Abstract:

Based on analysis of the literature with a perspective of innovation, this paper concludes a rating scale of design capability and main indexes and proposes the concept of design pattern. According to the dimensions of strategy and organization, the existing design patterns are classified into 5 type. Then some hypotheses about the relationship between the choice of design pattern and the design capability are given. We carried out a survey and a case study in the textile and garment industry in Zhejiang Province in China. The result suggests that in certain environment, the companies’ design capability using different design patterns shows significant difference, and the development of design capability is path-dependent upon the evolution of the design pattern.