Cultural Change from a Business Anthropology Perspective

Contributions by Jo Aiken, Russell Belk York University, Arundhati Bhattacharyya, Elizabeth K. Briody, Henry D. Delcore, Dominique Desjeux, Emilie Hitch, Ma Jingjing, Maryann McCabe, Christine Miller, U. Ejiro O. Onomake, Kevin M. Newton, Angela Ramer, Marijke Rijsberman, Patricia Wall, Jennifer Watts-Englert, Margaret H. Szymanski, Shane Pahl Edited by Maryann McCabe, Elizabeth K. Briody

Publication date:

09 November 2017

Length of book:

318 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

237x159mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498544511

This book offers keen insight and useful lessons underscoring the value of practice to theory. Conceived by two anthropologists who lead consulting practices, McCabe and Briody selected contributors to explore how cultural change happens in a variety of consumer and organizational contexts. The 12 case studies illustrate the explanatory potential and the problem-solving strengths of assemblage theory, and the role of human agency in provoking cultural change. The case studies are compelling due to connections between the case narratives and graphics, and researcher engagement in the pragmatics of implementation—both of which shape and encourage learning. This volume will be markedly useful to practitioners engaged in research and implementation. It will also appeal to students and faculty in a variety of fields including anthropology, business management, marketing, sociology, cultural studies, and industrial design.

Chapter 1: I Hope When She Grows Up, She Will Have a Job with a Pen: Drip Irrigation and Hope in Cambodia, Emilie Hitch
Chapter 2: A New Playing Field: Technology Disruption in Higher Education in the U.S., Marijke Rijsberman
Chapter 3: Changing Culture through Technology Adoption: Promoting Tablet Use at a Public University, Henry D. Delcore
Chapter 4: Enchanted Objects, Social Robots, and the Internet of Things: Exploring the Role of Design in Innovation and Cultural Change, Christine Miller
Chapter 5: The Changing Nature of Everyday Practice: Smart Devices as Disruptive Agents of Cultural Change, Jennifer Watts-Englert, Margaret H. Szymanski and Patricia Wall
Chapter 6: Technology Metaphors and Impediments to Technology Use at the Base of the Pyramid in India, Arundhati Bhattacharyya and Russell W. Belk
Chapter 7: The Enigma of Innovation: Changing Practices of Non-Alcoholic Beverage Consumption in China, Dominique Desjeux and Ma Jingjing
Chapter 8: Relationship Building: Nigerian Entrepreneurs, Business Networks, and Chinese Counterparts, U. Ejiro O. Onomake
Chapter 9: Designing Disruption: The Neoliberal Nonprofit Industry Makes Room for Holistic Approaches, Kevin M. Newton
Chapter 10: Organizational Change from the Inside: Negotiating the Dual Identity of Employee and Ethnographer, Shane Pahl, Angela Ramer and Jo Aiken

In examining consumption in multiple parts of the world from multiple vantage points, Cultural Change from a Business Anthropology Perspective makes assemblages of usual silos and demonstrates how anthropologists conceive and influence design of products, technology, or policy near and afar. This volume theorizes how we, along with ideas, objects and built environments, are actors in outcomes. In so doing, the authors theorize trajectories of change and create space to contest and guide. A must read for anyone who contemplates present and future consumption.