Bang Olufsen Design Driven Innovati
os t 9-607-016
rP
REV: SEPTEMBER 5, 2007
ROBERT D. AUSTIN
DANIELA BEYERSDORFER
1
yo
Bang & Olufsen: Design Driven Innovation
op
“The Farm,” Bang & Olufsen’s futuristic glass-and-concrete headquarters, rose out of the green fields of western Denmark “like something lifted from a Stanley Kubrick dreamscape.”2 In a nearby parking area, Christopher Sorensen stepped from his car and walked toward the entrance, on his way to meet with a high-powered group that included the CEO, to discuss an important product program.
Within this 80-year-old company, based in rural Jutland where local people might still consider you an outsider after 30 years, Sorensen would be very much the newcomer. Despite that, he would try to convince the others to adjust the firm’s successful design process—to change a winning game.
No tC In April 2006, Bang & Olufsen (B&O) sold a range of televisions, audio systems, loudspeakers, telephones, and other products (see Exhibit 1) in more than 60 countries. The company had a worldwide reputation for idea-based products of high quality and artistic design, many of which held places of honor in the permanent collections of the world’s greatest art museums. (According to a citation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, B&O had “delivered the largest and most consistent design portfolio among the world’s industrial companies.”3) This level of accomplishment translated into high price points (see Exhibit 2) and profit margins, realized through an exclusive network of dealers, from devoted and discerning customers.
To create products with appearance and functionality that made them instantly recognizable, the company had evolved unique design and development processes. B&O gave designers free reign to create new products that would challenge engineers to find a way to manufacture them. New ideas, materials, and technologies made their way into B&O products only if designers put them there.
Customers had proven their willingness to pay handsomely
rP
REV: SEPTEMBER 5, 2007
ROBERT D. AUSTIN
DANIELA BEYERSDORFER
1
yo
Bang & Olufsen: Design Driven Innovation
op
“The Farm,” Bang & Olufsen’s futuristic glass-and-concrete headquarters, rose out of the green fields of western Denmark “like something lifted from a Stanley Kubrick dreamscape.”2 In a nearby parking area, Christopher Sorensen stepped from his car and walked toward the entrance, on his way to meet with a high-powered group that included the CEO, to discuss an important product program.
Within this 80-year-old company, based in rural Jutland where local people might still consider you an outsider after 30 years, Sorensen would be very much the newcomer. Despite that, he would try to convince the others to adjust the firm’s successful design process—to change a winning game.
No tC In April 2006, Bang & Olufsen (B&O) sold a range of televisions, audio systems, loudspeakers, telephones, and other products (see Exhibit 1) in more than 60 countries. The company had a worldwide reputation for idea-based products of high quality and artistic design, many of which held places of honor in the permanent collections of the world’s greatest art museums. (According to a citation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, B&O had “delivered the largest and most consistent design portfolio among the world’s industrial companies.”3) This level of accomplishment translated into high price points (see Exhibit 2) and profit margins, realized through an exclusive network of dealers, from devoted and discerning customers.
To create products with appearance and functionality that made them instantly recognizable, the company had evolved unique design and development processes. B&O gave designers free reign to create new products that would challenge engineers to find a way to manufacture them. New ideas, materials, and technologies made their way into B&O products only if designers put them there.
Customers had proven their willingness to pay handsomely