Design estratégico para microempresa do ramo cervejeiro

Abstract

This Final Year Research Project consists on the aplication of Design Management in its strategic level – Strategic Design – on a beer brewing micro-entreprise. Thus, the relevance of Design Management in modern companies is discussed, particularly in its strategic level, focusing on profound market analysis and company auditing as major sources of insightful information for the discovery of design-related oportunities in business. It also points to the importance of including design in companies’ strategic processes while demonstrating how this is becoming increasingly common among current, although mostly large, business. Given this situation, therrefore, this Project aims to include design in strategic processes of smaller entreprises. The selected methodology is that used at design firm SENAI+DESIGN’s Strategic Design service. This methodology was developed by SENAI+DESIGN as an adaptation of Poli.design’s Strategic Design methodology to the brazillian business landscape. Firstly, by applying this methodology, Market Impressions are obtained by means of such tools as Competidors Benchmarking, Field Research – whereas members within the flow of consumption in a specific sector are interviewed –, Trend Analysis, and Sector Study. Secondly, Company Impressions are obtained from thorough examinations of many aspects of the company, based on Design Management literature. The data from both Market and Company Impressions are then compiled, out of which several Strategic Opportunities arise. In a Workshop with the company, these Opportunities are evaluated and selected or discarted based on the companies’ reality and potential for success. The Workshop results are then compiled and visually represented to form the company’s final Design Strategy. This paper shows that applying Strategic Design is not only possible in a micro-entreprise but, given the long-term benefits design has proven to bring when elevated to a company’s strategic level, also desirable. It is advised, however, to adapt Strategic Design methodologies for the necessities of smaller companies in order for them to be fully effective in their execution.