Mapping a design innovation process within a Multinational Corporation– A design perspective to using Delphi technique

The aim for the research was to proclaim Delphi technique as an appropriate tool to explicitly define the Philips Design strategic design innovation process and align the two fragments of the Research Development and Innovation team; the thinkers involved in making strategies for the breakthrough innovation of the future and practitioners who were involved in protecting the core business for the organisation. The aim was met by identifying a six-step approach incorporating Delphi sessions, all participant workshops and one-on-one interviews. The approach enabled the audit of design outputs for the functional leadership programme1, explicitly defining the roles of involved stakeholders and finally, communicating the process to other sectors within the organisation. In the context of mapping the Philips Design Innovation process, each step involved different individuals; thinkers, practitioners, stakeholders and/or a mix of all three. Hence, Delphi technique was evolved to allow flexibility in involving or exempting individuals from the sessions and ensuring their anonymity. The paper contributes knowledge by describing a design approach that uses Delphi technique as a tool, incorporated within six-stages. The paper describes the six stages and their outcomes in detail before justifying Delphi as a design tool that could enable multinationals to obtain a detailed view of their process knowledge and bridge the gap between thinkers and practitioners.