Abstract
Online videos are a form of dynamic visual communication that embrace the amateurish and informal communication style that is typical of videos in social media. In organizations’ strategic communication these types of videos are used for disseminating management message about strategy, strategic issues and news, as well as, for culture building in strategic change. This thesis explores the use of online videos as visual strategic organizational communication, focusing particularly on what online videos are, how they influence strategizing, and what are the underlying mechanism that condition strategizing with online videos. Building on the strategy as practice and sociomateriality perspectives, this thesis connects the openness paradigm and the technological and cultural developments of our time with how people do strategy in current day organizations.
This thesis comprises of three studies. Paper 1 outlines a definition of the phenomenon and discusses potential theoretical implications of the use of visual social media type of communication for strategizing. Paper 2 provides an internal open strategizing perspective on the phenomenon of online videos, with an in-depth ethnographic study of a large retail organization. Paper 3 studies an internal strategy workshop video that accidentally leaked outside the company and follows the external audiences´ gamified interaction with this video on public social media.
This thesis contributes to strategy as practice literature in three ways. First, it defines the phenomenon of online videos as visual strategic organizational communication. Second, it demonstrates that the use of online videos influences strategizing with their affordances, supports open strategizing, and may over time enable a dynamic of intimacy to emerge. Third, it discusses why the underlying media infrastructure conditions strategizing in a specific way. Further, this thesis contributes to visual management studies by illuminating a type of visual communication practice and theorizing on how the affordances of visibility and visuality interplay with strategizing. Visibility is highly related to transparency and the demand and desire for openness in contemporary organization, whereas visuality enables us to create an emotional or sensory imprint of the message necessary for strategic buy-in and commitment. Together both of these build transparency, inclusivity, and intimacy for more open paradigm management and strategizing. For future research, this study lays the ground to further explore the visualization of organizations as ways to execute the ideal of openness, authenticity, and non-hierarchy in organizations.
This thesis comprises of three studies. Paper 1 outlines a definition of the phenomenon and discusses potential theoretical implications of the use of visual social media type of communication for strategizing. Paper 2 provides an internal open strategizing perspective on the phenomenon of online videos, with an in-depth ethnographic study of a large retail organization. Paper 3 studies an internal strategy workshop video that accidentally leaked outside the company and follows the external audiences´ gamified interaction with this video on public social media.
This thesis contributes to strategy as practice literature in three ways. First, it defines the phenomenon of online videos as visual strategic organizational communication. Second, it demonstrates that the use of online videos influences strategizing with their affordances, supports open strategizing, and may over time enable a dynamic of intimacy to emerge. Third, it discusses why the underlying media infrastructure conditions strategizing in a specific way. Further, this thesis contributes to visual management studies by illuminating a type of visual communication practice and theorizing on how the affordances of visibility and visuality interplay with strategizing. Visibility is highly related to transparency and the demand and desire for openness in contemporary organization, whereas visuality enables us to create an emotional or sensory imprint of the message necessary for strategic buy-in and commitment. Together both of these build transparency, inclusivity, and intimacy for more open paradigm management and strategizing. For future research, this study lays the ground to further explore the visualization of organizations as ways to execute the ideal of openness, authenticity, and non-hierarchy in organizations.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Supervisors/Advisors |
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| Award date | 25.09.2020 |
| Place of Publication | Helsinki |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 978-952-232-419-1 |
| Electronic ISBNs | 978-952-232-420-7 |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
| MoE publication type | G5 Doctoral dissertation (article) |
Keywords
- 512 Business and Management
- online video
- visual communication
- strategizing practices
- open strategy
- sociomateriality
- ethnography