Control and Coordination of Design-Driven Innovation Processes: Case Evidence from the Automotive Industry

The control and coordination of design and technological innovation pose a dilemma for design-driven organizations because the measurability of design and technological innovation differ. On one hand, a product's aesthetic value might increase if its design is separated from technological innovation and if design is controlled by means other than those used in technological innovation. On the other hand, tight integration is warranted because a product's design affects its cost, technical performance, and manufacturability. This dilemma is the focus of the paper. The paper contributes to extant literature in several ways. First, it conceptualizes control as a process that manages design and technological innovation through distinct, separate control mechanisms. Second, it analyzes and develops three modes of convergence through which the potentially contradictory concerns of design and technological development can be compared and evaluated. Finally, the paper suggests that coordination can be achieved through convergence processes that unfold and develop over time.