I must start by adding a disclaimer: I am not anthropologist. I am also not a business person.
Why am I not an anthropologist? Well, at least from the perspective of doctoral programs, I have no PhD (but I do have plenty of spirit!). I received an undergraduate degree from a well known Anthropology program in the mid-west. Why am I not a business person? Well, for one, I never set out to work 'in business.' Nor do I really feel drawn to the idea of 'making money' or 'climbing the corporate ladder.' But life has led me to pursue a career in business consulting.
However, I have never truly left behind those things I learned while exploring cultures throughout the world. Though I spend my days in the luxurious confines of a cubicle or a conference room - my mind is constantly drawn back to the world outside.
After about five years of trying to compartmentalize these seemingly different parts of my life, I decided to take a step toward combining these two areas of my life. Ok, so one doesn't expect someone wearing a business suit to step into a cultural anthropology lecture (somehow a more 'hippie' look comes to mind). But, why not? Anthropology has always been about discovering the 'other' or the unknown cultures. Yet very few anthropologists dare to enter the realm of the business world. Yet - as recent economic events have shown, business impacts us all.
Therefore, I say, it is indeed the last undiscovered culture. I invite you all to join me as I set out to discover what happens when a business person unleashes her inner ethnogragpher - and observes what happens in the business world.
Over the course of the blog I hope to examine many popular trends in business, through the lens of an ever-globalizing world. I will use ethnographic methodology to discover new trends in how to understand what happens when business culture and local/state/national culture collide.
Are you with me? Onward, upward, and forward we go!
