How to break the mold: Re-imagining multimodal organization and management studies

Toraldo, Maria Laura, Jancsary, Dennis ORCID: 0000-0002-7836-4133, Hollerer, Markus A, Meyer, Renate E and Mangia, Gianluigi (2025) How to break the mold: Re-imagining multimodal organization and management studies ORGANIZATION. ISSN 1350-5084, 1461-7323

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Abstract

In this essay, we take the burgeoning scholarship on multimodal approaches to the study of organization and management as our point of departure to explore substantial limitations hindering a genuinely multimodal understanding within our discipline. We problematize how existing academic conventions: (a) limit our research agenda and the choice of relevant phenomena, topics, research questions, and empirical designs; (b) restrict the conceptual and empirical toolbox within the research process, restricting researchers’ ability to explore and exploit opportunities afforded by multimodality; and (c) narrow down the channels for scholarly communication, including the distribution of findings and knowledge transfer. Subsequently, we outline three promising “shifts”—toward research as a creative endeavor, toward research as an encounter, and toward research as a material practice—that we believe may successfully pave the way to fully harness the potential of multimodality in our field.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Conventions, multimodality, organization and management, research agenda, research process, scholarly communication
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > Faculty of Humanities & Social Sci (All T&R Staff) Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management > Work, Organisation and Management (WOM) Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management > School of Management (T&R Staff)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	26 Jan 2026 10:21
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 06:27
DOI:	10.1177/13505084251396788
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3196766
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