Increasingly, core activities—including research and development (R&D), innovation and design—are being outsourced in practice. However, the research on this trend has focused primarily on R&D and innovation outsourcing. This study considers the relatively less investigated area of design outsourcing and key aspects of its management. Interviews with design experts point to distinct objectives for domestic outsourcing and offshore outsourcing. Generally, efficiency coupled with high quality is pursued by domestic outsourcing, whereas creativity that is tailored to firm particularities is expected from offshore outsourcing. The objectives are intrinsically challenging, especially for the unmeasurable criteria including quality and creativity. This study finds that there are key aspects to be considered to accomplish the objectives: supplier selection and risk mitigation. While further exploring these factors, the study sheds light on the role of in‐house designers overseeing the selection and managing the risks. The findings of this study are an important addition to the body of literature on design management, where there has been an increasing emphasis on the critical role played by design management in corporate performance, but a paucity of understandings on the effective management of design outsourcing.

中文翻译：

---

设计外包管理：减轻风险并实现目标

在实践中，包括研发（R＆D），创新和设计在内的核心活动越来越多地被外包。但是，对这一趋势的研究主要集中在研发和创新外包上。本研究考虑了设计外包及其管理关键方面的研究相对较少的领域。对设计专家的访谈指出了国内外包和离岸外包的不同目标。通常，国内外包追求效率与高质量的结合，而离岸外包则期望针对公司特殊性而量身定制的创造力。这些目标本质上具有挑战性，特别是对于包括质量和创造力在内的不可衡量的标准而言。这项研究发现，要实现这些目标，需要考虑一些关键方面：供应商选择和风险缓解。在进一步探索这些因素的同时，该研究揭示了内部设计师监督选择和管理风险的作用。这项研究的发现是对设计管理文献的重要补充，在该文献中，人们越来越重视设计管理在企业绩效中的关键作用，但对设计外包的有效管理缺乏了解。