Senior Level Designers - Designers Shared Leadership Model in Interior Design Companies: The Consequence of an Investigation among Leading Designers in Nine Companies in Korea

Abstract

Interior design companies in Seoul, Korea, senior level designers-designers shared leadership model has not been implemented by the design management. The whole interior design companies are worked each by a leadership team consisting of senior level designers, contractors and designers, being accountable for company, workers, and budgets. The results for workers’ opinion in leadership positions were evaluated. All 154 leading workers of all professional teams were anonymously interviewed with a questionnaire containing 45 items regarding their satisfaction with this new shared leadership model. The response rate was 96.2%. After all, the leading workers were satisfied with the shared leadership model both in their own designing practice and in general. Non-design workers were comprehensively more in favor of quite a few aspects of shared leadership than senior level designers, but even the latter reported to be generally satisfied. However, both professional teams estimated leading positions to be only modestly attractive. The consequences yield some evidence that the transform from traditional leadership models to the senior level designers - designers shared leadership model may have advantages in the management of interior design companies. Furthermore, there is a need for greater clarity about precisely what we mean by shared leadership and also a deeper exploration of potential challenges arising from shared leadership models if we are to try to come to terms with their practice.