This thesis explores effective and contextually appropriate means through which manufacturing SMEs can create competitive advantage through design and sustainable Product Service Systems (PSS). The exploration focuses on how design capabilities can be developed and used in non-design led contexts to drive an effective adoption of sustainable product service systems, creating competitive heterogeneity. A comprehensive review of literature gave understanding of perspectives to competitiveness issues, how organisations have been supported towards PSS, sustainability and design adoption and related challenges. From this review surfaced the need to be cautious of contextual considerations leading to a Delphi study. The purpose of the Delphi study was to identify factors relevant for SMEs in Botswana to embrace sustainable PSS as a competitive business strategy. Priorities from the Delphi study informed a study aimed at exploring competitiveness experiences of SMEs and their perceptions of sustainability and product service systems. Following the position of experts on industries highly prioritised in Botswana s economic diversification agenda, this was done with a specific industry; the leather industry. Possible opportunities of how design can address challenges identified and how PSS and sustainability can open new business opportunities for SMEs were also drawn from the findings. A systems success framework was developed using the main findings. The framework was tested through workshops with 3 SMEs who were also participants in the previous study. Through interactions with designers, the workshops exposed SMEs to design and PSS. Findings from the workshops indicate that through design capabilities SMEs can recognise opportunities and translate them in a service context to differentiated offerings suitable for their various markets. A designerly approach also offered a simplified but holistic process for SMEs to engage in systems thinking.

Modern lifestyles in the developed regions of the world operate beyond our planet's resource capacity. Over-consumption has not only proven detrimental for the environment, but has also undermined our capacity to achieve deep life satisfaction and societal well-being. Embracing more sustainable ways of consuming and producing is key in order to foster the conditions for humanity to flourish. Strategies for disrupting the dominant consumption patterns lie within the next challenges, as adoption of sustainable innovation is still disappointingly low and needs to be accelerated. Design for Sustainability has contributed important technological advances to improve production and life cycle efficiency (i.e. eco design, cradle to cradle). However, it is increasingly recognised that sustainability is not just a technical matter, but ultimately a cultural issue. One of the problems is that people perceive sustainability as a loss, rather than a gain. Therefore, to drive demand, there is urgency to better understand users aspirations and expectations, i.e. the cultural and socio-symbolic aspects of consumption that influence decision-making. This thesis argues that the perceived value of sustainable innovations can be enhanced by paying more attention to the elaboration of meanings or symbolic value they bring to bear for the user, which can be achieved by strategically framing innovations using high-value contextual signifiers (cultural codes). Drawing on cognitive science, cultural studies and applied semiotics, this research contributes a theoretical framework and case studies of how these theories can support the design process in mapping sociocultural contexts, in order to elaborate sustainable innovations that are perceived as aspirational and relevant. The theory is applied to the case of sustainable Product-Service Systems (PPS bottom-up social innovations) due to the opportunities these pose for systemic disruption, and the cultural barriers for adoption. Through a series of Participatory Action Research interventions, the investigation developed three case studies of how of the framework may benefit sustainable PSS value proposition framing and design, with one application in the context of design education to support the development of designers critical and sociocultural deconstruction capacity and skills. Finally, in exploring the potential that cultural codes offer to improve the design and value proposition of sustainable innovations, this thesis contributes and advances a new perspective for understanding symbolic aspects of consumption, and highlights opportunities for sustainable design to have greater influence in societal transformation.

As empresas historicamente voltadas à produção de bens manufaturados têm enfrentado uma série de desafios ao longo das últimas décadas. Notadamente o acirramento da competitividade nos diversos mercados tem contribuído para com que diversos produtos sejam transformados em commodities com qualidade e desempenho similares. A disputa entre os players deixa de ser baseada em liderança tecnológica e tende a se resumir à busca por menores custos de produção. Paralelamente, cresce a consciência em diversos atores da sociedade em relação às questões ambientais e, consequentemente, a pressão sobre as indústrias para que contribuam com a criação de uma sociedade mais sustentável. A criação de pacotes que combinam produtos e serviços para entregar valor em uso ou via realização de uma função é uma estratégia que tem sido estudada para contornar os desafios citados. A criação e oferta de um Sistema Produto-Serviço (PSS – do inglês Product-Service System) por uma empresa de manufatura tem potencial para contribuir nas três perspectivas da sustentabilidade, mas traz alguns desafios. O desenvolvimento de produtos e de serviços deve ser feito de forma integrada, considerando seus relacionamentos e, muitas vezes, o modelo de negócios da empresa acaba sendo modificado. Para contornar os desafios relacionados ao desenvolvimento, existem modelos genéricos de processo de desenvolvimento de PSS propostos para que as empresas definam seus próprios modelos específicos. Esses modelos foram propostos para diferentes contextos de desenvolvimento e normalmente carregam os vieses de seus autores, apresentando pontos fortes e limitações. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo propor um framework para definir modelos de processos específicos de desenvolvimento de Sistemas Produto-Serviço. Para tanto este trabalho utiliza o paradigma do método hipotético-dedutivo e a abordagem metodológica DRM (Design Research Methodology). Os métodos de pesquisa utilizados são: painel de especialistas, linguística de corpus e semântica de frames, focus group, estudo de caso, revisão bibliográfica sistemática e análise de conteúdo. Foi possível obter três contribuições inéditas: um conjunto de 310 atividades-síntese; a análise de 15 modelos de processo de desenvolvimento de PSS; e o framework propriamente dito. As duas primeiras são contribuições à teoria. As atividades-síntese correspondem a todas as atividades de desenvolvimento de PSS previstas nos modelos de processo de desenvolvimento de PSS disponíveis na literatura, constituindo seu estado da arte. A análise dos modelos de processo evidenciou objetivamente os seus diferentes perfis, com cada modelo priorizando determinadas categorias de atividades em detrimento de outras. O framework criado foi testado em dois projetos de desenvolvimento de PSS em duas startups, e constitui uma contribuição aos praticantes nas indústrias, que podem utilizá-lo para definir seus modelos de processos específicos de desenvolvimento de PSS a partir de uma base mais abrangente de atividades que em qualquer um dos 15 modelos genéricos analisados. / Companies historically focused on the production of manufactured goods have faced a number of challenges over the past few decades. Notably, the intensification of competitiveness in the various markets has contributed to the transformation of various products into commodities of similar quality and performance. The dispute between players ceases to be based on technological leadership and tends to be limited to the search for lower production costs. At the same time, rises the awareness of various actors in society regarding environmental issues and, consequently, the pressure on industries to contribute to the creation of a more sustainable society. The creation of products and services bundles to deliver value in use or through the performance of a function is a strategy that has been studied to overcome the aforementioned challenges. The creation and offering of a Product-Service System (PSS) by a manufacturing company has the potential to contribute to the three perspectives of sustainability, but it also poses some challenges. The development of products and services must be done in an integrated way, considering their relationships and, often, the company\'s business model has to be changed. In order to overcome the development challenges, there are generic PSS development process models proposed for companies to define their own specific models. These models have been proposed for different development contexts and usually carry the biases of their authors, thus presenting strengths and limitations. The present work aims to propose a framework for defining specific process models to develop Product-Service Systems. For this, this work uses the paradigm of the hypothetical-deductive method and the DRM (Design Research Methodology) methodological approach. The research methods used are: experts\' panel, corpus linguistics and frame semantics, focus group, case study, systematic literature review and content analysis. It was possible to obtain three unpublished contributions: the set of 310 synthesis activities; the analysis of the 15 PSS development process models; and the framework itself. The first two are contributions to theory. The synthesis activities correspond to all the PSS development activities prescribed by the PSS development process models available in the literature, constituting its state of the art. The analysis of the process models objectively evidenced their different profiles, with each model prioritizing certain categories of activities in comparison to others. The framework created was applied to two PSS design project in two startups, being a contribution to practitioners in industries that can use it to define their specific PSS development processes models from a broader base of activities than in any of the 15 generic models analyzed.

As empresas historicamente voltadas à produção de bens manufaturados têm enfrentado uma série de desafios ao longo das últimas décadas. Notadamente o acirramento da competitividade nos diversos mercados tem contribuído para com que diversos produtos sejam transformados em commodities com qualidade e desempenho similares. A disputa entre os players deixa de ser baseada em liderança tecnológica e tende a se resumir à busca por menores custos de produção. Paralelamente, cresce a consciência em diversos atores da sociedade em relação às questões ambientais e, consequentemente, a pressão sobre as indústrias para que contribuam com a criação de uma sociedade mais sustentável. A criação de pacotes que combinam produtos e serviços para entregar valor em uso ou via realização de uma função é uma estratégia que tem sido estudada para contornar os desafios citados. A criação e oferta de um Sistema Produto-Serviço (PSS – do inglês Product-Service System) por uma empresa de manufatura tem potencial para contribuir nas três perspectivas da sustentabilidade, mas traz alguns desafios. O desenvolvimento de produtos e de serviços deve ser feito de forma integrada, considerando seus relacionamentos e, muitas vezes, o modelo de negócios da empresa acaba sendo modificado. Para contornar os desafios relacionados ao desenvolvimento, existem modelos genéricos de processo de desenvolvimento de PSS propostos para que as empresas definam seus próprios modelos específicos. Esses modelos foram propostos para diferentes contextos de desenvolvimento e normalmente carregam os vieses de seus autores, apresentando pontos fortes e limitações. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo propor um framework para definir modelos de processos específicos de desenvolvimento de Sistemas Produto-Serviço. Para tanto este trabalho utiliza o paradigma do método hipotético-dedutivo e a abordagem metodológica DRM (Design Research Methodology). Os métodos de pesquisa utilizados são: painel de especialistas, linguística de corpus e semântica de frames, focus group, estudo de caso, revisão bibliográfica sistemática e análise de conteúdo. Foi possível obter três contribuições inéditas: um conjunto de 310 atividades-síntese; a análise de 15 modelos de processo de desenvolvimento de PSS; e o framework propriamente dito. As duas primeiras são contribuições à teoria. As atividades-síntese correspondem a todas as atividades de desenvolvimento de PSS previstas nos modelos de processo de desenvolvimento de PSS disponíveis na literatura, constituindo seu estado da arte. A análise dos modelos de processo evidenciou objetivamente os seus diferentes perfis, com cada modelo priorizando determinadas categorias de atividades em detrimento de outras. O framework criado foi testado em dois projetos de desenvolvimento de PSS em duas startups, e constitui uma contribuição aos praticantes nas indústrias, que podem utilizá-lo para definir seus modelos de processos específicos de desenvolvimento de PSS a partir de uma base mais abrangente de atividades que em qualquer um dos 15 modelos genéricos analisados. / Companies historically focused on the production of manufactured goods have faced a number of challenges over the past few decades. Notably, the intensification of competitiveness in the various markets has contributed to the transformation of various products into commodities of similar quality and performance. The dispute between players ceases to be based on technological leadership and tends to be limited to the search for lower production costs. At the same time, rises the awareness of various actors in society regarding environmental issues and, consequently, the pressure on industries to contribute to the creation of a more sustainable society. The creation of products and services bundles to deliver value in use or through the performance of a function is a strategy that has been studied to overcome the aforementioned challenges. The creation and offering of a Product-Service System (PSS) by a manufacturing company has the potential to contribute to the three perspectives of sustainability, but it also poses some challenges. The development of products and services must be done in an integrated way, considering their relationships and, often, the company\'s business model has to be changed. In order to overcome the development challenges, there are generic PSS development process models proposed for companies to define their own specific models. These models have been proposed for different development contexts and usually carry the biases of their authors, thus presenting strengths and limitations. The present work aims to propose a framework for defining specific process models to develop Product-Service Systems. For this, this work uses the paradigm of the hypothetical-deductive method and the DRM (Design Research Methodology) methodological approach. The research methods used are: experts\' panel, corpus linguistics and frame semantics, focus group, case study, systematic literature review and content analysis. It was possible to obtain three unpublished contributions: the set of 310 synthesis activities; the analysis of the 15 PSS development process models; and the framework itself. The first two are contributions to theory. The synthesis activities correspond to all the PSS development activities prescribed by the PSS development process models available in the literature, constituting its state of the art. The analysis of the process models objectively evidenced their different profiles, with each model prioritizing certain categories of activities in comparison to others. The framework created was applied to two PSS design project in two startups, being a contribution to practitioners in industries that can use it to define their specific PSS development processes models from a broader base of activities than in any of the 15 generic models analyzed.