated Design, The ongoing process of Design integration within a major retail firm

Thesis defended on the 27th of September 2021 at 2:30 pm, it hold at Strate Ecole de Design and by videoconference

Abstract :

This study explores the phenomenon of Design integration through a dynamic perspective. More and more firms with no specific link with creative industries are looking for internalizing Design skills within their organizational boundaries. Some of them integrate Design as a core function of their organization. As a lever of performance and innovation, Design activity requires a specific investment and engagement from companies that aim to mobilize it within their business to better manage it strategically and coordinate it with the rest of the organization. Moreover, Integrated Design within a non-design-oriented firm is a form of paradox generating tensions and opposite demands. Therefore, we explore the process of integrating and coordinating Design with the historical activities of an organization. We try to understand how well these companies cope with the tensions that arise over time during the process of developing an Integrated Design Model. To do this, we present a unique case study carried out within the Design Department of the Carrefour Group. This work is based on a field survey made possible by a research-intervention carried out over three years. The results show that the integration of Design is part of an emerging dynamic that never really ends. While the internalization of its practice within the boundaries of an organization is a key marker of development, it does not naturally lead to its full integration. Indeed, it seems to be part of a longer and more complex process to implement for the actors who are in charge of it. The instability noted as a condition for integration requires a continuous adaptation of the integrated Design model that is in a perpetual "progress". In addition, its specificities are sometimes contrary to those of the retail organizational context in which the managers try to introduce it. The tensions generated are then inevitable and cannot be simply eliminated at the risk of reducing the relevance of the in-house Design capacity. The quest for a very fine balance of integration of Design and of its tensions takes place to make it sufficiently compatible with the historical organization without, however,  constraining and distorting it.

Jury members :

Keywords : Design Management, Integrated Design, in-house Design, Design, Creative Paradox