Design Management's relevancy within the corporate business setting is established, if not well known. It's application, value, and relevancy within the developing world in microenterprises is considerably less established. Proving that there is an opportunity for Design Management within this unexplored arena gives the discipline added efficacy in social ventures that may or may not be under the purview of non-profit parent or partner organizations.
This study aims to assess Design Management's role in improving economically impoverished communities and adding value through microenterprises. Through a comparison of three case study microenterprises based in Honduras, Mozambique and Pakistan, the efficacy of the Design Management principles of business operations, human capital, product development, marketing and promotion and measurement processes was measured against the current and future outcomes they precipitated. The outcomes were assessed in terms of their impact on the social community and their alignment with the organization's desired goals using a Social Impact Chain model.
Conclusions drawn in the research study include the valuation of Design Management's potential as a catalyst for maximizing current impact value chains in microenterprises and its role in helping parent organization and artisans realize success as joint shareholders in a social venture.