Firms like 3M, Apple, Lunar Design

Firms like 3M, Apple, Lunar Design and Smart Design (two leading new product design consultancies), which are constantly praised in the business press for their ‘creative’ organizational DNA – a metaphor for those hidden characteristics that can define the culture of an organization (see http:www.orgdna.com) – generally pride themselves on sustaining an intra-organizational value and behavioral norm system that enables the perpetual development and introduction of original and useful products (see Neilson et al., 2005).