Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Increasing interest in ‘design thinking’ in the fields of management and\norganization has resulted in a concern with using design-oriented approaches\nas means to support organizational change and innovation. To this end,\nconceptual ideas such as Boland and Collopy’s ‘managing as designing’ have\naimed at exploring how ‘design thinking’ can inform managers and the work\ndone in organizational contexts. However, these concepts tend to be\ndiscussed theoretically with little grounding in empirical studies of practice\nthat might inform managing according to a ‘design thinking’ approach. In this\npaper we look at one attempt at facilitating organizational change through\n‘design thinking’. The context is the design of a new building for the UTS\nBusiness School, Sydney by architect Frank Gehry. User participation was\napplied to engage stakeholders in ways that would produce valuable input for\nmanagers as well as architects. We consider how architectural design and\norganizational change are constructed and accomplished and to what extent\nthe manager’s approach can be considered ‘design thinking’. Our findings\nsuggest that while ‘design thinking’ may be one approach to managing\ncomplex change processes, a deeper engagement between designers,\nmanagers and users is needed.
Authors: Liisa Naar, Marianne Stang Våland
Institution: University of Technology Sydney
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2185691433