Design as the Invisible Driver of Growth
When we think of design, our minds immediately turn to elegant shapes, refined packaging, and attractive interfaces. But design is much more than that: it is a strategic skill, an invisible resource that can drive business growth as much as marketing or research.
This is the idea at the heart of a new study by Gaia Rubera of Bocconi’s Marketing Department, together with Saeed Janani (University of Denver) and Michael A. Wiles (Arizona State University).
Published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the paper “Designed for Growth: Product Design Capability, Sales Growth, and the Contingent Role of Marketing, R&D, and Operations Capabilities” investigates for the first time how and to what extent a company’s design capability influences its sales growth over time.
Design that can be measured
Traditionally, design has been considered more of an art than a science: a matter of taste, intuition, and creative talent. But how do you measure a company’s design capability? This is precisely where the study by Rubera and colleagues takes a decisive leap forward.
The authors analyzed 651 manufacturing companies over a period of twenty years, constructing a quantitative indicator of design capability based on industrial design patents filed by companies. Each patent was evaluated not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of efficiency—that is, how much competitive value was actually generated for the same amount of resources invested.
To do this, the researchers used a sophisticated econometric model of stochastic frontier estimation: a technique that allows them to estimate the “maximum productivity frontier” of each company and understand which ones come closest to that limit thanks to design. In essence, they treated design not as aesthetics, but as organizational technology: an ability to transform ideas into measurable value.
This methodology, the authors explain, allows us to distinguish between companies that have a real design capability and those that simply produce well-designed objects. And it is precisely this distinction that makes the difference in the results: companies with a solid design capability grow on average much faster than others.
But there is more. Design shows its full strength only when it interacts with other business functions. “Marketing and operations capabilities amplify the positive association of product design capability with sales growth,”, the study reads. If marketing helps give meaning to the product for the consumer, and production ensures quality and consistency, design becomes the glue that holds everything together.
Too much research stifles creativity
However, a surprising finding emerges when comparing research and development. “We reveal a negative interaction between design capability and R&D capability,” (p. 19), the authors write. Too much focus on technological innovation risks shifting the balance: the product becomes more complex but loses the immediacy and appeal that design conveys.
From the laboratory to the market
The most innovative aspect of the study is methodological. Until now, design has often been described as an “intangible” quality that is difficult to measure. Rubera and her colleagues have instead created a replicable model capable of evaluating design as a competitive resource on an industrial scale. It is an approach that allows us to distinguish between companies that have a real design capability and those that simply produce well-designed objects.
A new language for business
In an economy increasingly driven by experience and perception of value, design is no longer an aesthetic accessory, but a strategic language. It is what allows companies to connect innovation, identity, and desire. As Rubera concludes, “design becomes an organizational skill that combines creative thinking with management discipline—and, if well cultivated, can transform growth into a sustainable process.”
