Master of Design Management (MDM)
Nowadays the value of a company or a product no longer resides in the business or the product itself but rather in the so-called ‘soft factors’. Soft factors concern the perception of the business or product in question by clients, co-workers and shareholders. Design is able to guide the perception of these recipients. The use of design can help providers differentiate their products and services and add value to their business activities. The Master of Design Management degree is one of the initiatives of EURIB aimed at raising design policy to a higher level within
organisations. This study programme has five core instructors who each coordinate a (part of a) module: Gert Kootstra MBM (also programme director), Frans Joziasse
MBA MSc., Erik Roscam Abbing MSc. MDM, Jos van der Zwaal and dr. Rik Riezebos. Course director is Suzanne Leentvaar MA.
Upcoming startdate of the education
Module A: 4 september 2009
Upcoming information meeting
November 2009 (19.30-21.00) Amsterdam.
From 2010, the Master of Brand Management program will partly be offered in English. Want to be kept up to date on any developments? Send an email to info(at)eurib.org.
Essence of the study programme
Design management is a relatively young discipline that explicitly recognises that design can contribute to the ‘business performance’ of a company. Design ‘per se’ has been used for quite some time by many an organisation. The particularity of design management is that the focus is on development of vision and making strategic choices regarding the use of design by organisations. Exaggeratedly, one can state that where for time immemorial design has placed the accent on style (‘aesthetics’; rendering things ‘beautiful’), in design management the accent is on creating added value for a business. The program of the MDM degree is based on four fundamentals:
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By means of ‘design leadership’, companies can develop a very profitable business - even in markets that are subject to price erosion•
Focus on the strategic management level (design from a managerial perspective)•
The understanding of design in a business environment (oriented at adding value)•
‘Proven knowledge’ as a basis for design policy (scientific basis)Who is this programme intended for?
The MDM study programme is aimed at directors and managers with a degree from a school of higher (vocational) education with at least four years of work experience. Likely candidates are:
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Managers/directors responsible for the design policy of (a part of) their organisation (for example, working in design, R&D/product development, corporate communication or marketing);•
Members of boards of directors, senior creative personnel, ADs/ CSDs of consulting firms in the area of design, design management or design research.The first category named can consist of producers of consumer goods (both durable as well as
perishable), retailers, service providers, business-to-business companies, not-for profit organisations and government agencies. The primary language of this programme is Dutch. Students who have basic knowledge of Dutch but have difficulties speaking and writing in this language can still participate. Most literature is in English and it is allowed to hand in assignments and the thesis in English. The Over EURIB/ Studenten section contains an overview of companies from which our students hail.
Programme
Module A (August - October): Design leadership/ strategic designmanagement
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Introduction: leadership and management•
Design leadership: creating an environment for innovation•
Design as business driver•
Strategic management•
The strategy process•
Strategic thinking: the paradox of logic & creativity•
Strategic change: the paradox of revolution & evolution•
Strategic design planning: envisaging corporate design strategy•
The strategic role of design in a value network•
Integration module ACore instructor: Frans Joziasse MBA MSc.
Module B (November - December) :Design in relation to brand and product
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Introduction brand strategy•
Brand personality and design•
Brand architecture and design•
Case Decathlon•
Brand stretching•
Introduction product design•
Product design and innovation (theory)•
Product design and innovation (practice)•
Product design managementCore instructors: dr. Rik Riezebos and Erik Roscam Abbing MSc. MDM
Module C (January - March): Design contexts and the designmix
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Introduction module•
Design history•
Global (brand) design•
Intercultural communication•
Product design•
Packaging design•
Design for the retail environment•
Design for the corporate environment•
Design for new media•
Integration module C Core instructor: Jos van der ZwaalModule D (April- June): Instruments for design strategy and measuring performance
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Introduction: the design management process – planning to monitoring•
Managing design in an experience economy•
Trend analysis and developing future insights•
Human-centered design research•
Bench marking and auditing•
Quality management and the design-balanced scorecard•
Market research in the design process•
Design and emotion•
Design resources and procurement management•
Integration module DCore instructor: Gert L. Kootstra MBM
Module R (second year)
During the second year of the course, the focus will be on writing a dissertation. This module starts twice a year (in January and in August/September). Four training days are scheduled in the second year, each linked to a different aspect of the dissertation:
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Chapter 1: Description of the practical problem area and problem definition•
Chapter 2: Theoretical framework of the dissertation•
Chapter 3: Conducting and reporting on field research•
Chapter 4: Conclusions, recommendations and implicationsCourse of study
The Masters programme includes the writing of a research-based thesis. The thesis process is supervised by a EURIB staff member or an external specialist. The course of study includes four ‘on campus’ days in which students are supervised while they conduct research and write between 40 and 60 pages of thesis. The thesis must be defended in a final exam in front of an exam committee. If the exam is passed, the degree of ‘Master of Design Management’ will be awarded.
The MDM degree is a so-called ‘master of professional education’, which means that the study programme deals with developments in the work field and is not aimed at educating students to become scientific researchers. Although the lectures take place at the Erasmus University, this course of study does not fall under the auspices of the university. After completion of the study programme, the degree of Master of Design Management (MDM) will be awarded, which is comparable to an MBA degree. Participants who successfully complete several modules but not the entire study programme will receive one or more certificates of completion upon request.
Study materials & location
For each module, participants will receive a binder containing the requisite study materials. Various books will also be provided. The following can be downloaded from the EURIB intranet: the contact information of other students, the syllabus and exam schedule and PDFs of the lectures.
The masterclasses of the Master of Design Management take place at the 17th Floor of the H-building at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (picture above). Lunches take place at the same floor in the Faculty Club (picture below).
Study costs
If you register for the entire study programme, the costs will amount to:
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Modules A through D (20 days): € 10,400•
Module R (4 days plus thesis advisement): € 4,100Additionally, costs for reading material and copying amount to € 125 per module and the ‘on-campus’ costs to € 150 per day. This includes all study materials, parking passes and catering. For module R, the exam costs are also included.
If you only wish to participate in one or several of the modules (A, B, C and/or D), then one module will cost € 3,125 in instruction fees, two modules € 6,000, three modules € 8,625 and four modules € 11,000. Example: if you are primarily interested in modules A and B – where the focus is on strategic aspects – the instruction fees will amount to € 6,000 (plus reading material/ copying and ‘on-campus’ costs). The total amount will be invoiced at semi-annual intervals. Regulations pertaining to cancellation are stipulated in EURIB’s payment terms and conditions. Dutch VAT is levied on the above-mentioned amounts (19%).
