Collaborative design

During research of my essay for the project, I discovered that it is becoming common for companies to encourage sharing of both work and space into their offices and studios. It is pushed with the underlying approach that collaborative work, achieved through the sharing of thoughts and ideas from a wide range of people, will produce the best outcome.

Businesses have also continued these shared relations into inter-departmental and inter-firm approaches. More and more, companies are creating alliances and joint ventures in order to achieve the best possible outcome. And why wouldn't they? It makes much more sense to take advantage of another firm's expertise in a specific area, rather than a poor DIY attempt. An example of this good business sense is the union of Tiffany & Co. and Swatch.

The joint target was to produce a range of products that contained the best elements and designs of both firms. However, each company was also looking to gain extensive benefits from each other. Tiffany & Co. wanted the superior knowledge that Swatch had in the manufacture of watches, whilst Swatch was looking to gain access to highly valuable and lucrative distribution markets of Tiffany & Co., not to mention the desirable up-market brand name.