Panel Discussion Proposal: ‘Challenges and Controversies in Visual Research’
British Academy of Management, Sheffield, 2010

Introduction

The aim of this panel is to raise awareness of an aspect of management research that is of increasing significance – namely, visual dimensions to management, organization and research methodology. The value of visual brands, sophisticated exploitation of the visual medium of the Internet, media conscious Senior Management and corporate aesthetics management are testament to the fact that business and management in the 21^st century are increasingly visually saturated phenomena. As organizational stakeholders become increasingly visually literate, so the need to find innovative ways to capture data about visual business becomes paramount. However, although a small number of management researchers are beginning to engage with ‘visual themes’ (eg: Bell 2010; Buchanan 2001; Davison 2009; Schroeder 2002; Shortt & Warren 2010; Warren & Parker 2009; Wood & Ladkin 2007

), the uptake of visually oriented management research has been slow and remains limited in our community. This panel questions why this might be the case, through critical discussion intended to surface and address some of the theoretical and practical obstacles that might potentially be preventing management researchers from incorporating ’the visual’ into their research and management education practices. Specifically, experienced management researchers will be invited to present a 10 minute think-piece on a critical theme to stimulate an open-floor discussion around potential sources of resistance to visual methods and to evaluate the legitimacy of these concerns.

Panel composition and themes

The panel session will last for 90 minutes and comprise the following speakers who have all confirmed their participation.

Panel Chair: Dr. Samantha Warren, University of Surrey – speaking as a founding member of inVisio and Principal Investigator on the inVisio ESRC Seminar Series and Researcher Development Initiative. Why has the visual been overlooked by management researchers, why do we need to address this situation, why is visual research important, and why is its significance as a method of growing significance? Sam will report on a recent survey of the InViso membership (n = 200) which investigated what visual methods they were using in their research, how they were disseminating their findings and what challenges they faced.

Challenges in Research: Professor David Buchanan, Cranfield University – speaking as editor of the Sage Handbook of Organizational Research, 2009. How widespread is the usage of visual methods, who is using them, who is not, are we using them expertly enough, do we have the collective expertise to engage effectively with the visual in organizational research? What ethical issues arise when incorporating visual methods?

Challenges in Publishing: Professor Tim Clark, University of Durham – speaking as former editor of Journal of Management Studies and Simon Linacre, Senior Publisher, Emerald Insight.

How do journal editors and publishers view visual methods, where does resistance to visual research come from (e.g. practical barriers to publication or arising from a lack of methodological legitimacy), what alternative sources of publication are there, what are the copyright issues and can images be published under fair-dealing, are visual methods a good way of career-building or something you should experiment with once you are an established researcher?

Challenges in Relating to Practice: Professor Jonathan Schroeder, University of Exeter – speaking about themes identified and elaborated in his book, Visual Consumption, 2002. Focusing on visual style helps articulate and highlight organizational construction and strategic deployment of icons, codes, and representational conventions across a range of actors – encompassing fine art, advertising, corporate reportage, fashion photography, web design, popular photography, and film. Stylistic analysis helps illuminate how visual organizational communication acts as a representational, performative, and aesthetic system that produces value beyond the realm of the product, service, or brand, connecting images to broader aesthetic and cultural codes that help create meaning and value.

Challenges in Pedagogy: Dr. Emma Bell, University of Exeter – speaking about issues identified and elaborated in her recent book, Reading Management and Organization in Film, 2008. What is the role of the visual in an age of videocy, rather than literacy, how do we engage with the visual in relation to management learning, what do audiences make of our use of visual materials, such as film in teaching or pictures in textbooks, does the visual enable more effective communication and learning or is it simply a form of edutainment in the face of increasing pressures from student consumers?

Planned outputs

It is envisaged that the Panel discussions will form the basis for an article on ‘challenges and controversies’ in visual research for a special issue of the Emerald journal Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. In addition, we hope to invite Julian Burton, a visual artist from Delta 7 Change Consultancy to produce a ‘visual dialogue’ of the Panel discussions in ‘real time’ as an example of ‘visual methods in action’ during the session (to be confirmed).

Panel convenors

Dr Samantha Warren and Dr Emma Bell are both founding members of the International Network for Visual Studies in Organization and have been using visual methods extensively in their own research and teaching practice. Emma is a member of the BAM Methodology SIG steering group, co-author of the bestselling Business Research Methods text book ( 2^nd edition, 2007) and her recent book Reading Organization and Management in Film (2009)  explicitly addresses the role of visual methodologies in management education. Samantha has been publishing empirical and theoretical articles on visual methodologies since 2002 and introduction to visual approaches in organizational research in Buchanan and Bryman’s (2009) Handbook of Organizational Research Methods was the first review of its kind in the business and management disciplines. Samantha is a guest-editor of ‘Visual Perspectives on Accounting’ (AAAJ 2009) and ‘Qualitative Research: Exploring the Visual in Organizations and Management’ (QROM 2012). Both convenors have extensive experience of organizing conferences, streams, symposia and seminars at SCOS, EURAM, CMS and Art of Management.