And now it is finally official. I received a date to defend my thesis: Corporate Design Strategy and Branding: The Role of Design Management in Developing the Corporate Identity.

The thesis of this blog will be defended on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at the Economic Faculty in Ljubljana, eleven o’clock CET.

I’ll be defending the thesis on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at the Economic Faculty in Ljubljana. At eleven o’clock CET. I kindly invite all the readers to come in person. Otherwise I’ll try to arrange my twitter account: maki007 to follow the presentation. I do not promise it is going to work.

The masters thesis of this blog was presented on Tuesday, September 14th, at 11:00 CET in P-201.

Dean of the Faculty of Economics has appointed following members to the boars:
+ president: prof. dr. Nevenka Hrovatin,
+ mentor: prof. dr. Vesna Žabkar, and
+ member: doc. dr. Tomaž Kolar.

It is my pleasure to show the thesis presentation. And yes, the thesis was defended successfully.

From the October 07, 2010, 11:59 Pacific Time to the November 08, 2010, 09:59 Pacific time the presentation that was made from this blog’s masters thesis is competing at the World’s best World’s best presentation contest ’10 by SlideShare. Here is the link to the presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/vizuarna/m-savic-mbathesisv2-5417630

I would like to invite you to view (and listen to) to the presentation  below or at the given link. If you like it, please vote for me.

And please vote below the presentation at the SlideShare site by clicking to the “thumbs up” icon. You will be asked to register with SlideShare (or login if you are a member already), so few clicks will be necessary. I really appreciate your efforts.

This post is part of my presentation competing at the WBPC10. Please vote for it here: http://slidesha.re/aQkX9R

If you are a listener rather than a reader here is the audio post: Corporate Design Strategies and Branding presentation at the WBPC10: Post series 4 (.mp3; 1,3 MB)

Why and how we compare developing a football team with development of a brand architecture?

If we really think of each individual player as a brand than identity and communications programs are tools or in other words, exercises that make each individual player better.

But the brand architecture is a system of putting the players in the right positions. At the same time it is necessary to assure that this players – brands – are functioning as a team rather than only as a collection of players.

That is why we compare development of a football team with development of a brand architecture. In both cases there is a system because no player/brand alone can “with the war”.

If you would like to support my claim, please vote for my presentation at the http://slidesha.re/aQkX9R

And please vote for the presentation by clicking to the “thumbs up” icon. You will be asked to register with SlideShare (or login if you are a member already), so few clicks will be necessary (and an e-mail confirmation). If you have a Facebook profile you should be able to vote with it. It is maybe the easiest way but you will be asked to allow SlideShare to approach your data. I really appreciate your efforts.

Audio post: Corporate Design Strategies and Branding presentation at the WBPC10: Post series 4 (.mp3; 1,3 MB)

Sources: Literature (updated)

This post is part of my presentation competing at the WBPC10. Please vote for it by clicking to the “thumbs up” icon here: http://slidesha.re/aQkX9R

If you are a listener rather than a reader here is the audio post: Corporate Design Strategies and Branding presentation at the WBPC10: Post series 6 (.mp3; 1,9 MB)

What is design strategy? How many design strategies do we know?

As an emerging discipline, design strategy is an interplay between design and business strategy. Its purpose is to help organizations know what to make and do, both in the short and long term. We could say that design strategy is a plan that helps diffuse design throughout a company. There are supposed to be three generic design strategies:
+ cost driven,
+ image-driven, and
+ market driven.

I have no doubts that design strategy is a strategic issue. Today, there are more than ever many known cases of corporations who have built a sustainable competitive advantage on design. The corporations that use design management as part of their corporate culture have the possibility of being market leaders through design innovations. And there are six design strategies – that I would like to present – to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. All six design strategies are based on the technology adoption curve and are divided between them with dashed lines on the picture below.

The technology adoption curve follows a normal distribution for people and time. From risk takers that are Innovators, to selection of Early Adopters, to understandable Early Majority, and then to Late Majority, and at the end of the curve to the Laggards.

The design strategies follow a little different path and are marked with different proportions or dashed lines on the normal distribution curve. This six design strategies are:
+ Endorse. This strategy explains the benefits and functions of a nascent technology to the world.
+ Curate. Here the created icons are selective in their functionality.
+ Integrate design strategy that provides solutions that fit into people‘s lives.
+ Economize. Drastically cut costs of production on already successful technologies.
+ Play. Is a design strategy to add value that doesn‘t depend on technical differentiation. And
+ Refresh. A design strategy where existing offering is reinvented.

If you would like to support my claim, please vote for my presentation at the http://slidesha.re/aQkX9R

And please vote for the presentation by clicking to the “thumbs up” icon. You will be asked to register with SlideShare (or login if you are a member already), so few clicks will be necessary (and an e-mail confirmation). If you have a Facebook profile you should be able to vote with it. It is maybe the easiest way but you will be asked to allow SlideShare to approach your data. I really appreciate your efforts.

Audio post: Corporate Design Strategies and Branding presentation at the WBPC10: Post series 6 (.mp3; 1,9 MB)

Sources: Literature (updated)

This post is part of my presentation competing at the WBPC10. Please vote for it by clicking to the “thumbs up” icon here: http://slidesha.re/aQkX9R

If you are a listener rather than a reader here is the audio post: Corporate Design Strategies and Branding presentation at the WBPC10: Post series 8 (.mp3; 2,4 MB)

How to connect design management with your corporate culture?

In the model Design Management Staircase at the picture below there is a range presented from an immature level of design management to a level where design management is of a strategic nature and part of the company’s culture. At highly driven design corporations they have a differentiation strategy where design is at their core. Those kinds of corporations are market leaders through design innovation. If a company wants to be a market leader it needs to have design as part of its strategic plans and design planning should be a dynamic process that drives the business. However, not every company needs to focus its strategy on the role of design as a driving force of innovation. It depends on the nature of the organization, its market position, or its strategy. In some cases it may be sufficient for a company to be on the level of design management as a function or even as a project

Nevertheless the usage of design is valuable information. In Denmark they researched their companies according to a model called Design Ladder where companies were classified into four categories
+     no use of design,
+     design as style,
+     design as process, and
+     design as strategy.

And in general they found out that the higher the use of design in an organization the higher its gross performance.

If you would like to support my claims, please vote for my presentation at the http://slidesha.re/aQkX9R. The countdown is starting, because you have have only three more days to vote for my presentation, please share this post trough you network. Thank you.

And please vote for the presentation by clicking to the “thumbs up” icon. You will be asked to register with SlideShare (or login if you are a member already), so few clicks will be necessary (and an e-mail confirmation). If you have a Facebook profile you should be able to vote with it. It is maybe the easiest way but you will be asked to allow SlideShare to approach your data. I really appreciate your efforts.

Audio post:  Corporate Design Strategies and Branding presentation at the WBPC10: Post series 8 (.mp3; 2,4 MB)

Sources: Literature (updated)

Yes, I was participating at the World’s Best Presentation Contest by Slide Share. I was going for a victory but that didn’t hapened. :) Not even a victory in the category where I was competing in – business. I’m still very proud of the presentation I made completely by myself. This presentation was actually a masters thesis presentation. See it for yourself:

Oh, and the winner is:

The winner for the category business, where I was competing is (really good one, I must say):

If you would like to know more about the contest follow the:
http://www.slideshare.net/contest/worlds-best-presentation-contest-2010?cmp_src=homepage_anouncer

I will run a workshop on business models design on Saturday, February 25, 2012 in Berlin, in Nest Café at Görlitzer Str. 52, 10997 Berlin. In German. There are still some tickets (entrance fee is symbolic) available at: geschaeftsmodelle-gestaltung.eventbrite.co.uk/

It’s my first “public” appearance German in Berlin. So I’m a bit excited. The presentation is ready, though. See it for yourself:

What are the real problems in the world today? Transport is definitely one of them. Both in the developed and especially in the so-called third world. How do companies approach to such problems? With incremental development of new (higly profitable) products?

General Motors is a company that has since 2000 invested hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying to prevent adoption of environmental legislation. To keep their high-spending but very profitable SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle) on the market. What has Tata done in the same time?

Tata rather figured out what is realy the problem in the third world? What is that people really need? And that is why Tata has developed the first true low-cost car in the world. Tata radically reduced the value proposition of its car (but it is still a car). The constraint before the development was a radically low price to the $ 2,000 limit. The car is now, apparently, among other things, selling also on the other side of the world from where it was developed, in Slovenia.

Source
Umair Haque. 2011. The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business.

You and your organisation have three options to create value.

PROCESSES

The first option is that you concentrate on the processes in your organization. You’ll try to increase productivity. The latest research says you have to concentrate on the collective productivity.

BETTER PRODUCTS/SERVICES

The second option is that you focus on better products or services. Either you are really genius innovator or you have a capable product and service design team. And you hope that design will produce value. Again, research says, you’ll need not just a strong design team, but also in-house design management. Marty Neumeier in his book The Designful Company: How to Build a Culture of Nonstop Innovation expressed clear confidence that design management is never to be outsourced. Do you have design management in your organisation? Yes, you do, Everything you do, was and is designed at some point. If interested find more on the scope of design management. But Neumeier at the same time that writes that many of the design skills should always be outsourced. And if you think your organisation should connect the strategy, design strategy and design management – study the design management staircase first. Follow your design innovations path.

BUSINESS MODELS – WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS

And the third option is that you design new innovative business models. This is the most difficult one. Because new model is likely to destroy your old one. And without leadership to support your business model innovation, it’s not very likely you’ll succeed.

The key to business success is an innovative CEO who sees design as an investment, not as a cost, and a design strategy director or consultant who can place the value of design at the centre of the company.

We know from the history, that design management took responsibility to design the new business models.

Source: Model behavior. 20 Business model innovations for sustainability report

The good news is, all three options

• processes – design better internal system, f. e. increase collective productivity;
• new products and/or services, new strategic product design and service design;
• new business models – new ways of doing business, f.e. establish business model innovation group in your organisation with strong leadership support;

are not linearly connected but are rather independent from each other. Without any doubt, though: business model innovation brings the strongest value not only to business but also to the society. For the change of your business model to happen, you’ll first need to change the language. And this is the only guarantee that we give you at our workshops – you’ll learn the new language of business model design. Visit the next one in Vienna.