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Understanding culture in business
Understanding culture in business
Understanding culture in business
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1. As discussed in the article, companies around the world hire anthropologists to study consumers and markets. In your own words, explain why anthropologists are particularly well suited to doing this type of research, and what particular insights an anthropological perspective can make in the business world.
Anthropologists are very well suited to study consumer and market research for businesses. This is due to the fact that they are able to provide inside knowledge of consumers that businesses are looking to target. They provide a perspective on people that companies aren’t able to see and know the ways specific cultures think, feel and behave. Unlike other fields such as sociology which looks at groups of people or psychology which looks at the behaviour of the mind anthropology explains individual behaviour on a macro level. This in turn can help companies make better decisions and be able to relate and address their customers needs.
2. He Xu tells us that her decision to work for a business rather than in academia was met by skepticism by her friends. Why might
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First off the primary objective of the research is different which effects the relationship. In business anthropology your primary objective is to help solve a business problem while in academia you are looking to test hypothesis and describe ethnographic reality. Secondly in business anthropology the research methods differ in that you use participant observation and interviewing rapid ethnographic assessment. In academics you would use particant observation and interviewing. Lastly while working for a business you usually work as part of a team while in academia you usually work by yourself. In conclusion, doing academic anthropology you will have a more personal and intimate relationship with your participants then you will in business
A company will want to know the power and effectiveness of their ads and about the society it is marketing to. This is why companies need to know about the cultural role of advertising, not the marketing role. The cultural role tells an organization not only about the values but also the notions of good and evil, and mortality and immortality. This information is important as it helps them to formulate their advertisements in a way that deeply affects the emotions of their consumers.
With her courage and tenacity, Min has always been striving for success growing up. She started working at seventeen years old to support her family. In her situation, the necessity of supporting her family is very significant in her life. In Chinese tradition, parents do not expect anything from their sons and daughters, but the sense of respect towards the hard work that Chinese parents do for their kids---it is a must that successful men and women support their parents with their free-will. These people are grateful that their parents gave them existence---creating opportunities for searching ethical
The article talked about how anthropologists play an important role in the corporate environment. Anthropologists have been working with businesses since the 1930?s, however in the 1980?s this field experienced significant growth. This was due to the ?globalization of business activity and the increased awareness of the importance of culture for business,? (Laabs 24). Cultural anthropology is the study of existing people and corporations find this information useful in trying to understand human behavior within their own organization. ?Business anthropologists have been studying the corporate world for years, on such varied topics as how to encourage more creativity or how best to integrate multicultural learning techniques into an organization?s training program,? (Laabs 25). Most anthropologists who work in the corporate environment do not use the title of anthropologist. There are currently over 200 anthropologists working in this field. The article then gave an account of one anthropologist?s experience in the corporate environment. The article concludes by saying what corporations think of the value that anthropologists add to the companies and that the role will continue to grow.
Cultural approach to organization is a theory that was written by Clifford Geertz and Michael Pacanowsky. The theory looks into how organizations and business have their own corporate culture with in its environment. Culture is a set of meanings that are shared and understood among the employees. The theory explores what exactly cultural is in a corporate context and how it effects the environment, and once culture is established can it be changed. Theories are a set of systematic hunches, which mean they have multiple parts that play a role in the overall idea of what exactly a theory is. I will look at how cultural approach to organization is displayed within the media.
Business culture factors influencing Billabong’s operations, include values, rituals, rites and celebrations. Billabong has various values shaping the business. The company has a code of conduct that all employees must abide by. The code of conduct includes values such as integrity, honesty, trust and teamwork.
“Talk about ethics, values, integrity and social responsibility is not only becoming acceptable in the business community, it’s practically required” (Joyner, 2002, p.298). Now that ethics has gained a greater recognition in the world of business, companies are more interested in the implementation of ethical standards within its organizational structure. A review of the literature suggests that ethics and social responsibility should be present at all levels of businesses. In this sense, the effective integration of ethical standards into the business strategy becomes vital to achieve organizational objectives. Ferrell et al. (2013) defines business ethics as, “principles, values, and standards that guide behavior.” (p.7). Taking into consideration
Anthropology is the study of the full scope of human diversity and the application of that knowledge to the help of people of different backgrounds understanding one another (K. Guest). Anthropology comes from the root word Anthropos meaning “human” and the suffix –logos meaning “thought.” Both parts of Anthropology are both taken from Greek words. Anthropology focuses on the holistic approach of culture (or the big picture) (K. Guest). Anthropology began in the last century and arose from the need to identify modern cases of unidentified human remains (University of Tennessee). Most Anthropologists focus on applied anthropology.
Within the field of anthropology, there are four distinct subfields into which the field is divided. The four subfields, Linguistic anthropology, Cultural anthropology, Archaeology, and Biological (Physical) anthropology focus on specific aspects of Humans from different perspectives, with the overall goal of describing the overall essence of what a Human Being is. The overall goal of the four fields is to answer this question through collecting evidence, and placing the evidence into context in order to gain a holistic view of the human species.
When an anthropologist does fieldwork there are many advantages and disadvantages. One thing an anthropologist must do in order to gain a rewarding experience during his trip to visit another civilization in figuring out the best was to proceed into the certain field he or she is studying. The anthropologist must at first be somewhat familiar with the culture of the area or civilization. (Culture-The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.) They must be somewhat familiar with the language of a particular area as well. If one is very unfamiliar with ...
Nevertheless, one of the most important constants among all of us, regardless of our differences, is that, above all, we are buyers. We use or consume on a regular basis food, clothing, shelter, transportation, education, equipment, vacations, necessities, luxuries, services, and even ideas. As consumers, we play an essential role in the health of the economy; local, national and international. The purchase decision we make affect the requirement for basic raw materials, for transportation, for production, for banking; they affect the employment of employees and the growth of resources, the successfulness of some industries and the failure of others. In order to be successful in any business and specifically in today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving marketplace, marketers need to know everything they can about consumers; what they are want, what they are think, how they are work, how they are spend their leisure time. They have to find out the personal and group influences that affect consumer decisions and how these decisions are made. In these days of ever-widening media choices, they need to not only identify their target audiences, but they have to know where and how to reach
Business culture is vital to creating a functioning business. Business culture is derived from the management style, the morale within the business and the values it represents. A study was done to investigate two businesses and their cultures.
Anthropologist do a number of different things depending on what they are focusing on. Whether it be biological, archeology, linguistic, cultural, etc., they are trying to understand that group of people by that specific subfield. For each different subfield of anthropology an anthropologist approach to better understanding that group of people would be to ask questions, observe them, do activities alongside them, etc. In order to do this an anthropologist has to go and do fieldwork, which is a vital role in obtaining their research and is different for each subfield. For an anthropologist who focuses on the biological side they study the genes of a group and if they are trying to look farther into the history of this group they will study
Business culture is a vital competent for any successful business. Business culture is derived from the management style, the morale within the business and the values it represents. A study was done to investigate two businesses and their cultures.
Linguistic anthropologists teach us that individuals use a massive diversity of languages and dialects to communicate ideas. Several languages, however, have established a particular vocabulary to converse about things important to their culture. People who speak English have started to use words associated with computers in their everyday dialogue. The terms download, boot, e-mail, hack, and surf the web, were never used until recently. Comparing cultures and languages, linguistic anthropologists can understand the major concerns, interests and even physical environments of various groups of people.
Organisational culture originated in the 1940’s but became more popular in the early 1980’s. Organisational culture was focused on measurable aspects such as employee attitudes and how they perceived working conditions. This research was known as Organisational Climate Studies and was conducted in the 1960’s and 1970’s. A bigger interest in organisational culture was shown in the 1970s when books such as “The Interpretation of Culture” (Clifford Geertz, 1973) were written, describing in more detail the role, importance and characteristics of organisational culture. More research was focused on organisational culture and it became a tool to be used in achieving a competitive advantage. (Baker, 2002)