ABSTRACT

This paper considers the rise of design management within education and practice, locating it within the political economy of the 1980s. After considering its contradictory nature as a management tool which aims to constrain the benefits that design offers, the paper then explores its diverse nature in practice. Based on four detailed case studies, a critique emerges which questions the professional coherence of design management. The authors conclude that a greater sense of definition and identity be applied to both design management and design education, and propose more specialised definitions and courses of study. They argue that ‘design management’ is a term which may have outlived its usefulness.