Design orientation as a source of sustainable company performance

Abstract

This paper aims to test the relationships between design orientation and its implementation with customer orientation and, consequently, company performance. Research model and hypotheses were tested on the Croatian market. Data were collected using the computer-assisted web interviews on the population of Croatian companies with at least three employees. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The research results highlight the role of design as one of the important predecessors of customer orientation, and its indirect influence on company performance was confirmed.