The Visual Dimension in Organizing, Organization, and Organization Research: Core Ideas, Current Developments, and Promising Avenues

Abstract

(2013) The visual dimension in organizing, organization, and organization research: Core ideas, current developments, and promising avenues. Academy of Management Annals, 7 (1). pp. 489-555. ISSN 1941-6520 This version is available at: http://epub.wu.ac.at/4991/ Available in ePub WU : April 2016 ePub WU , the institutional repository of the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, is provided by the University Library and the IT-Services. The aim is to enable open access to the scholarly output of the WU.This document is the version accepted for publication and -in case of peer review -incorporates referee comments. There are minor differences between this and the publisher version which could however affect a citation. Abstract. With the unprecedented rise in the use of visuals, and its undeniable omnipresence in organizational contexts, as well as in the individual's everyday life, organization and management science has recently started to pay closer attention to the to date under-theorized 'visual mode' of discourse and meaning construction. Building primarily on insights from the phenomenological tradition in organization theory and from social semiotics, this article sets out to consolidate previous scholarly efforts and to sketch a fertile future research agenda. After briefly exploring the workings of visuals, we introduce the methodological and theoretical 'roots' of visual studies in a number of disciplines that have a long-standing tradition of incorporating the visual. We then continue by extensively reviewing work in the field of organization and management studies: More specifically, we present five distinct approaches to feature visuals in research designs and to include the visual dimension in scholarly inquiry. Subsequently, we outline, in some detail, promising avenues for future research, and close with a reflection on the impact of visualization on scientific practice itself.

The power of PowerPoint: A visual perspective on meaning making in strategy

“…These interactions can impact the strategy process by accentuating urgency (Liu & Maitlis, 2014) or enabling novel combinations of knowledge to emerge (Paroutis et al, 2015). From studies on visual organization more generally (Ray & Smith, 2011), we know that both words and visuals are performative, in different but complementary ways (Bell & Davison, 2013;Meyer et al, 2013). Visual communication also has been conceptualized as distinctive compared to language-based communication (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996;Moriarty, 1996); evidence from cognitive studies suggests that humans use two channels: an auditory/verbal channel and a visual channel (Mayer & Moreno, 2003;Paivio, 2013).…”

“…Even though strategists engage primarily in visual activities when using these materials, strategy researchers who have investigated materiality have focused mainly on what actors say (Balogun, Jacobs, Jarzabkowski, Mantere, & Vaara, 2014), and paid relatively scant attention to what actors create, see, draw, or display (Meyer et al, 2013). This limited appreciation of visual activities (or visuality) in strategy research is also at odds with the prominent role visuals play in shaping strategy activities in firms, for example, with the growing use of presentations and data visualizations, to the extent that "visual communication is a must-have skill for all managers, because more and more often, it's the only way to make sense of the work they do" (Berinato, 2016, 94).…”

“…However, strategy scholars have yet to explore how dissonance between visual depictions and concurrent strategy talk might influence subsequent actions. Unlocking this puzzle is important, because it could yield a more holistic explanation of how strategy participants make meaning through their use of visuality, and as a result, how strategy meanings emerge that were previously "unseen" or were difficult to convey linguistically (Bell & Davison, 2013;Meyer et al, 2013).…”

“…Despite the ubiquity of visuality in the social accomplishment of strategy, visuals have been relegated largely to the background in theoretical accounts of strategy processes (Meyer, Höllerer, Jancsary, & Van Leeuwen, 2013). Although Mintzberg (1994, p. 240) once declared that strategy cannot be "tangible," since it consists of abstract concepts in the minds of people, a growing body of work-particularly in the strategy as practice area-is focused on examining the role and impact of materials used by strategy actors to achieve strategic ends in firms (Dameron, Lê, & LeBaron, 2015;Stigliani & Ravasi, 2012;Vaara & Whittington, 2012).…”

“…However, strategy scholars have yet to explore how dissonance between visual depictions and concurrent strategy talk might influence subsequent actions. Unlocking this puzzle is important, because it could yield a more holistic explanation of how strategy participants make meaning through their use of visuality, and as a result, how strategy meanings emerge that were previously "unseen" or were difficult to convey linguistically (Bell & Davison, 2013;Meyer et al, 2013).Our concern with this topic arose inductively as we conducted an ethnographic study of two change projects led by ConsultingCo, a top-tier strategy consulting firm. Over the course of our fieldwork, we became acutely aware that while engaging in conversations with clients is important, creating PowerPoint presentations is also an important aspect of consultants' strategy work.…”