設計公司之環境不確定、穩健性設計能力和經營績效

Environmental Uncertainty, Robust Design Capability, and Business Performance of Design Firms

在不同環境不確定下，如何擅用自身設計能力以獲得較佳經營績效已成為多數設計公司重要的課題。本研究的主旨在探討設計公司之環境不確定、穩健性設計能力及經營績效之關聯性。以台灣創意設計中心所出版之「2009台灣設計服務業名錄」為樣本來源，本研究寄發問卷調查342家工業設計、視覺傳達設計與整合設計等三類設計公司，最終總共回收100 家，回收率為29.2%。本研究的主要發現有：（1）整合設計公司所面臨之「技術材料」環境不確定較工業設計公司高；（2）在高度環境不確定下，整合設計公司在「效率」表現較視覺傳達設計公司差；（3）設計公司採用「技術整合」和「功能品質」穩健性設計能力者，會有較佳之「效能」表現；（4）設計公司對「設計供需」環境不確定掌握較高，亦會有較佳「效能」表現；（5）環境不確定對設計公司之穩健性設計能力與「效能」表現兩者之間關係會產生干擾性影響，且「技術整合」穩健性設計能力是決定獲得較佳「效能」之最主要關鍵因素。最後，期待本研究成果能作為設計實務與學術界在探討設計公司經營管理時的重要參考依據。

In order to obtain better business performance, it is critical for many design firms to have better matches between their design capabilities employed and different levels of environmental uncertainty. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship among environmental uncertainty, robust design capability, and business performance in design firms. A total of 342 design firms, including industrial design, visual communication design, and integration design companies listed in the directory of '2009 List of Design Services Companies in Taiwan' published by Taiwan Design Center, were chosen as the pool for survey. Ultimately, this study received 100 survey responses with an effective response rate of 29.2%. The major findings of this study are: 1) the integrated design firms face higher level of technology-material under environment uncertainty than industrial design ones; 2) the integrated design firms achieve less efficiency than visual communication design ones under high environment uncertainty ; 3) design firms which adopt 'technological-integration' and 'functional-quality' robust design capabilities can result in superior effectiveness; 4) design firms which better control 'design supply and demand' under the environment uncertainty can generate better effectiveness; 5) there is a moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between robust design capability and business performance, and ‘technical integration’ is the most dominant factor. Finally, it is hoped that this study can serve as a reference for the related issues of design consultancy management for design practices and academia.