The Recent Growth Performance of US Firms in the Industrial Design Sector: An Exploratory Study

This paper assesses the competitive factors associated with company growth in the US industrial design sector. This small but technologically advanced sector delivers critical innovation inputs to firms that produce durable goods. Evidence from a survey of 85 US design companies suggests that competitive success hinges upon service diversity. Specifically, the most commercially buoyant companies have diversified their service offerings beyond product or component design. These firms have developed strategic competencies in fields such as contract research, prototype development, product testing, technological forecasting, market analysis and even advertising. Although most US design companies are small-to-medium-sized enterprises, successful firms do not differ from their less successful counterparts in terms of employment size, occupational structure, regional location or market focus (client sectors). Instead, the key differences lie in service diversity and the quality of human capital. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the empirical findings for future research on the dynamics of the design industry.US industrial design firms, competitive factors, service diversification,

Critical judgements and qualitative data:building and managing a corporate database in a research team

This is a 'Postcard' that is one of many postcards included in a textbook on fieldwork and social research. This text explores non-interviewing techniques based on the creation of corporate databases that can be developed from documentation that is available from companies and other actors

\u3ci\u3eHandbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy\u3c/i\u3e

Editors: John R. Bryson, Jennifer Clark, and Vida Vanchan Chapter, Škoda Auto: The transformation from a domestic to a Tier Two lead firm, authored by Petr Pavlinek, UNO faculty member. This interdisciplinary volume provides a critical and multi-disciplinary review of current manufacturing processes, practices, and policies, and broadens our understanding of production and innovation in the world economy. Chapters highlight how firms and industries modify existing processes to produce for established and emerging markets through dynamic and design-driven strategies. This approach allows readers to view transformations in production systems and processes across sectors, technologies and industries. Contributors include scholars ranging from engineering to policy to economic geography. The evidence demonstrates that manufacturing continues to matter in the world economy.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/facultybooks/1311/thumbnail.jp

Critical judgements and qualitative data:building and managing a corporate database in a research team

This is a 'Postcard' that is one of many postcards included in a textbook on fieldwork and social research. This text explores non-interviewing techniques based on the creation of corporate databases that can be developed from documentation that is available from companies and other actors