I am thrilled to announce that our latest research paper, “External Representations in Strategic Decision-Making: Understanding Strategy’s Reliance on Visuals,” co-authored with Nicole Hinrichs and Mana Heshmati, has been published in the Strategic Management Journal!
Part of the motivation to write this paper was an insightful (and perhaps skeptical) question from an MBA student: “Why do we use so many figures in strategy?” Driven by curiosity, we set out to explore whether this observation was true and to understand the role that external representations, particularly visuals, play in strategic decision-making.
Key takeaways from our paper include:
- An explanation of why visuals are so prominent in strategic decision-making.
- A conceptual model illustrating the interplay between the task environment, managers, and visual representations.
- Insights into how external representations influence the search for new strategies.
- Practical implications for users, designers, and educators of visual representations in strategy.
We hope our findings will inspire further research and innovation in the use of external representations in strategic decision-making.
Read the paper: Free download
—