These lecture notes explore notable anthropologists in the field and how ethnography is useful to understanding business anthropology. The document examines an example as to how anthropology is useful in the world of business.
Lecture 2: The Business of Culture
Snapshot - ‘American Breakfast & the Mother-in-Law: How an Anthropologist
Created Go-Gurt’ (http://practicinganthropology.org/american-breakfast-the-mother-
in-law-how-an-anthropologist-created-go-gurt/):
Anthropologists help firms gain deeper insights about their customers through
observations found in ethnography
Breakfast in America has changed as women’s rights have evolved and Mum’s
have started entering the workforce
Often less time for breakfast, ‘Go-Gurt’ made a portable version appealing to a
large range of people
Key Definition
Word
Ethnograp The scientific description of the customs of individual
hy peoples and cultures
Netograph Online research to understand social interaction
y
Marietta Baba:
Anthropology links to business: industrial process and organisations, informing
the design of products/services and understanding consumer behaviour
1930s, anthropologists were used to understand how worker’s beliefs and
attitudes affected how they approached work in factories
Timothy Malefyt:
Shows that companies using anthropology take the practice of
observation/ethnography as central
Demand for this research arises because of the increased importance of
branding
Genevieve Bell:
Anthropologist at INTEL
Teams follow up core themes which are deemed culturally significant
E.E. Evans-Pritchard:
Studied the Neur (African people of South Sudan and Ethiopia) and was
interested in the social institutions and indirect rule amongst the Neur
Developed structural-functionalism
1980s/early 1990s:
Widening of the uses of ethnography – not just by anthropologists
Rapid development of the technological advancement
Methods used by business anthropologists:
Netography (i.e. tracking discussion groups, twitter, websites)
Cellnography (using phones)
Photo ethnography
Biography
Film, photography, interviews:
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