corporate & business anthropology

“Netnography,” – faster and cheaper ethnography on the Internet

Published on September 15, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology, cyberanthropology, fieldwork / methods, internet, technology

Karen Lee, University of Texas at Austin

“Netnography,” coined from ‘ethnography on the Internet,’ is an emerging qualitative research methodology adapting ethnographic research techniques to the study of cultures and communities constructed through the Internet. It uses information that is publicly available in online forums to identify and understand the needs and decision influences of relevant online consumer groups. Compared with traditional and market-oriented ethnography, netnography is far less time consuming and elaborate >> continue

Karen Lee, University of Texas at Austin

"Netnography," coined from 'ethnography on the Internet,' is an emerging qualitative research methodology adapting ethnographic research techniques to the study of cultures and communities constructed through the Internet. It uses information that is publicly…

The Growing Field of Workplace Anthropology

Published on September 9, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology, websites

Practical Gatherings is a organisation that was created to provide services and support for the growing profession of workplace anthropology. It was founded by anthropologist Patricia Sachs.

On their website (that is partly still “under construction”) they have collected interesting stuff, incl. and a history of workplace anthropology and lots of articles >> continue

Practical Gatherings is a organisation that was created to provide services and support for the growing profession of workplace anthropology. It was founded by anthropologist Patricia Sachs.

On their website (that is partly still "under construction") they have collected interesting stuff,…

Careers in Business Anthropology

Published on September 9, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology

Wayne State University

The economy is becoming increasingly international; workforces and markets, increasingly diverse; participatory management and decision making, increasingly important; communication skills, increasingly in demand. Anthropology is the only contemporary discipline that approaches human questions from historical, biological, linguistic, and cultural perspectives.

Demand for business anthropologists is increasing stimulated by a growing need for analysts and researchers with sharp thinking skills who can manage, evaluate, and interpret the large volume of data on human behavior. Many corporations look explicitly for anthropologists, recognizing the utility of their perspective on a corporate team. >> continue

Wayne State University

Anthropologist helps Intel see the world through customers’ eyes

Published on August 15, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology, design anthropology

MSNBC / San Jose Business Journal

When Genevieve Bell agreed to leave Stanford University for a job at Intel in 1998, it was with trepidation. She had, after all, been working her entire life toward being an academic, following the tenure track and accepting that practical applications of her work might never become apparent. “My vision was to survive the first year and not go insane,” she says now.

It’s not that she thought Intel was such a bad place to be. Quite the opposite. She just couldn’t see why a semiconductor company would want a technologically challenged cultural anthropologist on staff.

Now, as she writes up a final report on her three-year study of how Asian families interact with technology, Ms. Bell can’t imagine working anywhere else.

Ms. Bell has been credited with performing a remarkable job by making anthropology accessible — and worthwhile — to scores of engineers all over the world. >>continue

MSNBC / San Jose Business Journal

Anthropologists dig into business

Published on August 10, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, applied anthropology, corporate & business anthropology

Mercury News

For a summer, Dev Patnaik and his team of researchers hung out with teens preparing to go away to college. Trained in anthropology and sociology, they observed while the teens and their parents shopped for the essentials of college life. Some of the students struggled with doing their own laundry and worried about dorm living.

The strategists took it all in. Then they came up with a line of products for dorm rooms. Now items like a kitchen-in-a-box kit and a hamper with laundry instructions are marketed to the back-to-school crowds at the chain store Target.

Patnaik’s firm, San Mateo-based Jump, is part of a growing trend in which anthropologists are helping to design new products and business ventures, as well as organize the inner workings of companies.

Work done by anthropologists — who observe people in real-life settings — has translated into products including Yoplait’s portable Go-Gurt, Whirlpool’s “refrigerated oven” and Yahoo’s photo service. >>continue

Mercury News