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The adoption of the design thinking approach (DTA) within organizations is crucial for generating creative and innovative solutions to complex business and societal problems. However, the integration of DTA into organizational practices is progressing slowly and needs immediate attention. Numerous interrelated and interdependent barriers hinder the integration of DTA into organizational practices. This study aims to identify and categorize barriers to DTA adoption within organizations into cause and effect (C–E) groups.

Barriers to the implementation of DTA were identified through a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with eight professionals to gather insights into real world barriers. The study follows the resource-based view (RBV) theory to identify the barriers. Following this, the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method was applied to categorize the barriers into C–E groups.

The study identifies 18 barriers to DTA adoption within organizations in the Indian context. The results revealed that the most prominent barrier to the DTA implementation within organizations is the misfit with existing processes and structures, followed by weak organizational culture and difficulties in implementing the idea. Our findings suggest that managers should champion the adoption process. This will help in motivating employees and fostering a culture of design thinking in the organization. Organizations need an open mindset and should give employees more opportunities to experiment. There is an immediate need for measures that enable better collaboration between business organizations and educational institutions, including universities, to promote DTA.

The findings of the study will help the organizations and decision-makers in expediting the adoption of DTA within their organizations. The results categorize the barriers into C–E groups, allowing organizations to take appropriate measures to address the cause group barriers and minimize the impact of the effect group barriers.

This study is the first of its kind to utilize the RBV theory in identifying and classifying barriers to DTA adoption within Indian organizations. However, the findings are also applicable to other countries with similar business environments.