Business Anthropology

ROBERT GUANG TIAN,1 PANEER SIGAMANI,2 AND SHWETA MALHOTRA2

1 Shantou University, China
2 Jamia Millia Islamia, India

Business anthropology refers to the implementation of ideas and techniques from the
field of applied anthropology to accomplish objectives primarily for businesses run for
profit and attain competitive advantage. The present business world is not just charac-
terized by profitability but also sustainability. Anthropological principles not only help
businesses to achieve higher profits but also sustain them in the long run. It is further
defined as a practically oriented scholastic field in which anthropological theories and
methods are applied to identify and solve real business problems. In other words, the
foremost objective of business anthropology is to resolve operational and organizational
glitches. The application of the discipline to the field of business is worth exploring. This
branch of anthropology became popular in the late nineteenth century when it was first
applied to business (Baba 2012).
The decades since the late 1980s have witnessed a spurt in growth of the field
and its application to a plethora of contexts in business. Hence, the term “business
anthropology” is being used more generically to refer any application of anthropology
to business management. Changes in the global business arena, such as techno-
logical advances and integration, have not only altered the way business is steered
but also modified the way people perceive business and business activities. All of
this has led to tremendous competition and, hence, business leaders today need to
reexamine what they offer, how they do business, who could be new collaborators
to deliver new products and services, and so on. To cater for the multifaceted,
ever-changing customer demands and to attract new customer groups there is a
strong need to diversify the product line and do so at a fast pace. Many companies
like Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Hindustan Unilever have increased their product
offerings by diversifying in varied product categories and anticipating future customer
demand.
More specifically, business anthropology entails helping organizations to manage
demographic disparities such as cultural and ethnic differences. In some cases,
business anthropologists act as an interface between management and the workforce
(Trice 1993). Anthropology as a discipline can also contribute toward promoting
“best practices” which are ethical and are framed keeping in mind the interests of the
consumer and society at large.
Today, in the globalized world, there is a significant need for anthropologists in busi-
ness consulting, organizational behavior, human resources management, competitive
intelligence, globalization, product design and development, marketing, and consumer
behavior studies (Denny and Sunderland 2014; Jordan 2010; Tian, Van Marrewijk,
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Edited by Hilary Callan.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1344
2 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY

and Lillis 2013). Jordan (2010) proposes that business anthropology is of three types,
namely: (1) organizational anthropology (the study of complex organizations to
include their cultures, work processes, and change directives); (2) anthropology of
marketing and consumer behavior; and (3) design anthropology (product and services
design).
In addition to Jordan’s breakdown, there are two other fields that scholars have sug-
gested, namely: (1) anthropology of competitive intelligence and knowledge manage-
ment; and (2) international and cross-cultural business (Tian, Van Marrewijk, and Lillis
2013). Although business anthropology is like any other applied field of anthropol-
ogy, there is a fundamental difference based on the methods used. Gwynne (2003) has
advocated that the distinction between business anthropology and other subfields of
business studies is based on techniques and procedures used. This is because the inves-
tigations conducted by business anthropologists revolve around attempts to help orga-
nizations derive profits. All this leads to openness of results, publishing actual findings,
and ethical considerations. There are innumerable contributions that anthropology can
make to business and its role in the present century is even more noteworthy (Denny
and Sunderland 2014).

The development of business anthropology

Anthropology is a social science that studies the social environment in which people
live and the impact of this social environment on feelings, attitudes, behaviors, and
so on. Often this is done in a cross-cultural context, meaning that anthropology tends
to be comparative and international in scope. Although often dismissed as an “ivory
tower” discipline, anthropology has much to contribute to the study of contemporary
problems such as urban life, ethnic conflicts, and postmodernism. While it may appear
to be a discipline and methodology only recently employed by business researchers,
in reality anthropology has a long history within business research. The earliest roots
of anthropology as a discipline in its own right can be traced back to colonial times
and international trade was indirectly connected to it. For instance, Edward T. Hall
introduced his seminal “silent language” approach for doing international business in
the 1950s and 1960s (Hall [1959] 1988).
The development of anthropology went on simultaneously in all parts of the world
at a rapid pace. The classic anthropological methods of research such as ethnogra-
phy, observation, and interviewing, have furthermore proved to be appropriate for
business research (Walle 2002). On the American continent, for example, which was
experiencing the Industrial Revolution during the late nineteenth century, the interest
of the researchers/anthropologists shifted to industry. Frederick W. Taylor was the
first to propose a theory based on the organizational phenomenon which came to be
known as the scientific management theory. The theory advocated that workers should
be governed by the scientific method, which involved scientific selection of workers,
standardization, matching incentive to effort, and so on.
Another very important landmark in the history of the development of anthropol-
ogy was the Hawthorne Project in 1924, which aimed at enhancing the productivity
 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY 3

of workers in a factory just outside Chicago. These studies indicated that factors
such as group cohesion, as well as illumination levels, in the workplace were linked
positively to productivity. The Hawthorne researchers therefore tried to understand
what was the connection of the social system with the levels of workers’ productivity.
All of these developments gave rise to the “human relations school” of thought,
which viewed the organization as a complex social system and aimed at foster-
ing harmonious worker–manager relationships so as to maintain and/or enhance
productivity.
As time advanced, organizations started hiring anthropologists to investigate issues
such as high personnel turnover, absenteeism, strikes, poor worker–management rela-
tionships, informal relationships among workers, work processes, union–management
interaction, and so forth. However, during the latter half of the nineteenth century,
changes in national industrial setups led to a decline in the field of anthropologi-
cal research in industry, although it has picked up again strongly in recent years.
Researchers point to a plethora of reasons for the decline, including changes in
the academic environment, shifts in social science theory, and political and ethical
concerns, which led to a further dwindling of resources and knowledge in the field
and fewer individuals being interested in anthropological issues of business (Baba
2006).
The forces of globalization in the twentieth century resulted in a major change in the
world economy as trade became global and economies were integrated. The global eco-
nomic instability that became evident and technological advancements have changed
the basic nature of business and hence opened up new avenues of research for anthro-
pology in terms of multiple applications of the field. This has also led to the rise of busi-
ness anthropology as a major field of research. The areas of application of anthropology
in business discussed earlier have developed as individual disciplines but are also intri-
cately linked to each other in different contexts from the anthropological standpoint.
These contexts, the resources or opportunities as well as the attendant risks or con-
straints, are significant considerations for anthropologists seeking an integrated assess-
ment of human behavior in its natural setting (Jordan 2003; Tian, Van Marrewijk, and
Lillis 2013).
More recently, as an outcome of business anthropology’s development, many
business schools in the United States and other countries have started to include
ethnographic methods courses in their curricula. At the same time, more and
more scholars in the fields of business administration and management science
have adopted anthropological methods to conduct their business research work. In
addition, several academic journals have been launched, such as the International
Journal of Business Anthropology and the Journal of Business Anthropology, which
are dedicated to publishing scholarly papers in the field of business anthropology.
The International Conference on Applications of Anthropology in Business, orga-
nized by a group of business anthropologists, was first held in 2012 in Guangzhou,
China, and has been held six times subsequently up to 2017. It has drawn the
attention of over 500 scholars and practitioners from all over the world. The field
of business anthropology as a growing academic discipline is dynamic and full of
energy.
4 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY

Contributions of business anthropology in the twenty-first

century

The functions and roles of business anthropology are highly extensive and have
expanded with time. Anthropological interventions are not only in traditional, macro
management functions (e.g., marketing, human resources management, operations,
international business, and so on) but also in specialized or microfunctions such as
advertising, consumer behavior, sales promotion, and product design, among others.
Business anthropologists study all of these business arenas (Tian, Van Marrewijk, and
Lillis 2013). In some instances, business anthropologists solve multifarious business
problems, such as securing acceptance of new technical equipment, methods, and
processes by reluctant workers, or creating an organizational culture incorporating
people from distinctive ethnic, educational, religious, and cultural backgrounds
(Schwartz 1996). Jordan (2010) highlights how in some circumstances anthropology
contributes to businesses in an inimitable way.
The primary role of business anthropologists is, therefore, to investigate the causes of
these real-life problems and suggest feasible solutions. The primary distinction between
business anthropology and other subfields of anthropology is that it looks at organi-
zations not only as an economic entity but also as a congregation of people who are
similar in certain aspects. Hence, the area of concern for business anthropologists is
the formal face of corporate culture along with the informal one (Garza 1991). In other
words, they look at not just what meets the naked eye but also what goes on behind the
scenes.
Unlike more formal methodologies, the methods used for research in business
anthropology incorporate qualitative and ethnographic methods to inspect organi-
zational phenomena. Other tools that are specific to anthropology in organizations
include participant observation, informal and structured interviews, and other “realis-
tic,” informal, and face-to-face methods of inquiry. The contribution of anthropologists
is immense but, more specifically, business anthropologists can help corporations by
developing methods of doing business that are culture appropriate. Moreover, the
profit motive usually means that the “product cycle” of any given item produced by a
business—the time between the development and introduction of a product and its
subsequent decline—tends to be relatively short. For this reason, research undertaken
by business anthropologists is usually of a much shorter duration and involves far
fewer informants than academic research (Hafner 1999).
The business arena is an amalgamation of various real-life problems and anthropol-
ogists examine the human side of business. Hence business anthropology attempts to
answer questions connected to organizations’ human resources, such as: Why do people
do what they do? What is their intent while doing so? Some other generic issues business
anthropologists look at are: Who are the frontrunners and who are the followers in
the business? How many different groups of people exist in the business? What com-
mon beliefs, values, and attitudes do members of each group inside the business hold?
What does the existing political hierarchy, according to which power and authority
are wielded and responsibility is delegated, look like? How does information percolate
among the members of each group? How do group members relate to and communicate
 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY 5

with each other? What are the reasons for clashes among group members, or among
groups, and how can they be fixed? (Tian 2010).
Business anthropology thus helps organizations evolve culturally sensitive policies
and strategies in a business realm characterized by cross-cultural contacts (Jordan 2003;
Ybema et al. 2009). Aguilera (1996) suggested that although the field is expanding
rapidly, there is still a large amount of resistance to embracing anthropological theories
because it is difficult to comprehend the direct effect and implications of anthropolog-
ical investigations on the business function.

What can anthropology do to help the business world?

Business anthropology can make major contributions to the business arena through the
following channels: corporate cultures, knowledge management, cultural audits, orga-
nizational changes, product design, marketing, international business, and consumer
behavior (Jordan 2010).
Anthropologists look at business organizations as not just structural institutions but
also as mini societies in themselves, accommodating people from diverse ethnic and
educational backgrounds. Other differences, such as gender, age group, and economic
status, also exist. Hence, anthropologists can contribute to businesses by helping them
to fathom the convolutions of their cultures and how these affect organizational func-
tioning.
Managing knowledge is a crucial component of any business and anthropologists
can contribute in an important way to this process. Knowledge exists in many forms in
every organization and can be categorized as implicit and explicit knowledge. Explicit
knowledge is managed through various well-known procedures and methods but
managing and leveraging implicit knowledge, which is generally covert and difficult
to communicate, is where the anthropologists can assist organizations (Burke 1998).
Anthropologists’ work helps in converting this implicit knowledge into explicit knowl-
edge and in enhancing business proficiency. For example, Baba (1986) proposes that
the knowledge within a group that includes experienced employees who have worked
in the organization for a long time can sometimes be “captured” and taught to new
employees.
With the continuing shifts in the global economy, organizations are also experiencing
tremendous changes not only in their structures but also in the ways they operate. To
succeed in this rapidly evolving world, organizations need to be well equipped to cope
with and adapt to the changes quickly. Anthropology can be a great facilitator in this
process of adaptation.
Anthropology can also contribute immensely to the process of designing new prod-
ucts and product presentation as well as service development. Companies nowadays
employ anthropologists to study internal and external factors so as to understand
and anticipate new opportunities and also to deal with current and potential threats.
According to McDonough and Braungart (2002), anthropologists find answers to
problems such as how to design office environments that encourage group working
and collaboration; how to design websites that fit the “mental model” and usage
6 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY

patterns of their target audiences; and how to design museum exhibits that maximize
the engagement between visitors and displays.
Marketing research is another area in which anthropologists can intervene to
enhance the profitability of business. Anthropological studies deliver understandings
of the cultural patterns/trends and ethnic factors that affect consumer behavior. As
market researchers, they try to determine the motivations behind the behaviors of
consumers in different contexts. Ethnographical research is the most popular technique
used to study the values, opinions, likes, and dislikes of customers (Gwynne 2003).

Relevance of business anthropology to contemporary

business

Business anthropology has been used increasingly in different industries to investigate a

wide variety of real-time business problems. For example, anthropology has been used
in the consumer goods industry where technological advances have stimulated rapid
growth. The changing business environment poses challenges such as integrating the
fragmented consumer markets so as to fit them to the emerging business models. This
in turn requires novel approaches to existing products and services that will satisfy
the ever-shifting customer requirements. This scenario calls for increased interaction
between producers and consumers, which is where anthropologists have a major role
to play (Tian 2007; Tian and Walle 2009).
Another example of the application of business anthropology was a quantitative sur-
vey conducted by Tian et al. (2014) using anthropological techniques such as participant
observation and in-depth interviews to investigate the quality of food-service opera-
tions at a Chinese university. According to the researchers, the utility of anthropological
investigation in such a case is because the quality of the food service has a significant
impact on the satisfaction level of students (the customers). They consequently recom-
mended the inclusion of this parameter in the overall evaluation of the universities,
which would in turn enhance the quality of food service delivered. Anthropological
intervention thereby helped gauge the importance of consumer behavior and what fac-
tors affect satisfaction levels.
Business giants like Google and P&G have realized the importance of anthropology
to promote their products and services in new markets and to capture new customers.
Google uses ethnographic methods to cognize the needs of the consumers, including
capturing video footage of people searching on the web. An example of this, in a Chinese
context, is that the people of China were finding it difficult to search the web and get
the optimum results because of the language barrier. This led Google to create “Google
Suggest,” which would initiate pop-up search suggestions so that users could take a cue
while typing. The “Did you Mean?” service is an example. As a result, Google’s offerings
earned appreciation from the users. These innovations were a result of Google’s con-
sumer observation, understanding, and insight-gathering methods, which are nothing
but anthropological techniques.
P&G used similar techniques to counter many product failures in the 1980s. The
detergent it launched for lower-income groups was a failure so the company started
 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY 7

the “Living-In” program, also known as “immersion research,” to understand the aspi-
rations, desires, and needs of the particular customer segment. This led P&G to gather
consumer or partner insight into the not-so-evident but crucial needs of the consumers.
The executives realized that the target customers, who were primarily manual labor-
ers, were very sensitive to perspiration odors and gained satisfaction in cleaning their
clothes when seeing their detergent foam—the feature that the new detergents lacked.
Customer observation through living-in immersion and/or video observations have
thus become vital tools used by present-day organizations.
Researchers also work as anthropologists with a diverse range of commitments in
organizations. For example, Dr. Bonnie Nardi works as an anthropologist at Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) where her job is to help researchers invent new
technology for the next generation product requirements by scrutinizing consumers’
behavior in the home or office (Hafner 1999).
Bennett (1996) rightly points out that applied forms anthropology, in this case busi-
ness anthropology, translate cultural relativism into conservation of local ways and
adaptation to make sure that change is not overly punishing or that any induced change
has a beneficial effect. Although business anthropology has applications in a plethora of
areas of business, there are many practical issues still to be resolved, which practition-
ers encounter only when the actual research is conducted. The following section details
the contingencies faced by anthropologists while applying anthropological principles
to business problems.

Practical issues in business anthropology research

Since anthropology aims at solving human issues, there are many areas of concern
during the actual implementation using anthropological methodology and tools of
research and data retrieval. Anthropologists also work as professional consultants to
solve real-world problems and this entails the application of the study of human culture,
behavior, language, and biology. The basic tools used for any business anthropology
research are observation, ethnography, in-depth interviews, and so on. These aid the
organizations or businesses in understanding the “other,” which could be an individual
or group of people that are different from the observer. Further, it helps to accrue
comparisons, differences, and evolutionary facts to gain an all-inclusive outlook on the
diverse ways of human existence.
One of the most important practical issues faced in any kind of business anthropol-
ogy research is related to the depth of involvement of the anthropologists in the issue.
Anthropological data are susceptible to contagion by probable integration of the social
scientists into the culture they are studying, which might dilute the actual data collected
from the field. Another potential issue a business anthropologist is likely to face is that
the focus of research often revolves around a desired outcome, which could make the
data unreliable. This happens, for example, because of client pressure to prove that the
effect of a product or service on a group of people is what the client wanted. To ensure
the validity of their data, anthropologists should learn the art of harmonizing the inter-
ests of the client and the group under study, which may be conflicting at times.
8 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY

Evident examples of such a situation where the interests of the client conflict with
group needs are the US concentration camps for Japanese citizens during World
War II. Here the anthropologists’ research was conducted less scientifically and more
for the government’s security demands. This resulted in many Japanese Americans
losing their homes, property, and dignity through applied anthropologists’ advice
on how best to help the country protect itself from Japanese spies. The government’s
and American society’s stigmatizing of the enemy caused a lack of cultural under-
standing that could have been applied and might have helped all parties involved and
remove the perceived need for concentration camps in America. Such acts reflected
poorly on the field of anthropology and diminished the credibility of those reports
(Embree 1945).
Yet another practical issue concerning the field arises because of the lack of a theo-
retical foundation of its own as a discipline. This poses a threat to anthropology as an
academic discipline and the same issue has also led to lower levels of attention being
given to business anthropology. Ethics is one of the issues that business anthropology
struggles to address. The client–subject interaction and responsibility often place a busi-
ness anthropologist in an ethical quandary. These ethical contradictions are left to the
anthropologist to sort out. As a consequence, many business anthropologists avoid tak-
ing up any kind of assignment which places them in situations where there are ethical
dilemmas. The responsibility to the employer of an anthropologist is to maintain con-
siderable independence, allowing the anthropologist to criticize a boss or the company
and to defend study groups against negative consequences (Bennett 1996).
Further, there has been confusion over the exact definition of business anthropology
over the years and whether it can actually contribute anything substantial to society
(Sillitoe 2006). This is so because the issues that business anthropology examines relate
to people and, therefore, are abstract in nature. It is consequently difficult to point out
the exact effect achieved or to quantify the goals.
However, the field of anthropology has been expanding into the business world at a
great pace; growing numbers of organizations have started accepting anthropological
principles as a possible remedy for many of the challenges they face. At the same time
it is important to take into consideration certain aspects accompanying any kind of
application of anthropological concepts to real business issues (Denny and Sunderland
2014). While anthropology is applicable to many issues and contexts, it cannot provide
solutions to the entire range of business problems. Hence, the researchers and imple-
menters need to gauge the relevance of any anthropological principle to the business
context and then expend it. If applied otherwise, the results derived could be mislead-
ing and distorted. Moreover, it is important to customize according to the requirements
of the customers or clients (Sigamani and Malhotra 2013). If the organization fails to
customize the methodology to suit the requirements of the consumer, the intervention
could be a complete waste.
Additionally, since this is an evolving field of study and operation, the best practices
need to be documented so that they could be used in similar business situations. This
would help in saving a lot of the time that goes into undertaking fully fledged research.
Another point to note is that the role of anthropology in business has multiplied
much faster than estimated. These developments need to be considered in business
 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY 9

management courses. Gremler et al. (2000) indicate that business management courses
are generally designed to be quantitative in nature, with qualitative methods being
accorded far less importance. However, anthropological methods, such as participant
observation and ethnography, among others, are being applied to many subdisciplines
of management (e.g., consumer behavior, marketing, human resource management
studies, advertisement management, and so on).
More research should be conducted in the area so that it benefits the businesses and
community as a whole. The benefits of anthropology are that it answers questions about
consumers and consumption behavior so as to make products and services more suit-
able. Further, it also helps in gaining an understanding of social groups in society, plus
employee behavior, perceptions, attitudes, and values in organizations. This helps to
enhance the quality of life in society and performance and efficiency in organizations.
Finally, academia and practitioners need to integrate their efforts in this direction so as
to accrue the benefits of anthropological research and findings to the advantage of all
the players in society across the globe.
Ethical issues are another area of concern for business anthropology as a discipline
because business organizations operate within the boundaries of the society at large.
However, it is worth noting that ethical dimensions do not only pertain to corporate
profit but also to corporate responsibility and accountability. The aim should be to sat-
isfy all the stakeholders at each level.

Summary and conclusion

The increasing complexity of the global economy has led to the unification of diverse
cultures throughout the world and business practices that were once locale specific
are today glocal (global + local) in nature. This has given rise to an incessant need to
understand people in a business context. Anthropology studies society as a unit of indi-
viduals and groups of individuals and answers questions of societal concern often left
unanswered by other disciplines. Business anthropology appears to be one tool that has
come to the rescue of organizations trying to come to terms with human beings and
their idiosyncrasies. Applying anthropological principles to business is bound to help
organizations achieve sustained competence and efficacy.
Though the application of anthropological principles to real-life contexts in business
may not have been completely recognized by academia, applying them more widely
would definitely lead them to improved chances of success. This entry looks at the issues
involved in anthropological research in the business arena. It discusses the contribution
of anthropology to different areas of management and illustrates how it helps in solving
a variety of different issues in business.
Business anthropology has been expanding and research is being conducted in mul-
tiple countries and with multiple organizations. It can satisfy varying business needs
and contribute a great deal to the real business world. Anthropologists have been work-
ing outside academia in organizations, consulting firms, design studios, and marketing
agencies. Some of the areas business anthropologists have forged a presence in are cor-
porate cultures, knowledge management, cultural audit, organizational change, product
10 BU SI NE SS A NT HR OP OL OGY

design and development, marketing, and consumer behavior. This presence will con-
tinue to broaden and grow.
Business anthropologists can also offer their assistance to other areas, such as com-
petitive intelligence, international business, human resources management, and oper-
ations. Many countries, such as the United States, China, Japan, Australia, Denmark,
and the Netherlands, are sponsoring anthropologists to work on issues in organizations,
design, and consumer behavior studies. Business anthropology is a global field and asso-
ciations with researchers around the world can consolidate this area of research and
practice. There has been rising international interest in business anthropology through
research, student training, and consulting. In short, the contributions that business
anthropologists can make to the existing business world are immense and it would be
realistic to anticipate business anthropology becoming one of the most in-demand dis-
ciplines in the world in the near future.

SEE ALSO: Anthropology, Careers in; Applied Anthropology; Brands; Capitalist

Corporation, the; Consumption; Corporate Social Responsibility; Credit and Debt;
Design, Anthropology of; Economic Anthropology; Ethics and Morality, Anthropo-
logical Approaches to; Finance; Globalization; Glocalization; Indicators, Politics of;
International Organizations, Anthropology of; Market Research, Anthropology in;
Marketing; Mining; Neoliberalism; Refugee Health; Soft Law

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