Private organisations (meaning large-sized for-profit organizations)are showing increasing interest in adopting methods and approaches coming from the design disciplines. They are particularly looking at the application of Design Thinking (DT) for innovation efforts. In recent years, many organisations have decided to adopt Design Thinking as a strategic tool. Very often, however, adoption is only partially achieved through short-term solutions, resulting in design being introduced superficially without influencing organisational culture and structure. This adoption often refers to partial absorption of design within the company. Design intervention usually takes place inside an organisation through forms that have flat engagements with a short-term impact. Managers still need clarification about how to actually integrate Design Thinking and sometimes even about the results to be expected from its adoption, leading to confusion regarding investment and allocation of resources. Indeed, to get the best out of Design Thinking, the ultimate goal should be to impact business operations by changing processes, values and underlying assumptions of employees and managers. However, achieving this requires precise, constant and long-term efforts, which companies often fail to undertake and use design only for aesthetics or product-related projects. This dissertation examines the factors that facilitate the introduction of Design Thinking, creating a favourable organisational environment for change. At the same time, the barriers that hinder the introduction of Design Thinking at a deeper level are analysed. The relevant aspect of this work stems from the fact that barriers are very well established in the literature, as there are numerous articles examining this aspect, in contrast to enabling factors, about which there is less information not clearly clustered in the literature - so that it could be defined as being in an embryonic stage. With an empirical approach, touching different disciplines (from the areas of design and management) through qualitative methods, the aim is to understand how the adoption of DT can be facilitated inside large-sized for-profit organizations, being possible to be incorporated inside their daily routines. The definition of these facilitators and the related practical actions to be put in place in order to overcome barriers to adoption is the result of the analysis of ten case studies. All large, non-design-driven companies that are at different stages of adoption of Design Thinking were selected. The objective was to understand the main problems these companies faced in adopting Design Thinking and the related facilitators they had to put in place to overcome the barriers they encountered. Within this research, it was seen that Design Thinking can be a great way to differentiate the company in the market and develop new solutions that are innovative. However, it emerged how truly absorbing Design Thinking requires great effort and change on the part of companies. The contribution of this dissertation is precisely to paint a clear picture of what practical actions companies can take to facilitate the adoption of Design Thinking, leading to full adoption. The research is therefore aimed at private organisations (meaning large-sized for-profit organizations) that would adopt Design Thinking and need both to be aware about how to do it and to be supported during the process. The research also highlights how different facilitators can be employed at different stages of adoption and should not all be considered at the earliest stages of Design Thinking adoption. The results want to both support and guide private organisations in the process of adopting of Design Thinking inside their operations overcoming most of the already identified obstacles.
Le organizzazioni private (intese come grandi organizzazioni a scopo di lucro) mostrano un interesse crescente per l'adozione di metodi e approcci provenienti dalle discipline del design. In particolare, guardano all'applicazione del Design Thinking (DT) per poter raggiungere innovazione. Negli ultimi anni, molte organizzazioni hanno deciso di adottare il Design Thinking come strumento strategico. Molto spesso, però, l'adozione avviene solo parzialmente attraverso soluzioni a breve termine, con il risultato che il design viene introdotto in modo superficiale senza influenzare la cultura e la struttura organizzativa. Questa adozione si riferisce spesso a un assorbimento parziale del design all'interno dell'azienda. L'intervento del design avviene di solito all'interno di un'organizzazione attraverso forme che hanno un impegno piatto con un impatto a breve termine. I manager hanno ancora bisogno di chiarimenti su come integrare effettivamente il Design Thinking e a volte anche sui risultati che ci si può aspettare dalla sua adozione, generando confusione sugli investimenti e sull'allocazione delle risorse. Per ottenere il meglio dal Design Thinking si dovrebbe modificare i processi, i valori e gli assunti di base di dipendenti e manager. Tuttavia, per raggiungere questo obiettivo sono necessari sforzi precisi, costanti e a lungo termine, che spesso le aziende non intraprendono e utilizzano il design solo per l'estetica o per progetti legati al prodotto. Questa tesi esamina i fattori che facilitano l'introduzione del Design Thinking, creando un ambiente organizzativo favorevole al cambiamento. Allo stesso tempo, vengono analizzate le barriere che ostacolano l'introduzione del Design Thinking a un livello più profondo. L'aspetto rilevante di questo lavoro deriva dal fatto che le barriere sono molto consolidate in letteratura, in quanto vi sono numerosi articoli che esaminano questo aspetto, a differenza dei fattori abilitanti, sui quali vi sono meno informazioni e che non sono chiaramente raggruppati in letteratura, tanto da poter essere definiti in fase embrionale. Con un approccio empirico, che tocca diverse discipline (dalle aree del design e del management) attraverso metodi qualitativi, l'obiettivo è capire come l'adozione del DT possa essere facilitata all'interno di organizzazioni for-profit di grandi dimensioni, potendo essere incorporata nella loro routine quotidiana. La definizione di questi facilitatori e delle relative azioni pratiche da mettere in atto per superare le barriere all'adozione è il risultato dell'analisi di dieci casi di studio. Sono state selezionate tutte grandi aziende non orientate al design che si trovano in diversi stadi di adozione del Design Thinking. L'obiettivo era quello di comprendere i principali problemi che queste aziende hanno affrontato nell'adozione del Design Thinking e i relativi facilitatori che hanno dovuto mettere in atto per superare le barriere incontrate. Da questa ricerca è emerso che il Design Thinking può essere un ottimo modo per differenziare l'azienda sul mercato e sviluppare nuove soluzioni innovative. Tuttavia, è emerso come assorbire veramente il Design Thinking richieda un grande sforzo e un cambiamento da parte delle aziende. Il contributo di questa tesi è proprio quello di delineare un quadro chiaro di quali azioni pratiche le aziende possono intraprendere per facilitare l'adozione del Design Thinking, fino ad arrivare alla sua piena adozione. La ricerca si rivolge quindi alle organizzazioni private che intendono adottare il Design Thinking e che hanno bisogno sia di essere consapevoli di come farlo sia di essere supportate durante il processo. La ricerca evidenzia inoltre come diversi facilitatori possano essere impiegati in diverse fasi dell'adozione e non dovrebbero essere considerati tutti nelle prime fasi dell'adozione del Design Thinking. I risultati vogliono sostenere e guidare le organizzazioni private nel processo di adozione del Design Thinking all'interno delle loro attività, superando la maggior parte degli ostacoli già identificati.
Overcoming resistances to adopt design thinking : how to support private organizations in design thinking adoption
CARELLA, GIANLUCA
2022/2023
Abstract
Private organisations (meaning large-sized for-profit organizations)are showing increasing interest in adopting methods and approaches coming from the design disciplines. They are particularly looking at the application of Design Thinking (DT) for innovation efforts. In recent years, many organisations have decided to adopt Design Thinking as a strategic tool. Very often, however, adoption is only partially achieved through short-term solutions, resulting in design being introduced superficially without influencing organisational culture and structure. This adoption often refers to partial absorption of design within the company. Design intervention usually takes place inside an organisation through forms that have flat engagements with a short-term impact. Managers still need clarification about how to actually integrate Design Thinking and sometimes even about the results to be expected from its adoption, leading to confusion regarding investment and allocation of resources. Indeed, to get the best out of Design Thinking, the ultimate goal should be to impact business operations by changing processes, values and underlying assumptions of employees and managers. However, achieving this requires precise, constant and long-term efforts, which companies often fail to undertake and use design only for aesthetics or product-related projects. This dissertation examines the factors that facilitate the introduction of Design Thinking, creating a favourable organisational environment for change. At the same time, the barriers that hinder the introduction of Design Thinking at a deeper level are analysed. The relevant aspect of this work stems from the fact that barriers are very well established in the literature, as there are numerous articles examining this aspect, in contrast to enabling factors, about which there is less information not clearly clustered in the literature - so that it could be defined as being in an embryonic stage. With an empirical approach, touching different disciplines (from the areas of design and management) through qualitative methods, the aim is to understand how the adoption of DT can be facilitated inside large-sized for-profit organizations, being possible to be incorporated inside their daily routines. The definition of these facilitators and the related practical actions to be put in place in order to overcome barriers to adoption is the result of the analysis of ten case studies. All large, non-design-driven companies that are at different stages of adoption of Design Thinking were selected. The objective was to understand the main problems these companies faced in adopting Design Thinking and the related facilitators they had to put in place to overcome the barriers they encountered. Within this research, it was seen that Design Thinking can be a great way to differentiate the company in the market and develop new solutions that are innovative. However, it emerged how truly absorbing Design Thinking requires great effort and change on the part of companies. The contribution of this dissertation is precisely to paint a clear picture of what practical actions companies can take to facilitate the adoption of Design Thinking, leading to full adoption. The research is therefore aimed at private organisations (meaning large-sized for-profit organizations) that would adopt Design Thinking and need both to be aware about how to do it and to be supported during the process. The research also highlights how different facilitators can be employed at different stages of adoption and should not all be considered at the earliest stages of Design Thinking adoption. The results want to both support and guide private organisations in the process of adopting of Design Thinking inside their operations overcoming most of the already identified obstacles.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/204593