Digital design in an international ecosystem: Different approaches to managing design in the East and the West

Abstract

The role of design in the new product development (NPD) process is becoming increasingly complicated due to the complex digital landscape where multiple participants are globally involved in ‘designing’. It requires an understanding of different design approaches to digital product development in international organizational cultures. However, in design studies there has been little discussion concerning the relationship between organizational cultures and new digital product development from an international perspective. This paper proposes two design paradigms in the design management of new digital product development: the ‘design of management ’vs. the ‘management of design’ from cross-cultural perspectives -the East vs. the West. It provides insights by looking at large Eastern and Western global companies positioned in the digital industry, and by discussing the findings from interviews with experts in NPD projects. This paper provides the reader an understanding of how organizational approaches to digital product design differ between international NPD projects run by global large organizations in the East and the West.