Approaches to Understanding Values in Rural Communities and Rural Businesses: within the context of Design Thinking
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis argues for the positive impact that Design Thinking may have towards instigating, supporting and developing relationships between small and micro rural businesses and their surrounding communities. Described as the ‘beating hearts of rural communities’ (Frazer, in Freeman, 2015), small rural businesses provide inimitable levels of stability to our overall economic and social development. With 99.4% of all Scottish private sector enterprises classified as SMEs, they collectively provide employment for 1.2 million individuals (one fifth of the entire Scottish population) (The Scottish Government, Businesses in Scotland, 20I7), but, with the number of failed small businesses in Scotland rising by 32% in the initial 3 months of 2018, which is approximately 679 businesses (McCance, 2018), there is a pertinent need to develop measures of support and mechanisms for resilience to aid their longevity and future success. Supported by investigation undertaken across a triptych of sectors, Economics, Business and Rural Communities, contextualised and framed through Design Thinking and situated within a Scottish Rural Economic setting, this thesis identifies a communication gap between business and communities surrounding individual and collectively held personal values . The basis of arguments towards understanding richer perspectives of ‘value’ which go beyond financial assets and numerical calculations and include qualitative values held by people are long standing and well established (Danson & Trebeck, (2011); Fitoussi et al, 2009; Gauntlett, 2011; Kennedy, 1968; Kuznets, 1930; Schmuecker & Wallace, 2012; Sen, 2003) and the role of design-led research and design thinking in the development of approaches for businesses are well documented (Cross, 2006; Moggridge, 2007; Leifer & Meinel, 2011, 2018). This thesis explores ways in which Design Thinking might be utilised to identify undetected and undisclosed values of people through engaging with individuals and the …
abstract: This thesis argues for the positive impact that Design Thinking may have towards instigating, supporting and developing relationships between small and micro rural businesses and their surrounding communities. Described as the ‘beating hearts of rural communities’ (Frazer, in Freeman, 2015), small rural businesses provide inimitable levels of stability to our overall economic and social development. With 99.4% of all Scottish private sector enterprises classified as SMEs, they collectively provide employment for 1.2 million individuals (one fifth of the entire Scottish population) (The Scottish Government, Businesses in Scotland, 20I7), but, with the number of failed small businesses in Scotland rising by 32% in the initial 3 months of 2018, which is approximately 679 businesses (McCance, 2018), there is a pertinent need to develop measures of support and mechanisms for resilience to aid their longevity and future success. Supported by investigation undertaken across a triptych of sectors, Economics, Business and Rural Communities, contextualised and framed through Design Thinking and situated within a Scottish Rural Economic setting, this thesis identifies a communication gap between business and communities surrounding individual and collectively held personal values . The basis of arguments towards understanding richer perspectives of ‘value’ which go beyond financial assets and numerical calculations and include qualitative values held by people are long standing and well established (Danson & Trebeck, (2011); Fitoussi et al, 2009; Gauntlett, 2011; Kennedy, 1968; Kuznets, 1930; Schmuecker & Wallace, 2012; Sen, 2003) and the role of design-led research and design thinking in the development of approaches for businesses are well documented (Cross, 2006; Moggridge, 2007; Leifer & Meinel, 2011, 2018). This thesis explores ways in which Design Thinking might be utilised to identify undetected and undisclosed values of people through engaging with individuals and the …
author: Lindsay, Rebecca
language: eng
keywords: Design Thinking, Values, Communities, Business, Rural, Scotland
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:08:52Z
provider: University of Dundee
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Dundee