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Chapter 29 - Using Photographic Methods in Strategy-as-Practice Research

from Part IV - Methodological Resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2025

By
Anne D. Smith ,
Ace M. Beorchia  and
Jaewoo Jung
Edited by
Damon Golsorkhi ,
Linda Rouleau ,
David Seidl  and
Eero Vaara
Damon Golsorkhi
Affiliation:
emlyon Business School
Linda Rouleau
Affiliation:
HEC Montréal
David Seidl
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Eero Vaara
Affiliation:
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
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Summary

Anne Smith, Ace Beorchia, and Jaewoo Jung respond to calls for more innovative methods in SAP research by elaborating on the foundations of photographic methods and exploring their relevance for the study of strategizing activities and practices. The authors begin by discussing the increasing interest in visuals in management and organizational research and explain why photographic methods provide unique benefits for advancing strategy as practice research. They then review the use of photography in SAP research – identifying and discussing six SAP research projects in which photographs played a prominent role. Next, they develop and explain a framework to categorize the use of photography in strategy as practice research. Considering two dimensions – the photographs’ creators and the photographs’ role in research – this framework identifies four ways photographs can be used in a research project: outside-in supportive approach, outside-in integrated approach, inside-out supportive approach, and inside-in integrative approach. Based on this framework, the authors highlight the main considerations when undertaking systematic analysis of photographic data. To illustrate how SAP research can benefit from using photographs, they provide an example from longitudinal research studying how daily activities and changes to space are connected to strategic changes and provide a structured analysis of one photo image set extracted from this research project. They conclude by discussing different options in pursuing photographic methods in SAP research.

Keywords

strategy as practicepractice approachphotographic methods
Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice , pp. 526 - 540
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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