ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we lay the groundwork for multimodal organization and management research. We develop the argument that both organization theory and multimodal studies can learn a lot from each other, but that such communication across fields is as yet in its infancy. Starting from a discussion of why both disciplines could be substantially enriched by considering insights from the other field, we briefly review work that has already recognized such intersections and seized opportunities, particularly in the form of including visuality and materiality into research on organizations and organizing. We then open up the ‘box’ of multimodality by discussing a set of related disciplines in which such integration of multiple modes is already more established. Subsequently, we provide a brief glimpse on five approaches to multimodality that can be identified from existing research on organizations and which will be further elaborated in Part II of this book. Finally, we provide some information on the empirical applications discussed in Part III and conclude with an outlook of the book as a whole.
