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

Author

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  • Eric Knight
  • Sotirios Paroutis
  • Loizos Heracleous

Abstract

Research Summary: Relying on ethnographic data from two consulting engagements, we find that strategists use three visual mechanisms (depiction, juxtaposition, and salience) to create PowerPoint slides. These visual mechanisms prompt meaning‐making through the conversations they stimulate, creating strategic visibility. As participants react to visuals, they enact revised interpretations of the strategy, reflecting strategic resonance. Based on the interactions among these three subprocesses (visual mechanisms, strategic visibility, and strategic resonance), we develop a process model for how visuals influence meaning making in strategy engagements. We contribute to existing strategy practice and process studies by explaining how visuals help broker divergent interpretations of a strategy and give rise to new understandings, especially when issues are politically sensitive or analytically complex. Managerial Summary: The purpose of this study is to understand how strategists use visual information (specifically in PowerPoint slides), and its effects on the strategy process. We find that strategy conversations are influenced by the techniques strategists use to create slides, which in turn shape the kinds of follow‐up actions taken. The implications are that: (a) PowerPoint slides can be designed to help tackle complex issues, for instance, when participants have divergent opinions or in politically sensitive situations, and (b) those who craft and edit PowerPoint slides strongly influence the direction of the strategy. The skillful use of PowerPoint is therefore crucial in allowing managers to shape the nature and speed of strategy engagements.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Knight & Sotirios Paroutis & Loizos Heracleous, 2018. "The power of PowerPoint: A visual perspective on meaning making in strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 894-921, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:39:y:2018:i:3:p:894-921
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.2727
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    Cited by:

    1. Cate Watson & Aileen Ireland, 2021. "Boards in action: processes and practices of ‘strategising’ in the Boardroom," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(3), pages 933-966, September.
    2. Gary T. Burke & Carola Wolf, 2021. "The Process Affordances of Strategy Toolmaking when Addressing Wicked Problems," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 359-388, March.
    3. Tomi Laamanen, 2019. "Dynamic attention-based view of corporate headquarters in MNCs," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Eero Vaara & Laura Fritsch, 2022. "Strategy as language and communication: Theoretical and methodological advances and avenues for the future in strategy process and practice research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1170-1181, June.
    5. Kohtamäki, Marko & Heimonen, Jesse & Sjödin, David & Heikkilä, Vili, 2020. "Strategic agility in innovation: Unpacking the interaction between entrepreneurial orientation and absorptive capacity by using practice theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 12-25.
    6. Fernandez-Vidal, Jorge & Gonzalez, Reyes & Gasco, Jose & Llopis, Juan, 2022. "Digitalization and corporate transformation: The case of European oil & gas firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    7. Siebelink, Remco & Hofman, Erwin & Halman, Johannes I.M. & Nee, Ingo, 2021. "Roadmapping: (Missed) opportunities to overcome strategic challenges," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 501-512.

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