Design has become a highlight among many companies receiving attention that goes beyond simple aesthetic considerations. However, the concept that effective design is good business is more linked to qualitative evidences than on tangible aspects. The gap in the measurement of contributions made by design on the performance of a company motivates this paper whose objective is to identify whether companies that have adopted design as a competitive strategy in fact present superior performances. To develop this thought, it was necessary to understand the theoretical fundaments related to the contribution of design management to competitiveness, establishing the relations between performance and the factors of design integration with organizational management to allow for the elaboration of a theoretical model. The basic data was gathered from a questionnaire based on statistical tests, distributed to 67 companies in the electroelectronic industry, from the household appliance sector. The results could not be validated for the population as a whole but rather indicated that groups of companies that were in advanced stages of design applications presented superior performance results. Furthermore, through the use of Structural Equation Models, final analysis showed that the integration of design in the value chain is influencing in a positive way, the performance of the companies who adopted design resources.