New design-oriented directions for the regional economy: proposal of a framework for classifying industrial conversions and product diversification cases in mature industries

Design and Innovation Management find common ground and interesting collaborations in defining strategies that manufacturing companies can implement in extreme circumstances. Design-oriented industrial conversion and product diversification could be an outcome of such strategies, identified to explore and manage emerging technological paradigms. This research focuses on manufacturing companies within industrial districts that are in difficulty and try to orient them towards new strategic directions, driven by product design. For this purpose, the research proposes a framework for classifying case studies of companies that have successfully applied the strategies mentioned above. It displays expansion directions, sectors, products or processes that could be of value for a territorial context.