What Challenges Dutch Design in China? Towards a supportive tool for Dutch Designers and Design managers and their Chinese co-workers

What Challenges Dutch Design in China? Towards a supportive tool for Dutch Designers and Design managers and their Chinese co-workers

Dong, M.

Van Boeijen, A.G.C. (mentor)
Daalhuizen, J.J. (mentor)
Winthagen, V. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

2012-02-29

The research focuses on the challenges that Dutch design companies have encountered in their practical work for the Chinese clients. Ten different respondents are interviewed for the research, including Dutch designers, a Dutch business director, a Chinese employee and so forth. The collected interview data contribute to explore the culture influenced challenges in the cooperation with the Chinese clients, the consumer research in a foreign context and some specific manufacturing issues in China. The trends of globalization make a great impact on companies’ international business. It ensures that companies can exchange goods and services internationally, shift production to other countries, and learn from abroad more efficient means of operating (Daniels, 2002). China, as one of the fastest developing countries, is not only a big manufacturing base but also a tempting emerging market. On one hand, some western companies hand over their production into China. Some Dutch design companies, therefore, have to contact with Chinese manufacturers and together make a successfully product. On the other hands, some of Chinese companies also have realized that design brings values and the competitiveness to their products. Therefore, in order to compete in a global market, the Chinese companies also seek for the foreign design agencies for the sake of their mature design techniques. The trends indicate that here is a good timing for some brave Dutch design companies to consider launching their business in China. However, the international cooperation is facing several cultural challenges. The culture differences between Dutch and Chinese raise some problems, which reduce the working efficiency, increase the cost and the time. Some problems even hinder a long-term relationship between Dutch design companies and their Chinese clients. Therefore, it becomes essential and important to learn from some experienced Dutch designers and design companies, who have worked with Chinese companies for several times. Their stories and existing cultural challenges will enlighten those people who are preparing to newly start a Dutch-China design project. They can take advantages of knowing what happens in others’ Chinese projects, therefore be consciously aware the different way of communicating, doing the consumer research and translating designs.

cross-cultural
practical design challenges
Dutch-China design project
cross-cultural cooperation
foreign consumer research
cross-cultural manufacturering

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7777e15e-59a8-469d-942d-c93155a88784

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2012 Dong, M.