PowerPoint Use and Misuse in Digital Innovation

PowerPoint continues to permeate the presentation genre in general and business communication in particular. Whereas PowerPoint’s role in organizational practices has caught increasing research interest, research on PowerPoint in digital innovation is still scarce. This study provides
comprehensive insights into PowerPoint use and misuse through an ethnographically informed field study of employee-driven innovation inside a multinational European banking software provider.
Drawing on primary data consisting of 62 interviews, 41 slide decks, and longitudinal series of observations and workshops, the paper illustrates how deeply entangled PowerPoint is in digital innovation. Our in-depth analysis of PowerPoint use at different innovation process stages suggests
that the tool cannot be simply regarded as beneficial or detrimental for innovation. Instead, we provide a revised dialectical examination of PowerPoint’s constitutive role in digital innovation, help specify the reasons of its extensive use, and point to areas of future research in digital innovation.