Formulation of KPIs for In-house Design Organization in Japanese Companies

         
Author Name WASHIDA Yuichi (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / NISHIGAKI Atsuko (Senior Fellow, RIETI) / MAO Rui (Hitotsubashi University) / HIGO Ai (RIETI / Hitotsubashi University) / YAMANOUCHI Fumiko (Sony Design Consulting Inc. / Creative Center, Sony Group Corporation) / ESHITA Shusuke (Sony Design Consulting Inc. / Creative Center, Sony Group Corporation)
Creation Date/NO. June 2022 22-J-025
Research Project Quantitative examination of the "design" effects on organization management
Download / Links

Abstract

Many of the large Japanese companies have in-house design organizations. However, quantitative indicators have not been set for the activity evaluation of such organizations, which has caused various difficulties for corporate management. In particular, when considering the impact of design elements on corporate management, standard quantitative management indicators (Key Performance Indicators: KPIs) are indispensable. In this research, the authors conducted a series of surveys (valid responses: 1579) using a unified questionnaire to determine how the in-house design organizations of 14 leading Japanese companies are evaluated by their internal stakeholders. As a result, it was verified that 7 factors outside of the functions of the conventional design department, including utilization of design thinking and contribution to corporate branding, have been discovered as possible KPIs.