How Design Thinking Offers Strategic Value to Micro-Enterprises

Large organisations use design and design thinking to create value; however, there is a low awareness and practice of design and design thinking in smaller businesses. 69% of Irish businesses never use design, or use it only at a superficial level (DJEI, 2016). Previous research on the relationship between design and the wider-enterprise base in Ireland has focused on highly innovative and successful businesses that are already accustomed to design and have ten or more employees. The result of these studies has produced stories of how design creates value for each business, making it difficult to understand how it is applied in, and relates to, other businesses, particularly microenterprises without design competence. This paper aims to contribute to the academic field of design and wider-enterprise base in Ireland, in relation to design thinking and regional micro-enterprises who are not accustomed to design. It explores how design thinking offers strategic value to these businesses by building understanding of the identity and purpose of the business for the owner.