Design management capabilities and performance of small and medium‑scale enterprises

This paper examines how innovation mediates the relationship between design management capabilities (DMCs) and frm performance. While these concepts have attracted attention in strategic management literature, how they interact to drive the success of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) is not fully understood. Drawing on the dynamic capability perspective, and empirical data from SMEs in Ghana, the proposed model was validated. Survey data were gathered from 209 managers/owners of SMEs in Ghana. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the proposed relationships in the model. The fndings revealed that there is an insignifcant but positive link between design management capabilities and the performance of businesses. Also, innovation is seen to fully mediate the design management capability-frm performance relationship. The results confrmed that SMEs that exhibit good innovative skills in addition to demonstrating design man‑ agement capabilities can perform well in the market. Studies on design management capability-frm performance relationship is quite rare in the African context. Thus, this paper provides a contemporary view to help stakeholders achieve sustainable benefts by understanding the dynamics of design management capabilities-frm performance relationship.