Design Management Process in Zara Clothing Spain - Essay Example

The scope of design management extends to the internal and external interfaces of the firms. Design management usually is a long and continuous activity that influences the performance of the firms at all levels. Design management processes are practiced by people having different levels of authority and training. Such people function with multiple orientations covering various kinds of organizations of different sizes and nature. Koppelmann and Spies (1993) opine that design management is having multifarious facets and there are different opinions about design management.

This paper details the design management process and the application of design management in the case of Zara clothing Spain as a case study. Technology is said to be at the heart of any manufacturing company. The technology helps in designing the products or the processes required to manufacture the products. It is critically important for the companies, that the existing technologies are assimilated into the business, and also anticipate the impact of the emerging technologies on the designs, products, and processes.

This is considered critical as the companies are always under constant pressure to bring new products to the market as quickly as possible. Thus the purpose of any organization is to provide the customer's products or services with the best possible quality and at an affordable price which is greatly facilitated by the design management. An organization is sure to gain a competitive advantage through designs that bring new ideas to the market quickly, do a better job of satisfying the customer needs, or are easier to manufacture, use, and repair than existing products and services.

Design can be understood as a critical process for a firm. Strategically design defines a firm's customers as well as its competitors. It capitalizes on the core competencies of a firm and determines the new competencies to be acquired by the firm.
New products can rejuvenate an organization and for that matter even a whole industry. Best examples are available in Motorola’s Bandit pager, HP’s Deskjet printers, Apple’s Mac, and Kodak’s Funsaver camera which products turned the corporations around.