Strategy and Design: Exploring the Emerging Significance of Design in Strategy Work

Sobel, Leanne

Strategy and Design: Exploring the Emerging Significance of Design in Strategy Work

Sobel, Leanne

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2024

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sobel, Leanne
dc.date.accessioned	2025-09-04T00:57:56Z
dc.date.available	2025-09-04T00:57:56Z
dc.date.issued	2024
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189636
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	Following a grounded theory methodology, this PhD study examines the role of design in strategy as reflected in the narratives of design and strategy practitioners. The analysis draws from 50 interviews with 32 strategic designers and 18 strategists, and two focus groups with eight strategic design consultants. The thesis is presented as a compilation of three research papers, each exploring different but interconnected aspects of the role of design in strategy. This includes an analysis of the contextual backgrounds that define the landscape of strategy, design and design thinking studies. The presentation of five roles of design in strategy conceptualised as ecologies of translation, explaining how and why design is used for different purposes in strategy. Finally, an examination of how strategic design practices differ from traditional strategy approaches, suggesting that strategic designers generate an emergent strategy practice conceptualised as strategy-in-action. This thesis contributes to the discourse investigating the opportunities and applications of design in strategy work and what strategic design means for strategy. Further, it contributes to the strategy discourse by expanding the conceptions of strategy practice to incorporate transdisciplinary perspectives through practices of design.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/189636/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	© 2024 Leanne Sobel
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/nph
dc.title	Strategy and Design: Exploring the Emerging Significance of Design in Strategy Work	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

Following a grounded theory methodology, this PhD study examines the role of design in strategy as reflected in the narratives of design and strategy practitioners. The analysis draws from 50 interviews with 32 strategic designers and 18 strategists, and two focus groups with eight strategic design consultants. The thesis is presented as a compilation of three research papers, each exploring different but interconnected aspects of the role of design in strategy. This includes an analysis of the contextual backgrounds that define the landscape of strategy, design and design thinking studies. The presentation of five roles of design in strategy conceptualised as ecologies of translation, explaining how and why design is used for different purposes in strategy. Finally, an examination of how strategic design practices differ from traditional strategy approaches, suggesting that strategic designers generate an emergent strategy practice conceptualised as strategy-in-action. This thesis contributes to the discourse investigating the opportunities and applications of design in strategy work and what strategic design means for strategy. Further, it contributes to the strategy discourse by expanding the conceptions of strategy practice to incorporate transdisciplinary perspectives through practices of design.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189636