Seeing and Shaping the Future: Encountering Multiple Futures Through Multimodality
Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2026
Monday, August 3 | 3:15–4:45 PM (ET)
Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown – Seminar D
How do organizations navigate multiple futures in an increasingly uncertain world? As organizations confront uncertainty, they increasingly rely on images, material artefacts, digital simulations, AI, and other non-verbal and multimodal forms of communication to imagine, negotiate, and shape possible futures. This symposium brings together leading scholars in organization theory, strategy, and entrepreneurship to explore how the growing awareness of plural futures intersects with the increasing use of multimodal communication.
Panelists
- Sharon Alvarez (University of Pittsburgh)
- Elena Giovannoni (Birmingham Business School)
- Matthew Grimes (Cambridge Judge Business School)
- Virginia Leavell (Cambridge Judge Business School)
Organizers
- Luigi Mosca (Imperial Business School)
- Ines Kuric (UNSW Sydney Business School)
Together, we will explore questions such as:
- How can organizations understand and engage with multiple futures rather than a single predictable one?
- How do visual, material, digital, and AI-enabled representations shape engagement with futures?
- When do multimodal forms of communication keep futures open, and when do they stabilize or close them?
- What new theoretical and methodological opportunities emerge at the intersection of futures research and multimodality?
The Showcase Symposium will combine short presentations by an outstanding panel of scholars with an interactive discussion exploring new directions at the intersection of futures research and multimodality.
You can add the symposium to your AOM agenda using this link: ID13171.
We hope you will join the conversation and look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!
Luigi & Ines
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Luigi Mosca
Imperial College London
London
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