Business Anthropology

In Innovation Excellence:  As I recall we had one corporate anthropologist.  Don't know if that still the case.  What is that and what is it meant to produce?  An overview.

Introduction to Ethnographic Field Research

Article and link to a PDF article on the topic.  We had an informal representative of the role in the enterprise, and found in particular the aspect of how they gathered knowledge about people and their behavior to be very useful.  " ... In this article, I will provide a simple introduction to the practice of ethnographic fieldwork and practical advice for writing fieldnotes. Ethnographic approaches, while born of the work conducted by anthropologists over one hundred years ago, are increasingly employed by researchers and others from a variety of backgrounds and for a multitude of purposes from the academic to the applied and even commercial.  ... " 

Facebook Ethnographically

On a report that has gone viral.    Teens are leaving Facebook as their parents send them friend requests.    " ... Comprehensive study has found teens are moving to services like Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp and are not concerned about commercial use of personal information ...  ".

Future of the Workplace

An ethnographers look:  We did a similar investigation.   Video. " ... What will the workplace of the future look like? Will it even exist as a physical space? Ever since networked computers first became widespread the idea of the virtual organisation has been touted, yet most of us still work in conventional workplaces. Recent technological advances have given a second wind to the idea with some even questioning whether organisations will exist in their current form or whether workers will be free agents coming together to complete specific tasks as and when needed. ... " 

Observation

Ethnographer at PARC speaks:  " ... I spend a lot of time observing ordinary people going about their business — in hospitals, shopping malls, living rooms, even in parking lots. This practice helps me uncover real, but hidden, unmet needs that can be solved with innovative technology. However, many clients searching for new product concepts or trying to refocus existing ones to reach the right audience are often wary of this approach. Their typical response is, “We don’t have time for that!” As long as three years later, some of those same clients are still searching for the right product concept.... "