The Use of Visualization in the Communication of Business Strategies

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to gather empirical evidence regarding whether the use of visualization is better than text in the communication of a business strategy. A total of 76 managers saw a presentation of the strategy of the financial services branch of an international car manufacturer. The visual representation of the strategy was chosen as the independent variable, and the effects on the audience were measured. Three types of visual support were chosen as conditions: bulleted list, visual metaphor, and temporal diagram. Each subject saw one representation format only. Subjects who were exposed to a graphic representation of the strategy paid significantly more attention to, agreed more with, and better recalled the strategy than did subjects who saw a (textually identical) bulleted list version. However, no significant difference was found regarding the understanding of the strategy. Subjects who were exposed to a graphic representation of the strategy perceived the presentation and the presenter significantly more positively than did those who received the presentation through a bulleted list.

PechaKucha Presentations: Teaching Storytelling, Visual Design, and Conciseness

“…From the need for storytelling to reach diverse audiences and sell ideas (Barker & Gower, 2010;Nishi, 2013), to the use of visual images to increase listeners' attention and recall of information (Kernbach, Eppler, & Bresciani, 2014), to the need to be concise in an age of shrinking attention spans (Evans, 2014), PechaKucha presentations can prepare students for those demands. Not only does research indicate that students' demonstrated communication competence is as strong or stronger in PechaKucha presentations as it is with traditional speaking styles (Beyer, 2011;Oliver & Kowalczyk, 2013), but students also view these presentations as "fun."…”

E-perceptions and Business ‘Mating’: The Communication Effects of the Relative Width of Males’ Faces in Business Portraits

“…The adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" exists for good reason, and emphasizes the suggestion that a successful communication strategy should be holistic and should have both verbal and visual elements. At the organizational level, it is known and widely accepted that visual representations outperform text (Kernbach et al, 2015). However, visual representations of corporate strategies imply a different communication strategy than pictures of individuals who belong to an organization.…”

How Consultants and Their Clients Collaborate in Spite of Massive Communication Barriers

“…In a careful study, Rogers, Gunesekera, and Yang (2011) analyzed two versions of a philosophy and strategy statement to find out which language a company used to avoid ambivalence after a deep crisis. Kernbach, Eppler, and Bresciani (2015) could recently show in an experimental study that boundary objects in form of visualizations of a strategy were significantly better than text in terms of the achieved attention, agreement, and retention. This implies that visual boundary objects whose ambiguity tends to be high may increase the motivation to jointly fathom the meaning of boundary object across organizational units.…”