Executive design recruiter, RitaSue Siegel, offers her perspectives to assess whether or not a company is commited to design strategically.

Basically she asks whether a company's leadership values design as an independant business area - distinct from marketing - and whether the design leadership can see eye to eye wiht the ceo.

Her example is Nissan, and the entire video is well worth seeing just for that point alone. The design executive she brought to Nissan Motor Company changed what TIME magazine had called a “debt-ridden basket case” into a profitable global car company with 22 models in the pipeline—in a mere 18 months.

Her side comment at the end, where she says "Don't Get an MBA" is yet another voice added to the chorus.

http://www.ritasue.com/video_popup_med.html

Labels: Design, marketing, mba, nissan