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Visual Thinking in Entrepreneurship
Master’s Thesis 15 credits Department of Business Studies Uppsala University Spring Semester of 2018
Date of Submission: 2018-08-08
Alisa Hayati Husen Muhammad Umer
Supervisor: Gundula Lucke
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Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to investigate potential links between components of visual
intelligence and visualization in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship literature in
literature review helped us to understand that the entrepreneurial activities rely heavily
on the visualization. Furthermore, the Research studies from the field of
neurocognitive science revealed to us a path to build our framework for investigating
the types and characteristics of visual thinking. Additionally, empirical studies on
visualization facilitated our investigation of visual ability in entrepreneurial visualization
activities. In order to fully utilize the theoretical background in our thesis, a quantitative
method with the help of limited quantifications was employed by conducting a web
survey including open-ended and multiple choice questions. Answers from twenty-four
entrepreneurs were analysed in light of findings from previous research on visual
intelligence in other fields of specializations. Thus, the findings of our research
indicated that the use of visuals by entrepreneurs was significantly common (75%).
Moreover, the use of visuals in idea generation, problem-solving and idea presentation
among entrepreneurs in relation with spatial visual intelligence in our study provided
the tenable argument for future work on this field. While it also indicated the gaps and
potential further studies under the subject of visual intelligence and entrepreneurship.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial visual thinking, Entrepreneurship, Visual intelligence,
Visual-spatial ability, Visual-object ability,
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Acknowledgement
We would like to thank our supervisor Gundula Lücke for her continuous support and
courage towards finishing this thesis. Through the discussions and your follow-up,
we were kept motivated. We also want to express our gratitude to Ivo Zander for
providing us the opportunity and the chance to be part of the entrepreneurship
program. His support throughout the program greatly helped us to increase our
knowledge in developing our future ideas. We would also like to thank our families
for their continuous support and patience.
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Table of Contents
Abstract 1
Acknowledgement 2
Introduction 5
Literature Review 7
Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs 7 Visualization and Entrepreneurship 8
Visualization in Idea Generation 9 Visualization in Idea Development: Problem-solving and Idea presentation 10 An External Means for Visualization: Whiteboard 11
Visual Intelligence 13 Visual-spatial Intelligence 14 Visual-object Intelligence 15 Visual Intelligence and Visualization in Different Fields of Study 16
Theoretical Framework 18
Methodology 19
Research Design 19 Sample Selection 20 Data Collection and Analysis 21
Filtration and Coding 22 Reliability and Validity 27
Findings 28
Interpretations of The Visuals 28 Kinematic Graphs 29 Artistic Paintings 30
Whiteboard Usage 32
Discussion 34
Conclusion 36
Future Research 37
Bibliography 38
Appendix 44
Question Bank 45 Table 1: Filtration Discerption 49
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Table 2: Filtration Discerption 50 Dataset of Web Survey 50
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Introduction
From the mainstream point of view in media and social networks, entrepreneurs are
referred to as smart individuals, especially the successful ones, but “are they?” or
“even if they are smart in what terms?” These questions were the first sparks in our
minds to start this thesis. Since studies in neurocognitive science have demonstrated
that the nature of the thinking process lies in the way information is visualized or
imagined in the brain (Blazhenkova, 2010; Plassmann, 2012), in this thesis work, we
sought to study the extent and the importance of visual intelligence in
entrepreneurship.
The components of visual intelligence and associated abilities to them have become
a centre of much of neurocognitive research (Blajenkova, 2006; Blazhenkova, 2010;
Kozhevnikov, 2007; Miller, 1986; Miller, 1996; Rosenberg, 1987; Gardner, 1983).
Additionally, Visualization as a form of a mental image of ideas and concepts is
associated with common entrepreneurial practices such as idea generation and
development (Roam, 2012; Osterwalder, 2010; Bresciani, 2013).
Interestingly, despite a large body of research on visual intelligence and visualization
(Eppler, 2007; Walny, 2011; Blazhenkova, 2010; Blajenkova, 2006; Stylianou, 2002),
we found that the influence of visual intelligence has not been substantially studied in
entrepreneurship. This potential new research area motivates us to design our
research with the aim of exploring in one of the least explored areas of study in
entrepreneurship.
Moreover, since the field of entrepreneurship is a relatively new field, there are many
concepts that remain to be explored (Shane, 2000), and the visual thinking process
by entrepreneurs is one of the concepts that remains to be investigated. The initial
questions in our research went through the following list:
• Can we characterize entrepreneurs by their visual abilities?
• How relevant is visual intelligence to entrepreneurship?
• Are there any links between entrepreneurs' visual intelligence and their
visualization practices?
Regardless of the reported broad use of visual intelligence, limited empirical work has
been done towards a better understanding of the processes of visualization and visual
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intelligence among entrepreneurs. Therefore, throughout our data collection and
analysis, we investigated the potential links between visual intelligence and
entrepreneurs’ visualization practices. For more details, we conducted a Web survey
with entrepreneurs from which we collected and analysed the responses. Moreover,
we investigated the visual intelligence of our participants based on their interpretations
of visual arts, graphs, and their whiteboard use. We also compared our findings with
the findings from previous studies of visual thinking abilities in other professions
(Blazhenkova, 2010; Walny, 2011).
Through this thesis, we intended to contribute with a deeper understanding of
entrepreneurs’ characteristics with the particular focus on their visual intelligence.
Such understanding will improve training of entrepreneurs based on their visual
thinking abilities and optimize the visualization techniques in entrepreneurial activities.
Ultimately, this thesis would signal further research in order to bring new perspectives
on entrepreneurship.
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Literature Review
Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship with big names like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates is associated
with big dreams, humble beginnings, and success in the face of doubters (Audia,
2005). Moreover, entrepreneurship is recognized as a set of activities toward the
creation of organizations (Gartner, 1988); However, in order to succeed in
entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs are heavily hinged upon their performances in their
roles and tasks that were undertaken through their job (Chen, 1998). This role and
task perspective of entrepreneurship is built upon three literature review sources.
Firstly, the theoretical economics view which defines entrepreneurship as a process
in which entrepreneurs are signified by their competence, capacities and skills in the
theme of the risk, creativity, opportunities, and managerial competence (Long, 1983).
Secondly, from the technology-based entrepreneurial point of view, the roles and tasks
for entrepreneurs are defined by the major problems in different stages of the growth
as if external relations (e.g., members, advisors), production, sales and marketing,
organizational systems, people(e.g., capable personal), and strategic positioning (e.g.,
new product development) (Kazanjian, 1988). Finally, the motivational pattern
perspective of entrepreneurs’ role can fall into the several components that
characterized the tasks involved in entrepreneur’s role such as self-achievement,
feedback of results, planning for future, personal innovation (Miner, 1993; Miner,
1990).
Furthermore, the interaction between entrepreneurs and their surroundings could also
state the role of an entrepreneur in terms of innovation in strategic management
practices (Gartner, 1988; Carland, 1984). The innovation in strategic practices can
represent itself in a number of forms like a new method of production, opening a new
market, a new good, or industrial reorganization, and so on (Carland, 1984). The idea
generation and idea development phases that clearly exist in all the forms were
mentioned in the process of the innovation management strategic practices; Indeed,
it is the first step of the creation of a venture (Bresciani, 2013; Gardner, 1983; Eppler,
2007). The phases of idea generation and development in entrepreneurship need to
be presented in order to be tangible and clear (Brown, 2010). For this reason, the
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information and knowledge of visualization can support the process of representation
and development of ideas within the venture creation and development process
(Bresciani, 2013).
Visualization and Entrepreneurship
Humans are predominately visual creatures, and most of the incoming information we
receive is visual (Koch, 2004) and entrepreneurs are not an exception. Visualization
is mostly identified as a tool of mental manipulation of spatial configuration which can
demonstrate itself in sets of graphical skills (Schroeder, 2004; Blazhenkova, 2010;
Roth, 1993). Visualization can be defined and differentiated by its formats such as
structure tables in conjunction with text, mental visualization and visual storytelling,
sketches, conceptual diagrams and maps, and graphics interactive environments
(Eppler, 2007; Horn, 1998). Furthermore, it has provided a substantial potential for the
creation of new ideas and enabled innovation at all levels from individual to group. The
knowledge of the visualization methods has also facilitated the propagation and
improvement of ideas (Eppler, 2007). Along with these applications and benefits of
visualization in the entrepreneurship, visualizations are thought to sustain the new
venture during its early vulnerable years (Reynolds, 1987; Star, 1981). Even though
entrepreneurs are fully living in the present, they envision what is to come. As leaders,
entrepreneurs utilize visuals to guide their organizations toward situations that do not
yet exist (Bird, 1989). Into contribution to the process of guiding an organization,
visualizations can be flexible and cost-efficient ways for entrepreneurial activities
(Bresciani, 2013). For instance, in the social entrepreneurship, a simple visualization
framework can demonstrate the visualization’s use in different stages of an
entrepreneurial project (Figure.1).
Idea Generation ------------------------- Idea Development -----------------------------
Figure 1: A sample of visualization framework in entrepreneurial project (Bresciani, 2013)
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Visualization in Idea Generation
Generally, entrepreneurs generate more ideas than opportunities since opportunities
are naturally based on the generation of many ideas (Foo, 2011). The idea generation
process is a critical aspect of innovation, product development, and advertising
(Toubia, 2016). There are several techniques and applications which can stimulate
and facilitate idea generation. Idea generation can break down into several parts such
as idea exchange and sharing which are important parts of group interaction
(Antoszkiewicz, 1992; Galegher, 1990). While the verbal information can make ideas
concrete and manageable, the visualization of ideas like sketching can generate
discussions and collaborations. Moreover, a visual concept of an idea can be led to
refinement and promotion of it (Bresciani, 2013).
In order to have a better understanding of the impact of visualization on the idea
generation process, we focused our review on one of the well-known idea generation
techniques “Brainstorming” which is a common way to generate new ideas in business
(Barringer, 2010). Brainstorming normally starts with freewheeling and a lively session
in which one person expresses an idea or issue then the rest of a group reacts and
responds to it. In such sessions, a flip chart or a whiteboard is used to record the ideas
and observe the session (Barringer, 2010). Adopting a cognitive view of idea
generation, the concept of brainstorming as a cognitive orientation is fundamentally
set to retrieve the associative memory (Wang, 2010; Toubia, 2016). Giving the
structure of memory, a network of interconnected concepts in memory could ease the
retrieving of related concepts (Figure.2). For example, a simple draw of ‘’sun’’ on the
whiteboard may activate a number of concepts such as “summer”, “hot”, and so on.
Therefore, the activation of a concept spreads through the memory network and sets
a cognitive stimulation effect (Nijstad, 2006; Raaijmakers, 1981). In other words, the
visual form of cognitive stimulation can transmit ideas from one participant to another
participant which may lead to novel associations or prime related concepts (Paulus,
2000; Eppler, 2007).
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Figure 2: Socio-cognitive processes of exchanging and expanding ideas with
conversationally retrieved pictures (Wang, 2010).
Visualization in Idea Development: Problem-solving and Idea presentation
The term of visualization used here refers to an action in which an individual
establishes a connection between an internal concept and its external representation
in order to communicate with others (Roth, 1993). Moreover, visualization can be
applied to some external medium such as paper, whiteboard visuals, digital forms of
presentations, etc. (Zazkis, 1996). Whether the format of the visualization involves in-
person contact or computer-based interactions, it can be used for communicating
complex knowledge and knowledge creation. Moreover, in the context of knowledge
management, visualization in basic forms as sketches can benefit problem-solving
potential (Eppler, 2007). An effective problem-solving solution requires a full exchange
of ideas between all group members (Janis, 1977). For instance, in a business
meeting, representatives from different areas or departments often aim to share
knowledge and perspectives to develop new products, directions, or solutions
(Dunbar, 1995; Sutton, 1996). However, corporations often encounter serious
problems in the effective sharing of knowledge between individuals or teams (Fisher,
1998; Tobin, 1998). Therefore, visualization in graphical forms can disseminate and
improve ideas with implicit aspects of the knowledge behind it (Polanyi, 1958; Eppler,
2007). The process of idea generation in a group with help of presentation aids like
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visualization ensures that the set of possible solutions can bridge the problem gap and
materialize decision-making (Söderlund, 2012).
In the realm of research, the arguments that were posed for the use of visual
representations in problem-solving have been backed by studies of cognitive science
(Blazhenkova, 2010; Coskun, 2000). Therefore, during the last decades, many studies
have emphasized the role of visual thinking in the problem-solving process
(Blazhenkova, 2010). This literature review suggests that the use of visual
representations can facilitate problem-solving (Stylianou, 2002). The studies suggest
that visual representations facilitate the problem-solvers’ tasks by extracting relevant
and pre-existing knowledge; moreover, it can facilitate the process of drawing
inferences from new information (Larkin, 1987; Eppler, 2007). However, it is not clear
how visual representations are used in fields like entrepreneurship, and there is not
enough information available about the interrelationship between visualization and
other strategies in the process of problem-solving (Stylianou, 2002).
An External Means for Visualization: Whiteboard
It is hardly possible to understand visual ability without evidence of its existence.
Usually, many external means like whiteboard are used to express ideas and thoughts.
Whiteboards are widely used as a means for transferring internal visualizations to
external visualizations. Indeed, whiteboards are a strong tool for data exploration due
to the fact that they are easy to draw visuals (Walny, 2011). However, studies have
shown that whiteboard users have different types of diagrams with different purposes
as the presentation of problems and idea sharing (Walny, 2011). Therefore, our
drawings and writing on the whiteboard may give indications on our visual thinking
process. Visualization on the whiteboard can be classified by different forms of
applications in visual thinking since the users have different reasons behind their
visualizations on the whiteboard (Zgraggen, 2014; Walny, 2011). Whiteboards as a
means for transferring internal visualization to external visualization is noteworthy for
several reasons (Walny, 2011; Bresciani, 2013; Eppler, 2007):
• Cognition platform for personal and collective purposes
• Group meeting uses for ideas exploitation and problem-solving
• Planning and organizational methods
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Furthermore, Dr. Walny’s research in 2011 investigated the types of visuals provided
a useful categorization of visualization on the whiteboard. The categorization of the
different forms of the visuals on the whiteboard including verbal, verbal and diagram,
diagram has set on distinctive purposes. Furthermore, the personal use or
communication purposes could change the use of visualizations (Walny, 2011). It has
also been argued that the ambiguity of sketches may act as a catalyst for idea
generation, and clarification of ideas (Buxton, 2007). Indeed, the use of visuals in the
form of sketches to diagrams, for knowledge creation and communication are
effectively linked to visual perception thinking (Arneheim, 1980; Eppler, 2007). In order
to form an entrepreneurial perspective of visualization, it was necessary to apply the
theories of visual intelligence to the practical daily performances that we can see in
different professions (Blazhenkova, 2009).
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Visual Intelligence
Overall, intelligence could be referred to as brain-based skills that allows one to bring
reason, plan, and identify solutions for carrying out tasks from which we can define it
as a mental capacity or ability (Gottfredson, 1997).Visual thinking can be defined as a
high level of information processing such as abstract representation and symbolic
deciphering of ideas and objects (Carpenter, 1990; Galton, 1880; Gardner, 1983;
Gottfredson, 1997; Snyderman, 1987). The visual ability can be defined as intelligence
when it plays a functional role on complex and multifunctional tasks in which it can be
stored and tracked (Gardner, 1999; Gottfredson, 1997; Lubinsky, 2004; Sternberg,
1985). Furthermore, having the distinguishable qualitative and quantitative
characteristics from the components of visual intelligence could draw a definition
supported by evidence from cognitive neurological studies (Gardner, 1999;
Blajenkova, 2006; Blazhenkova, 2009; Blazhenkova, 2010).
Cognitive neuroscience studies on the visual thinking process have provided evidence
for two visual thinking pathways: the object pathway and the spatial-related pathway.
The object pathway processes information about the visual pictorial appearances of
objects, and spatial pathway processes information about the spatial relations and
movements of objects (Kosslyn, 1992; Ungerleider, 1982; Blazhenkova, 2009). A
recent study has demonstrated qualitative differences in characteristics of the visual
imagery experiences among members of different professional groups. Most notably
pronounced differences have been identified between visual artists and scientists.
Also, humanities/social science professionals were shown to be more flexible than
scientists or visual artists in switching between spatial and object pathways of
information processing (Blajenkova, 2006; Blazhenkova, 2010). It is possible that
humanities and social science professionals’ imagery is mediated by verbal
processing which allows them a certain level of control and flexibility in image
manipulation (Blazhenkova, 2010) (see also (Vygotsky, 1986).To be more focused on
visual thinking, which is an integral part of our research, it is integral to articulate the
two different pathways of visual processing and their roles in different professions.
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Visual-spatial Intelligence
The characteristics of visual intelligence are mostly associated with the nature of
visual-spatial intelligence from general perspectives. Visual-spatial intelligence is
conceptualized based on imagining objects in a three-dimensional space or dealing
with orientation matters in the space (Carroll, 1993). For example, when the
information process over the movement of objects and the relationship between them
is associated with the visual-spatial ability. Previous studies have designated visual-
spatial intelligence to the dorsal part of the brain (Blazhenkova, 2010). It is also
commonly used as a subcomponent in measuring intelligence e.g. Wechsler
Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1997; Roid, 2003). Following the nature of spatial
intelligence, designing tests for evaluation of students based on their spatial ability
have shown that the level of spatial intelligence could be a significant predicting factor
for chances of success among students in a wide range of technical areas.
Furthermore, such tests can be used to predict performance among engineers,
mechanics, and physics (Ghiselli, 1973; Hegarty, 1989; Holliday, 1943; Kozhevnikov,
2006; Smith, 1964).
Previous researchers have stated that spatial ability tests can reflect visual-spatial
working memory capacity (Miyake, 1991; Shah, 1996). From this perspective, people
that have different levels of spatial abilities are also different in their ability to solve
problems that involve multiple spatial parameters (Kozhevnikov, 2007). Meeting the
criteria of the intelligence measurements requires ecological validity, abstract thinking
and distinctive qualitative and quantitative properties (Gardner, 1999; Gottfredson,
1997; Lubinsky, 2004; Sternberg, 1985). Individuals with high levels of spatial
intelligence are classified as the visual-spatial visualizer. The visual-spatial visualizers
are capable to use their imagery to transform and represent spatial relations
(Blazhenkova, 2010). The embodiments for this talent are an American theoretical
physicist Richard Phillips Feynman who was also a noble laureate in physics. In the
series of science lectures at the Cornell University under the title of ‘’Messenger
Lectures’’, he presented complicated concepts of physics using his visual-spatial
abilities to simplify very complex matters (Picture 1).
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Picture 1: Feynman is using visuals in context of physics
Visual-object Intelligence
Another component of visual intelligence is visual-object intelligence which represents
visual processing information of object properties. This aspect of intelligence is
associated with the ventral part of the brain (Motes, 2008). It involves processing
object properties and structure in terms of appearance, colour, shape, size, texture,
and brightness. In contrast, the spatial ability involves the movement of objects in
space. The character of highly visual-object intelligent individuals lies in their ability to
use imagery to construct accurate and clear images of the visual properties
(Kozhevnikov, 2002; Kozhevnikov, 2005)
In relation to different specializations, experimental studies have suggested that the
visual-object ability has its own unique ecological validity. In order to establish the
ecological validity for visual-object ability, Blazhenkova has published notable results
which indicates that the object ability has a specific relationship with different areas of
specializations (Figure 3) (Blazhenkova, 2010). The study examined 141 college
students from different majors. They were assessed for their visual-object and visual-
spatial abilities. The visual-object ability could explain the success in visual arts and
other fields that require a generation of high-resolution and vivid imagery.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, WIKICOMMONS
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Figure 3: Relationship between object ability and specifc fields (Blazhenkova, 2010)
Figure 3 shows that visual art professionals have more distinguishable visual object
abilities based on three distinctive tests, namely: visual imagery questionnaires: The
VVIQ (Marks, 1973) is a frequently used self-report measure of the vividness of one’s
visual mental images., Degraded pictures test (DPT) (Blajenkova, 2006), This test was
designed to assess the ability to solve perceptual closure tasks that require identifying
objects obscured by noisy backgrounds., and Object-Spatial imagery questionnaire
,The OSIQ is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess individual preferences
towards, and abilities in, using visual- object versus visual-spatial imagery
(Blajenkova, 2006)
Visual Intelligence and Visualization in Different Fields of Study
Drawn upon recent studies (Blajenkova, 2006; Kozhevnikov, 2010; Blazhenkova,
2009) and inter-correlations of measurements through a varied set of data, it has been
found that visual-spatial ability and visual-object ability have different sets of
relationships with different areas of specializations. Growing number of evidence
supported by new research has demonstrated that the different professions have a
different portfolio of visual intelligence. Each of the two components of the visual ability
has its own volume of influence and role to play in certain professions (Blazhenkova,
2010; Miller, 1996; Kassels, 1991; Roe, 1975; Rosenberg, 1987; Winner, 1985). For
instance, visual artists set their imagery ability more in pictorial details that
demonstrate their visual-object ability. Whereas scientists are organizing their imagery
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based on abstract schematics that indicate their visual-spatial ability. In addition, the
humanities and social professional were more along with the line of imagery ability of
scientists than artists. Nonetheless, there are notable un-explored areas of
specializations as entrepreneurship in this area of research (Lindauer, 1983;
Blazhenkova, 2010; Blajenkova, 2006).
Furthermore, visualization plays a central role in conceptualization processes of major
discoveries such as Galileo’s laws of motion or Einstein’s theory of relativity, has found
extensive use of visual-spatial reasoning in these discoveries (Miller, 1986;
Nerssesian, 1995; Shepard, 1996). Scientists view their mental images as tools to be
used for effective problem-solving because they are easily accessed and discarded.
On the other hand, humanities/social science professionals have reported that they
generate uncontrolled object images when they are triggered by stimuli such as highly
descriptive text. However, in addition to text-triggered uncontrolled images, they also
generate controlled spatial images in order to solve or analyse problems that contain
complex verbal structures (Blazhenkova, 2010). Extending the scope of visualization’s
use in different areas of specialization, scientists more utilize visualization
transformation knowledge from the external world while artists use the graphic imagery
for communication along with the generation of concepts in the form of art (Roth,
1993). In contrast, entrepreneurs utilize visualization more in terms of knowledge
management as if representation and development of ideas, dissemination of
knowledge, and planning (Eppler, 2007; Bresciani, 2013).
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Theoretical Framework
Throughout our research’s theoretical framework, we studied that the innovation in
strategic management practices can state the role of entrepreneurs (Gartner, 1988).
Moreover, the idea generation and its development (problem-solving and idea
presentation) have undeniable roles in these practices which can be supported by
visualization (Brown, 2010; Bresciani, 2013). Visualization in entrepreneurial activities
can facilitate the process creation of new ideas and enable innovation through the
practices that are taken in entrepreneurial projects (Bresciani, 2013; Eppler, 2007).
Additionally, studies on the means of visualization like whiteboard showed an effect
link between visual perception thinking and visualization (Arneheim, 1980; Eppler,
2007; Walny, 2011; Buxton, 2007) From another angle, studying the visual intelligence
and its components gave us a better understanding of the conceptualization process
by visuals which can lead to the discovery of new ideas and the generation of solutions
for problems (Blazhenkova, 2010; Blazhenkova, 2009; Blajenkova, 2006). Therefore,
these standpoints and the knowledge we grasped from the literature review in our
thesis provided us a theoretical ground based on which we applied our aim of
analytical approaches and conducted the investigation for our findings as shown in the
figure below.
Figure 4: The theoretical framework of our thesis
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Methodology
In this section, we described our research design which provides us with a framework
for the collection and analysis of data. Furthermore, the techniques that were used to
analyse our data are presented in the data collection and analysis subsection, and in
the very end of this section, we described the steps to ensure reliability and validity of
our results.
Research Design
Given our study aim to find potential links between visual intelligence components and
entrepreneurship visualization usage, we decided to design our quantitative research
methodology based on two previous studies, hereafter named linked-studies, which
were conducted on visual intelligence and visualization on the whiteboard
(Blazhenkova, 2010; Walny, 2011). In this work, in order to collect data, we set a panel
of questions with a specific focus on entrepreneurs from different backgrounds. We
used quantitative methods to collect our data from the entrepreneurs around the globe
in a form of Web survey, and we employed quantitative methods techniques to analyse
our data.
Owing to the nature of visual intelligence as an internal process with external contents,
we set a panel of open-ended and multiple choice questions in our Web survey to
enable ourselves to analyse the quantitative differences among the responses that we
collected in the Web survey. However, limited-quantification were used for
demographic information about our participants and commonality in their behaviour.
During our data analysis , we laid out a set of filters and codes for our data collection
to analyse our data in conjunction with the results from the linked-studies. Further in
this section, in order to avoid unnecessary complexity, we defined our data collection
system in detail with a clear demonstration of the filtrations and codes that were
applied in our analysis. Moreover, the linked-studies have provided a valuable set of
analytical approaches from which we set our analysis (Blazhenkova, 2010; Walny,
2011). Additionally, it provided us the chance to have a vehicle for a new database
from which we could study the relation between visual intelligence and
entrepreneurship.
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Sample Selection
Since our aim was to collect data about the visual ability of entrepreneurs, we
implemented a purposive sampling strategy. Therefore, we based our sample
selection on LinkedIn profiles in order to identify potential respondents.
The following conditions were set to be met in order to send invitations (web-links) to
our respondents for the Web survey:
1. The current work status of participants should be related to entrepreneurship
2. The set of skills on participants’’ profiles should contain entrepreneurial skills
3. Their work experience should be related to entrepreneurship.
Applying the selection condition, eventually, we managed to conduct our Web survey
among 24 entrepreneurs from 31 invitations sent.
In the similar vein, we designed a question in our Web survey through which
participants had the chance to define themselves as entrepreneurs and those who are
likely to be called entrepreneurs (Figure 5 (A)).
Furthermore, in our study, a possible source for confounding was the educational
background of the participants since it has been shown that different professions have
different visual abilities (Blazhenkova, 2009; Blazhenkova, 2010). In order to
overcome the confounding effect within our sample selection, we did make sure that
our samples are from different backgrounds, and we are not just looking at one of the
backgrounds. We included a specific question in our Web survey to determine the
educational background of the entrepreneurs as it demonstrated in Figure 5 (B). Our
samples were from different backgrounds, and there was a minimum confounding
effect on our observations.
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Figure 5: (A) percentage of respondents who defined themselves as entrepreneurs or
potential entrepreneurs. (B) The educational backgrounds of the entrepreneur respondents.
Data Collection and Analysis
Our data collection is based on the questions that were answered by those who were
defined as entrepreneurs. Indeed, we applied specific modifications in our Web survey
to meet our goals in the thesis. In order to focus on entrepreneurs in our Web survey,
we designed our questions more related to the entrepreneurial environment with
respect to the origin of our questions in previous studies on the visual intelligence
(Walny, 2011; Blazhenkova, 2010). On this basis, our survey’s question panel
consisted of three sections:
1. Demographical questions (multiple choice questions)
In this section, we first provided a brief of what is the purpose of this survey and how
the participant can get through it. After an introduction to the survey, we wanted to
clarify the position of the respondents over the subject of entrepreneurship from their
professional viewpoints. We asked for their demographic information including their
age and their educational background, and this helped us to classify our data.
2. Visual intelligence questions (open-ended questions) In the second section of the survey, we led our respondents through a series of visual
questions obtained from the previous studies (Blazhenkova, 2010). The questions
Total number of participants: 24
A B
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were designed for the investigation of the components of visual intelligence through
simple tasks to follow. This section was further divided into two subsections:
• Evaluation of visual-spatial intelligence: the respondents were asked for their
interpretations of two kinematic graphs (double- index chart). The goal was to
understand their visual thinking about the motion of objects via schematic
presentation.
• Evaluation of visual-object intelligence: the respondents were asked to
elaborate on their personal interpretations of two paintings. From their
interpretations, we had the chance understand the entrepreneurs’ perspective
on the complexity of abstract arts.
3. Visualization questions (multiple choice and open-ended questions)
The last section of the survey focused on the interaction between the respondents and
the whiteboard to understand how they utilized their visual abilities on the whiteboard.
It was specifically designed for understanding to what extent they are interacting with
the whiteboard in terms of visualization and what are participants’ main purposes and
how responses can be related to their visual intelligence. Our questions were designed
for investigating visualization applications on the whiteboard and connect them to
visual intelligence components. Considering the ultimate goal of the thesis, the data
analysis phase has a close interdependent relationship with the linked-studies on
visual thinking. Our analysis in this thesis was drawn upon the filtration and the coding
structure referring to the linked-studies (Blazhenkova, 2010; Walny, 2011). The whole
structure of our assessment could be broken down into the following four tables. Each
of the tables was exclusively designed for analysing visual intelligence and
visualizations.
Filtration and Coding
The structure of our filtration and coding was designed to represent the criteria based
on which we carried out the analyses of our responses. It also indicates the bases of
our analysis structure and the assessment points which enabled us to discover the
findings of our thesis.
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Guiding table for spatial and object visual intelligence
This table is one of the key tools for investigating the links between the entrepreneurs’
visualization approaches and their visual abilities. Applying the components of this
table enabled us to investigate the entrepreneurs’ interpretations of interaction with
visuals and the entrepreneurs’ visualization usage.
Table 1: The filtrations and assessments of the responses are outlined below.
Visual intelligence components
Distinguishable active elements
Assessment structure Filtrations
Visual-Spatial Intelligence
• Spatial visualization
• Spatial relations
• Material present in space
• Orientation in space
• Ability to process object
in space
• Similarity between
visual interpretations
and distinguishable
elements of visual
components
• Similarity between
textual responses
and description of
the visual ability
• Context analysis with
peer group
1. Highly related
to visual-spatial
ability
2. Potentially
related to
visual-spatial
ability
3. Irrelevant to
visual-spatial
ability
Visual-Object Intelligence
• Visual appearance
process.
• Define pictorial
properties.
• Construct high-resolution
imagery images.
• Similarity between
visual interpretations
and distinguishable
elements of visual
components
• Similarity between
textual responses
and description of
the visual ability
• Context analysis with
peer group
1. Highly related
to visual-object
ability
2. Potentially
related to
visual-object
ability
3. Irrelevant to
visual-object
ability
24
Kinematic graphs
Two kinematic graphs in our Web survey were designed for examining the different
approaches among entrepreneurs towards a complex form of visual tasks. Our respondents’ interpretations about what is happening in the graphs and our
comparison of their responses with the intended meaning of the graphs allowed us to
have a better understand their visual ability.
Table 2: The filtrations and assessments of the responses are outlined below.
Graphs Original meaning Assessment structure Filtrations
A
Original chronological
description:
The object is initially
stationary. Then it
moves with constant
velocity and then it is
stationary again
• Similarity between
chronological
descriptions and the
original meaning.
• Context analysis in
conjunction with
Table 1
1. Pictorial
interpretation
2. Irrelevant
interpretation
3. Abstract
schematic
interpretation
B
Original chronological
description:
The object is moving
with constant
acceleration, then it
reaches constant
velocity, and finally, it
moves with constant de-
acceleration
• Similarity between
chronological
descriptions and the
original meaning.
• Context analysis in
conjunction with
Table 1
1. Pictorial
interpretation
2. Irrelevant
interpretation
3. Abstract
schematic
interpretation
25
Paintings
Table 2 was designed to help us assess the participants’ responses to the painting-
questions. It enabled us to examine their interpretations of abstract visual-object
information.
Table 3: The filtrations and assessments of the responses for the paintings are
outlined below.
Painting Original meaning Assessment structure
Filtrations
A
Artist:
L. Berryhill,
Name:
‘’Breakthrough’’
Represents the idea
of liberation through
adversity
• Similarity of
description to
the original
meaning
• Context analysis
in conjunction
with Table 1
1. Pictorial
interpretation
2. Irrelevant
interpretation
3. Abstract and
conceptual
interpretation
B
Artist:
W. Kandinsky
Name:
‘’Kleine Wekten’’
Represents the idea
of a plan for utopian
city and life within.
• Similarity
between
description to
the original
meaning
• Context analysis
in conjunction
with Table 1
1. Pictorial
interpretation
2. Irrelevant
interpretation
3. Abstract and
conceptual
interpretation
26
Visualization
This subsection of the filtration and coding was set to identify possible links between
entrepreneurs’ visualization interactions with whiteboards and the visual intelligence.
Therefore, we set 4 steps to investigate our respondents’ visualization behaviour with
whiteboards.
Table 4: The filtrations and assessments of the responses visual interaction with
whiteboard are outlined below.
Investigation steps
Description Assessment structure
Commonality This step focuses on how often
entrepreneurs use the whiteboard.
We analysed the frequency and commonality of the whiteboard usage by designing a multiple-choice question.
Purposes
The question inquiries about the
entrepreneurial purposes to use
visualization on the whiteboard
The choices of the open-ended question with
preferable choices was built upon the
entrepreneurial the concept of visualization from
literature body of our thesis, and further we
analysed the content of answers and its
frequency.
Type of visualization
This step was focused on investigating
which visual structure was the most
commonly used
Using the open-ended questions with preferable
choices helped us to link between the outcomes
of the purposes’ question and this question in
conjunction with Table 1.
The spectrum of word-diagram
we set a multiple choice question based
on previous studies on the whiteboard
and visual thinking (Walny, 2011). This
question represented the visuals on the
whiteboard form only textual to only
diagrams visuals in the form of a
diagram by representing 8 possible
models of word-diagram visuals.
We analysed The responses to the multiple
choice question based on the word-diagram
spectrum in our text-diagram question. the scale
structure of 1 to 8 from the only text visual to the
only diagram on the whiteboard gave us a tool to
investigate the content of the visuals in
visualization on the whiteboard among the
entrepreneurs in our study.
27
Reliability and Validity
In order to represent the trustworthiness of this research, prior to the Web survey, the
potential participants corresponded via mail and social network in order to certify that
their information is correct, and they have received the web link of our survey. This
verification structure allowed us to discuss the interpretation of the answers with more
certainty and reliability. In our data analysis, a cross-study comparison was used in
order to enhance the structure of the collected data. This configuration helped us to
improve the accuracy of our results which eventually led us to discover findings that
were hidden in the data.
28
Findings
Based on the structure of our data collection and analysis, the findings from our Web
survey can be divided into two main categories.
First, the findings from the analyses of responses to our graphs and paintings
questions from a group of entrepreneurs. Those questions were designed to
investigate the entrepreneurs’ visual intelligence ability. Furthermore, the results were
compared with other professionals that have been asked the same questions in a
previous study in the discussion section (Blazhenkova, 2010).
Second, the findings from our coding and filtration applied to our respondents’
visualization interaction with the whiteboard. The goal was to find potential links
between the respondents’ interactive behaviour with the whiteboard and their visual
intelligence.
Interpretations of The Visuals
In order to evaluate the visual thinking of entrepreneurs, we showed them two
kinematic graphs and two paintings. The abstract interpretation of the kinematic
graphs demonstrates what is happening in the graph in terms of spatial relations in
space which further classified as visual-spatial ability among participants. On the other
hand, the abstract interpretation of the paintings indicates the meaning of the paintings
and the conceptualization of the idea behind the painting. The reasons for showing
two graphs and two paintings were to confirm the answers and improve the reliability
of the findings. The participants were given space to express their opinion freely
without any limits to achieve unbiased results.
29
Kinematic Graphs
Kinematic graphs were used to demonstrate the properties of objects’ motion in space.
We analysed the responses to indicate the type of visual intelligence aspect that was
dominated in their interpretations (3.3.1.1). While describing the graph as merely going
down and up refers to a pictorial description of the graph, the description of the
movement of an object in space was associated with spatial descriptions. Noticeably,
the percentage of entrepreneurs that gave an abstract concept of the graphs was on
average twice more than those that gave a pictorial description (62.5% versus 31.2%)
(Figure 6). Three responses were categorized as irrelevant because either they had
not described their text sufficiently or their words were irrelevant.
Figure 6: Graph interpretation by entrepreneurs.
Some of the entrepreneurs provided abstract interpretations from the business point
of view. For instance, one described the graph as: “It can be about a reduction of
service quality and bad performance of support a marketing team for retention of
users. Also, at the same time growth of competitor can tend to be losing market
share.”. And another respondent related it to marketing by indicating “Marketing
campaign can show this growth (such as promotion). Or a good advantage to
comparison with competitors in a period of time”. The importance of making such
interpretations in the context of firm growth shows the high ability of entrepreneurs in
abstract thinking.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Abstract Pictorial Irrelevant
30
Artistic Paintings
Considering the structure of our abstract-art question, which was designed to
investigate the relation between the entrepreneurs’ interpretations of abstract
paintings and their visual intelligence. We showed our participants two paintings. First,
Painting ‘’A’’ from a collection of W. Kandinsky’s works of arts which represented the
idea of liberation through adversity. Second, Painting ‘’B’’ from L. Berryhill features the
idea of a plan for utopian city and life. In our Web survey, the entrepreneurs were
asked to decipher the meaning of the painting from their own perspectives and name
it. Additionally, throughout our analysis of the responses about painting “A”, we found
that the abstract thinking based on spatial intelligence ability possessed 58 percent of
our responses. On another hand, the object visual interpretation gained only 25
percent of the responses. an interesting observation was that some of our participants
tried to elaborate and describe the painting with spatial and abstract words related to
the entrepreneurship. For instance, one of the entrepreneurs described it as: ‘’the
entrepreneur as a kick-starter that use its wings to disrupts and breaks markets’’.
Figure 7: Entrepreneurs’ responses to the abstract art question about a painting by L. Berryhill.
31
In the second part of our abstract art question, our initial result from analysing the
respondents’ descriptions relativity with the original concept of Painting “B” indicated
a few noticeable outcomes. Firstly, only two distinct respondents mentioned that the
painting represents existing ideas in an abstract form by relating it to “life”. Secondly,
the same number of participants associated the painting to their feelings, and they
described it as ‘’cheerful mood’’ or “generation of positive emotions”, and both were
classified as object-visual thinkers. From another point of view, interestingly, three of
the respondents associated their description to their professional experiences.
Overall, the result of the analysis of the responses demonstrated that fifty-four
percentage of responses were classified as spatial-visual thinkers based on their
abstract interpretations of the painting. For instance one of respondent described that
“a busy mind with full of non-classified idea which like to go on a vacation to get
relaxing and do them later.” While the abstract interpretations in our study were more
focused on the meaning of the painting, the pictorial interpretations with 29% of total
responses in the study were more often focused on appearance features in the
painting rather than the concept behind it. However, a number of the spatial thinkers
in our entrepreneurial group have shown in-depth interpretations associated with their
entrepreneurial work environment. This finding inspired us to be more curious for
further investigations on this subject.
Figure 8: Entrepreneurs responses to the abstract art question about a painting by L. Berryhill.
32
Whiteboard Usage
In the whiteboard-usage questions, we aimed to investigate the relationship between
visualization on the whiteboard and visual intelligence. Therefore, we started our
investigation with the commonality of the whiteboard usage among the entrepreneurs,
and we found that the number of respondents who claimed that they use whiteboard
‘’always’’ or ‘’never’’ was the same number among respondents. In contrast, the
number of respondents who claimed that they were using whiteboard ‘’often’’ or
‘’sometimes’’ was around 75 percent of our responses.
After these findings, we sought for the purpose of whiteboard usage in our Web survey,
the number of respondents who stated that they were using the whiteboard for idea
generation as the main purpose was 62.5 percent of the responses. Moreover, the
second most common purpose of use among the entrepreneurs was designated for
problem-solving (58.3 percent of the answers). Finally, the third main purpose of the
whiteboard usage among our participants was “Idea Presentation” based on 45
percent of the responses.
In the next step, we analysed the responses to the particular open-ended and multiple
choice questions about the entrepreneurs’ perspectives of visualization on the
whiteboard. Interestingly, the results of the entrepreneurs’ responses in our Web
survey demonstrated that they most often used graph visualizations (mind-mapping)
by 54 percent which can be interpreted as an index of spatial thinking. With the help
from the guiding Table 1 shown in methodology section in conjunction with the
responses to the questions about the type of visuals and their visualization
preferences on the whiteboard, we found that entrepreneurs were more willing to
prioritize the spatial relations between concepts of their idea over visual appearances
in their visualizations. This pattern of behaviour in the majority of entrepreneurs (54%)
can be classified as spatial-visual thinking than object-visual thinking.
Furthermore, a specific question about the usage of words on the whiteboard enabled
us to estimate the respondents’ position on the spectrum of word-diagram visualization
schema. Thus, we found that only one of the participants claimed using only words on
the whiteboard, and none of our respondents were using non-word diagrams on the
whiteboard. Additionally, the results indicated that 62 percent of entrepreneurs use
33
integration of word and diagram on the whiteboard which was at 6th scale on the
spectrum of word-diagram shown in the figure below.
Figure 9: The Position of entrepreneurs’ responses on the spectrum of word-diagram
assessment.
Overall, the words and constructions of visuals in the entrepreneurs’ whiteboard
usage inspired us to introduce this hypothesis that the integration of the keywords
and spatial constructions of visualization can be classified as a visual-spatial ability
with textual stimuli. According to the result of our word-diagram scale based on the
responses of entrepreneurs to the word-diagram question in our Web survey, 62
percent of entrepreneurs stated that their visuals on the whiteboard have a
considerable portion of textual content. Indeed, it also raised this question about
how the verbal context was used as a trigger or a stimulus in the visualization
among entrepreneurs. Considering the most common types of visualizations
among entrepreneurs in our study, they more often were focused on elements
visualization that helped them to draw spatial connection instead of focused on
pictorial features; However, seemingly, texts are integral parts of their
visualizations.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
34
Discussion
Despite the large body of knowledge about entrepreneurship, many of its aspects
remain to be explored. Here, we have borrowed the concept of visualization from the
entrepreneurship literature body in conjunction with neurocognitive science studies in
order to examine the possible links between visual intelligence and visualization in
entrepreneurship.
From our literature review, we learned that the innovative practices are integral parts
of the entrepreneurial activities (Carland, 1984; Gartner, 1988). Moreover,
visualization in the process of idea generation has a significant impact on the
innovation (Toubia, 2016). Therefore, the idea generation as an inseparable part of
these practices can benefit from visualization as an executive means (Bresciani,
2013). In the same way, our findings from the result of the whiteboard section in our
Web survey showed that 75 percent of entrepreneurs in our study used “often’’ or
“always” whiteboard as a visual platform for their work. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs
in our study also claimed that their first priority for using visualizations on the
whiteboard was the idea generation (62.5 percent).
From another angle, as it was reviewed in the literature body, the visualization even in
simple forms like sketch can lead to refinement and development of ideas (Bresciani,
2013). Indeed, the studies proposed that the visualization by extension of relevant
information and knowledge can facilitate the process of problem-solving (Larkin, 1987;
Eppler, 2007). Furthermore, the presentation of ideas and information in visual forms
can facilitate strategic practices such as problem-solving in entrepreneurship
(Stylianou, 2002). By the same token, the findings in our study on the intention of using
visualization on the whiteboard among entrepreneurs indicated that, in alignment with
the previous studies, the problem-solving and idea presentation are the second and
third most common purposes for using visualization among entrepreneurs. In more
details, 58.3 percent of entrepreneurs in our Web survey expressed that they use the
whiteboard for problem-solving as the second aim of visualization on the whiteboard,
and 45 percent of entrepreneurs in our study stated that the idea presentation as the
third aim of use.
In our studies on the visualization usage, we learnt that verbal and textual information
make ideas concrete and manageable. Additionally, different forms of visualization
35
can contain text for a verity of reason (Walny, 2011; Bresciani, 2013). From this
learning point of view, our findings from our Web survey in respect of the word-diagram
spectrum specified that the entrepreneurs largely used the visualization in conjunction
with words. Our findings indicated that the most common type of visualization among
entrepreneurs was mind-mapping by 54 percent which inherently included text in its
structure. Moreover, 62 percent of our participants stated that their visuals on the
whiteboard have a substantial portion of textual content. These findings in respect to
previous studies gave us a new perspective of integration of text and visualization in
entrepreneurial activities and enforce the concept of textual uses in the visualization
(Bresciani, 2013; Eppler, 2007).
In addition to visualization studies, we also applied another component to our
theoretical framework, the cognitive neuroscience studies on visual intelligence. The
studies on cognitive neuroscience in our literature review showed that different areas
of specializations have different visual abilities (Blazhenkova, 2010; Blajenkova,
2006). For instance, according to the previous study in this area, scientists organize
their imagery based on abstract schematics from which they were classified as spatial-
visual thinkers. On the contrary, artists are more likely to set the imagery in terms of
pictorial details from which they were classified as visual-object thinkers (Blazhenkova,
2010). From the visual intelligence point of view, our findings from the result of 4
questions in relation to visual intelligence indicated that 62.5 percent of entrepreneurs
widely responded to the complex form of visual tasks more closely to scientists as
spatial-visual intelligent. It showed that entrepreneurs in our study are more likely to
focus on spatial relation than pictorial features based on their responses to whiteboard
usage.
Moreover, in response to abstract art questions in our Web survey, on average 56
percent of entrepreneurs’ interpretations were classified as the abstract interpretation
which associated with spatial-visual thinking. Furthermore, following the dominate
spatial-visual thinking among entrepreneurs in our study, the finding from the analysis
on the responses in whiteboard questions in our survey revealed that entrepreneurs
are more focused on the spatial relations in their visualization on the whiteboard than
pictorial features. On the other hand, these findings indicated that entrepreneurs are
more relying on the spatial-visual intelligence than pictorial-visual intelligence;
36
However, it is still a question about how their visual intelligence can lead them to
certain interpretations.
Conclusion
Despite the large body of literature about visualization and visual intelligence, there is
little known about how visual intelligence can influence entrepreneurs’ performances.
In this thesis, we investigated the potential relationship between visual intelligence and
entrepreneurship with the help of the visualization on the whiteboard. Throughout our
study, we distinguished different components of visual intelligence along with the use
of visualization in entrepreneurship. This standpoint of visualization provided a broader
understanding of the entrepreneurs’ visual thinking process in relation to idea
generation and development in entrepreneurial activities. Our findings reinforced that
the idea generation and idea development in the form of problem-solving and
presentation of the ideas are most important purposes for using visuals among the
entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the analyses of the data were collected through the Web
survey in our study indicated that the components of visual intelligence have notable
roles in the entrepreneurs’ visual interpretations and their usage visualization. We
found that the spatial-visual thinking is more common than object-visual thinking
among entrepreneurs in their interaction with visuals. Moreover, the result of our study
on the visualization on the whiteboard demonstrated that spatial relations in the visuals
on the whiteboard are far more important than pictorial features of visual for the
entrepreneurs. Our findings demonstrated minimal resources with satisfactory results.
We believe that further work and studies on the relationship between visual
intelligence and entrepreneurial activities will produce a new perspective of
entrepreneurship.
37
Future Research
Due to the time constraints and the novelty of our research topic in the field of
entrepreneurship we had to prioritize our tasks and limited our investigation to certain
criteria and a number of entrepreneurs. Therefore, there are possibly many points that
could be improved in future research in this direction. Although we have taken
reliability measures but still obtaining answers from entrepreneurs in face-to-face
interviews or performing direct tests on the concept of visual thinking will provide
further evidence of the findings in this study. We also recommend further
investigations of the visual thinking process, particularly in the idea development.
38
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Appendix
In this section, a more detailed description of the figures and tables which were
gathered from (Blazhenkova, 2010) and (Walny, 2011) are presented. It should be
noted that the following information are directly taken from the cited articles as well
as our data bank of the Web survey.
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Question Bank
No.1
No.2
No.3
46
Interpretation of Visuals
No.4
No.5
47
No.6
No.7
48
Whiteboard usage
No.8
No.9
No.10
No.11
49
Table 1: Filtration Discerption
Filtrations Discerption
Pictorial interpretation
Respondents interpreted the graph
literally, in the form of a pictorial
illustration of a situation with
ordinate the graph, they illustrated
the literal shape of the graph
Abstract interpretation
Abstract interpretations, in which
participants interpreted the graph as
an imagery spatial representation of
movement over time
Irrelevant interpretation
participants interpreted the graph in
terms of irrelevant, not features of
the graph from pictorial views, and
their interpretations reflected not
sufficient of the information given in
the graph
50
Table 2: Filtration Discerption
Filtrations Discerption
Pictorial interpretation
Respondents who interpreted the
painting in terms of its appearance
features, as if colours or concrete
objects in the paintings, and
indicated superficial or lack of
emotion.
Abstract interpretation
Interpretations, in which is referred
to the paintings in terms of
conceptual and emotional content
that was not directly but also related
to the ideas of the painting
Irrelevant interpretation
Descriptions were irrelevant to the
painting’s appearance or emotional
content or missing entirely
Dataset of Web Survey
Answers from the respondents of our survey can be found at:
https://figshare.com/s/3979a57799ccc499b0f4