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The purpose of this paper is to holistically discuss, explore and synthesise the key literature on visual management (VM), an important, yet highly fragmented subject that is frequently referred in lean production accounts.

An extensive literature review was conducted to classify the current literature, to explore the different aspects and limitations of the current discussions on the subject, to clarify in what ways VM benefits manifest themselves in a workplace and to identify the future research focus.

VM is an important close-range communication strategy based on cognitively effective information conveyance. This strategy has been frequently discussed in the production management literature. However, the literature is fragmented as to the roles of VM in a production setting; the body of literature lacks integrated focus and cohesion with an abundance of related terminology from scholarly works and consultant books; a practical VM tools taxonomy and a visual workplace implementation framework were presented; there is poor clarity with regards to the functions (benefits) that VM may provide within organisations, nine conceptual VM functions were proposed; a wide array of future research directions related to VM was identified.

This paper synthesises the key literature related to VM, providing a conceptual picture of the current knowledge.

This paper aims to explore the role of records management in supporting the effective use of information visualisation and visual analytics (VA) to meet the challenges associated with the analysis of Big Data.

This exploratory research entailed conducting and analysing interviews with a convenience sample of visual analysts and VA tool developers, affiliated with a major VA institute, to gain a deeper understanding of data-related issues that constrain or prevent effective visual analysis of large data sets or the use of VA tools, and analysing key emergent themes related to data challenges to map them to records management controls that may be used to address them.

The authors identify key data-related issues that constrain or prevent effective visual analysis of large data sets or the use of VA tools, and identify records management controls that may be used to address these data-related issues.

This paper discusses a relatively new field, VA, which has emerged in response to meeting the challenge of analysing big, open data. It contributes a small exploratory research study aimed at helping records professionals understand the data challenges faced by visual analysts and, by extension, data scientists for the analysis of large and heterogeneous data sets. It further aims to help records professionals identify how records management controls may be used to address data issues in the context of VA.

The management of materials consists of an important analysis for industries as there are factors in several areas that should be considered. For this, it should take into account logistical factors, quality and production, because one piece delivered in a large lead time or outside the technical quality standards, imply delays in the project or rework. In this context, the importance of creating a control method of input and output of tools in an aviation industry in the city of Toulouse, France, was seen due to the amount of many incomplete arrivals or inappropriate material for use. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This study used a philosophy of lean manufacturing tools and visual management (VM). A VM panel with information documents of all tools used in an assembly station of a model airplane was applied. With all data collected to carry out the project, the panel was created with the most relevant information of each tool and applied to an assembly station. That done, the production supervisors, mechanical and electrical supervisors were trained in the operation. Despite a change of management, it was realized that all supported the change due to the ease of understanding of the method and a good VM.

At the end of the work, materials management became more simplified, operators were more satisfied because of the non-occurrence of tools mistakes and the control time decreased from 120 to 15 minutes.

The application of this project has begun in an assembly station; however, it has been validated to be applied throughout the facility and its applications are being studied for other industries with different models.

This project developed a visual panel for support visual communication of the airplane assembly line. Its usage eliminates tools lost, inefficiencies and decreases lost time with tools selection.

This work proposes a way to simplify the management tools for assembly station plane using a VM panel based on the lean philosophy. The study was conducted at the Final Assembly Line of an aircraft model from a unit of an aircraft company.

The purpose of this paper is to improve decision quality, and therefore project and portfolio success, by testing the influence of different visual representations of interdependency data in a simulated decision experiment. A network mapping approach to visualize project interdependencies is introduced and compared with matrix and tabular displays.

A simulated decision task in a controlled classroom setting tested five hypotheses though a sample of 480 experiments.

The type of data representation used is associated with differing levels of decision quality, and the use of network mapping displays is aligned with the best results.

The findings are limited as this experiment-based study presented a simplified decision scenario and involved students rather than practicing managers. The findings are best interpreted in combination with organization-based research.

The findings of this study suggest that visual data displays, particularly network mapping displays, can provide benefits and improve project portfolio decision quality. Managers may draw upon this study to design ways to include visual data representations in their project portfolio management decision processes.

This study uses experimentation to complement organization-based studies to better understand the influence of different methods of visualizing data and managing interdependencies between projects. This research provides an important contribution to meet the acknowledged need for better tools to understand and manage project interdependencies.

In today's globally competitive environment, customers only want to pay for value‐added activity. They are not willing to pay for inefficiencies, such as those incurred through extra motion, or time spent searching for data, information, or tools. Although these wastes may be transparent to customers, they usually manifest themselves in the company's market share and bottom line. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the visual workplace helps increase efficiency by eliminating non‐value added activities. The visual workplace improves performance by providing information, enabling workers through self‐direction and empowerment to quickly make decisions without requiring oversight. While its practice in the office environment is increasing, it is still not as consistently practiced as it is in the manufacturing environment.

Utilizing benchmarking, a case study approach and analysis was conducted.

Visual workplace practices are very common in manufacturing environments. While the practices and usefulness are just as useful in business process environments, there is found to be a reluctance to fully embrace the practices.

The application of visual work practices requires business leaders to create, utilize, and support visual communication tools to manage their business. Its usage can be effectively applied to business processes to eliminate inefficiencies and decrease lost time.

The usefulness of visual workplace practices, once embraced by business leaders, will increase business performance by increasing efficiency and reducing waste.

Being able to communicate a clear identity to different stakeholders is crucial for SMEs and startups in today’s world, which is characterised by accelerated innovation, growing competition and increasingly connected consumers. However, this can be a complex task for small organisations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a visual tool that supports entrepreneurs in SMEs and startups to collaboratively develop their identity communication strategy.

The paper follows a design science research approach. The authors propose the design of a tool as well as some preliminary qualitative evaluations. The authors conducted three iterations between design and evaluation, where the results of the evaluations are implemented in the design.

The authors demonstrate how to design strategic tools for allowing teams to co-design their identity communication strategy and present the tool. The authors also evaluate its use and find out through the preliminary evaluations that it could be easy to use and useful for practitioners.

The originality of this paper lays in the novelty of the tool and its development. Such a tool addressing identity communication strategy has not been developed with a scientific approach until now.

The purpose of the paper is to study the interconnections between visual management, performance management and continuous improvement programmes and to suggest a practical framework to establish an effective visual management programme in association with performance management and continuous improvement systems. For the sake of simplicity, this paper refers to such a programme as integrated visual management (IVM) throughout this paper.

The following research included proposals and discussion, which were based on a case study which took place at a quality assurance (QA) department in PACCAR Australia, a global premium truck manufacturer, as well as authors’ own findings and experience, in addition to a literature-based review on visual management, performance management and continuous improvement. A systematic approach was followed to establish an effective IVM system. This paper is composed of two sections. Some of the most important literatures on visual management, performance management and continuous improvement are reviewed in the first section. Then the findings, as well as some other author findings, on why visual management works are summarised. The second section is dedicated to the case study.

Visual management can provide a simple and yet effective solution to enhance information flow in organisations. However, for visual management to yield its full benefit, it needs be part of a bigger plan. It has to be linked to a performance management programme, which provides input into visual management, and a continuous improvement initiative, which receives inputs from visual management. This paper proposes a practical framework to establish an IVM programme and provides a detailed description of its phases. The paper also presents the results achieved, during our case study, and views on the integration benefits, as well as on how to successfully implement an IVM programme. A systematic approach to establish an effective IVM system was followed. It laid a solid foundation to facilitate an effective flow of information in QA in its respective areas. This programme not only improved an understanding of the processes and raised awareness about the performance and associated issues, it also boosted transparency, discipline, shared ownership, team involvement and scientific mindset. It assisted in achieving significant and concrete process improvements. It helped in establishing a productive continuous improvement programme. It was observed that while visual management, performance management and team or company continuous improvement programmes each served a benefit individually, when they were linked together, as a whole, their synergy allowed for more significant achievements.

The scope of this research is limited to use of visual management to manage performance and to lead continuous improvement initiatives. The research was performed in a manufacturing environment. Even though it is believed that the suggested framework for IVM and the findings are applicable to other business environments as well, further research in this direction is required. Also, the interconnection between visual management, continuous improvement and performance management based on a case study was investigated. More quantitative researches, on bigger scales, are required to better understand the mentioned interactions and to enhance our knowledge of these tools in a holistic manner.

The originality of the papers comes from its holistic approach to visual management, performance management and continuous improvement programmes and the suggested framework to establish an IVM programme.

Visual analytics is increasingly becoming a prominent technology for organizations seeking to gain knowledge and actionable insights from heterogeneous and big data to support decision-making. Whilst a broad range of visual analytics platforms exists, limited research has been conducted to explore the specific factors that influence their adoption in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for visual analytics adoption that synthesizes the factors related to the specific nature and characteristics of visual analytics technology.

This study applies a directed content analysis approach to online evaluation reviews of visual analytics platforms to identify the salient determinants of visual analytics adoption in organizations from the standpoint of practitioners. The online reviews were gathered from Gartner.com, and included a sample of 1,320 reviews for six widely adopted visual analytics platforms.

Based on the content analysis of online reviews, 34 factors emerged as key predictors of visual analytics adoption in organizations. These factors were synthesized into a conceptual framework of visual analytics adoption based on the diffusion of innovations theory and technology–organization–environment framework. The findings of this study demonstrated that the decision to adopt visual analytics technologies is not merely based on the technological factors. Various organizational and environmental factors have also significant influences on visual analytics adoption in organizations.

This study extends the previous work on technology adoption by developing an adoption framework that is aligned with the specific nature and characteristics of visual analytics technology and the factors involved to increase the utilization and business value of visual analytics in organizations.

This study highlights several factors that organizations should consider to facilitate the broad adoption of visual analytics technologies among IT and business professionals.

This study is among the first to use the online evaluation reviews to systematically explore the main factors involved in the acceptance and adoption of visual analytics technologies in organizations. Thus, it has potential to provide theoretical foundations for further research in this important and emerging field. The development of an integrative model synthesizing the salient determinants of visual analytics adoption in enterprises should ultimately allow both information systems researchers and practitioners to better understand how and why users form perceptions to accept and engage in the adoption of visual analytics tools and applications.

This study aims to describe and evaluate various visual and creative tools for supporting the in-depth biographical interview aimed at analyzing educational communities and their stakeholders.

Researching educational spaces today requires new ways of understanding, analyzing and studying. The complex characteristics, functions and realities demand research that responds to educational singularities. It is a matter of deeply understanding the educational phenomenon's peculiarities. For these purposes, instruments and research paradigms are needed to extract data and reach information saturation regarding the data obtained from the proposed objects of study. With this in mind, the following paper suggests reflecting on data collection tools that can complement the interview and biographical-narrative research approach. The authors highlight the use of photo-elucidation, the biogram-based timeline, the organigram and the flight of the geese, all of which are instruments endowed with a visual character that allows a deeper understanding of the object studied.

The main contribution of this paper is to unpack the uses and applications of four visual tools that support the interview technique. First, photo-elucidation is presented as a sensory strategy to stimulate the narrative during the dialogical exchange of the interview. Next, the timeline is described as a visual concretization of the traditional biogram widely used in educational research. Next, the authors unravel the uses of the organizational chart in educational research, which, due to its nature and utility, provides a glimpse of the organizational functioning of an institution and is particularly suitable for research in institutional frameworks. Finally, the tool known as the flight of the geese is presented. This tool is recommended for use in educational leadership and teamwork studies due to its simplicity and high representativeness of the hierarchy of roles and functions.

Researching educational spaces today requires new ways of understanding, analyzing and studying. The complex characteristics, functions, and realities demand research that responds to educational singularities. It is a matter of deeply understanding the educational phenomenon's peculiarities. For these purposes, instruments and research paradigms are needed to extract data and reach information saturation regarding the data obtained from the proposed objects of study. With this in mind, the following paper invites us to reflect on data collection tools that can complement the interview and biographical-narrative research approach. The authors highlight the use of photo-elucidation, the biogram-based timeline, the organigram, and the flight of the geese, all of which are instruments endowed with a visual character that allows a deeper understanding of the object studied.

Business model innovation (BMI) constitutes a priority for managers across industries, but it represents a notoriously difficult innovation, with several challenges, many of which are cognitive in nature. The received literature has variously suggested that one way to overcome challenges to BMI, including cognitive ones, and support the cognitive tasks is using visual representations. Against this background, we aim at offering a contribution to the emerging line of inquiry at the nexus between business models (BMs), cognition and visual representations. Specifically, we develop a new method for visual representation of the BM in support of simplification of the cognitive effort and neutralisation of cognitive barriers. The resulting representation – a network-based representation, anchored on the activity-system perspective and offering complementarity and centrality/periphery measures – allows to visually represent an existing BM as a network (nodes and linkages) of interdependent activities and to express information related to the degree of centrality/periphery of single activities (nodes) with respect to the rest of a BM configuration. This information, we argue, is potentially very valuable in supporting the cognitive tasks involved in business model reconfiguration (BMR). We guide the reader to progressively appreciate how the development of the proposed method for visual representation is anchored to two main characteristics of BMR, namely the discovery-driven nature of BMR and the path-dependent nature of BMR. We offer initial insights on the cognitive value of such a type of representation in relationship to the simplification of the cognitive effort and the neutralisation of cognitive barriers in BMR.