Effective management support for design: towards a model of managerial competence

Well-designed products are crucial to a company's business success. Management support is a critical success factor in ensuring that design-related aspects are given appropriate attention during product development. Despite the importance of management, the literature doesn't provide a clear picture of what characterizes a competent manager in product design. This gap impedes competence development and explains why organizations struggle to leverage the benefits of well-designed products. This research aims to address this gap by synthesizing important findings from the literature into a model of managerial competence. The model provides initial insight into the individual competencies managers need to meet their responsibility for good product design in organizations.