Award-winning SME http://www.frippdesign.co.uk/ and Research recently worked with University of Leeds Business School researchers to explore their unique, innovative approach to design. Company Director and Founder, Tom Fripp recently completed a short course on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 programme which prompted him to consider how he might apply some of the ideas raised by the course in his own business. The successful and rapidly growing team at Fripp worked with the researchers to explore, analyse and capture their sophisticated and unique design process.
The Leeds research team, led by Dr Tom Burgess of the Technology and Innovation Group, included Paul Grimshaw, Mick Yates, Post-Doctorial Research Fellow, and Professor Nigel Lockett. Working with the company gave the Business School team the opportunity to cement a relationship with a ‘best of class’ regional SME and experiment with new ways of working with business. Using research-led knowledge capture techniques combined with state-of-the-art online video and screen cast technology, the research team co-created a standardised view of what had previously been seen as a “fuzzy” and difficult to replicate design process. The project helped the company to better understand their processes and enabled them to further develop and build on this newly-captured process knowledge.
Right now, the UK needs to support innovative SMEs to grow more than ever. According to the Government-funded National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA - http://www.nesta.org.uk/) much innovation within UK industry and commerce is often hidden away, unrecognised and under-developed. Exploring such ‘hidden’ management innovations and practices at companies like Fripp gives the School the opportunity to hone and share the latest research thinking. We get to better understand the challenges of business practice, and together we can co-create meaningful new knowledge that firms can use to develop their business and we can use to expand research knowledge. Hopefully collaborations with companies such as Fripp Design and Research will encourage other SMEs to work with us in the future in novel and interesting ways.
It was fascinating to see how we go about creating unique ideas in a process format. As a SME cash flow is king and knowing what processes are time critical is an important step in understanding how to quote for and deliver the best possible work for the best possible price for our clients. We look forward to a continued relationship with the University of Leeds Business School who have proved themselves a proactive, SME-friendly partner for the region." – Fripp Design and Research.