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Design and radical innovation from a systemic perspective: The case of industrial Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Guayaquil-Ecuador

Abstract:

Research on design and radical innovation continues to contribute to the emergence of methodologies applicable mainly in European contexts, given their origin. Therefore, our objective was to study the relationship between design and radical innovation from a systemic perspective, focused on the innovation process in industrial SMEs in the city of Guayaquil. An exploratory and descriptive research was chosen under a pragmatic perspective that combines qualitative and quantitative tools, which allowed to have a more comprehensive and complete vision of the phenomenon. The methodology included two phases, a documentary and an empirical one, which consisted of an in-depth interview with 66 industrial SMEs. Among the main conclusions, we highlight that design is integrated into the radical innovation process when designers have strategic skills, when management has a culture towards the use of design and is identified with the potential of design, and when there are policies that put in value to design in the region. That is, it is not enough to have specialized designers, it is necessary to address not only the individual performance of the parts but also their interactions where three components converge: i. The National Innovation System (SNI), since it will exert many conditions to the development of innovation in a particular territory; ii. The own innovation manag ement system (IMS) of the company which is of vital importance for the fluidity of innovation; and iii. The action of design as a focal actor in this network of interactions.