An Exploration of the Skill and Competence Issues of An e-Business Directed Graphic Design Industry

The graphic design industry may be seen as a provider of support services to e-business. For example, website design may be considered as a function of graphic design. This paper describes ongoing research which aims to investigate skill and competence issues expressed as an outcome of e-business activity. The focus for the research is SMEs in the graphic design industry in South Wales. The study identifies facets of e-business where the graphic design industry provides input, measuring the proportion of e-commerce-related work undertaken by SMEs in the graphic design industry. The principle undertaking of this research is to expose the human resource needs of the graphic design industry which are concomitant with developments in e-business activity. The core means of data collection is a survey of all graphic design SMEs located in South Wales. The survey has elicited information in relation to the evolution of e‑business-related work. Further to this, the survey provides a basis for triangulation, considering relationships between: e-business activity; human resource requirements in the graphic design industry; and the subsequent contribution graphic design makes to e-business. To further explore issues of e-business management, a series of interviews has been undertaken with a sample of management-level graphic designers. The implications of e-business for management of SMEs in the graphic design industry are multifaceted. For instance, market developments for graphic design services are driving managerial and strategy developments towards a nascent response to the electronic environment. It may be possible to contend that the relationships evolving between graphic design and e-business are the forerunner of relationships between e-business and other industries. The rationale for this statement may be found in the potentially mutually inclusive Lyndon Murphy et al., 'An exploration of the skill and competence issues of an e-business directed graphic design industry'