Content area
Design and its contribution to business competitiveness plays an essential role in economic prosperity. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the impact of design on the financial performance of intentionally selected companies. The two-part study was carried out in 2014 and 2016. The survey was aimed at managers of various enterprises. The main goal was to investigate the evolution of the opinions of managers regarding a design and its influence on the financial performance (generally, increases in revenue, sales or brand value) of the company. Furthermore, the study aimed to determine whether enterprises earmark part of the budget for design, and whether the issue of return on investment in design is addressed. The statistical analysis was performed with the Pearson´s chi-squared test analysis tool. Elementary statistical software was also used for a numerical evaluation of the findings. The results demonstrate the increasing importance of design and prove that investments in design have a positive effect on financial indicators and also on enterprise competitiveness in the Czech Republic.