Gabriel Kislik

Cultural Environment of International Business

Prof. Stiff

9/26/13

Supplemental Readings - Corporate Anthropologists

I was assigned an extremely interesting article, written by Jennifer J. Laabs, which discussed the profile of

anthropologists, and specifically, corporate anthropologists.

First of all, anthropology commonly refers to “the science of human beings” as it “studies people in

relation to their distribution, origin, classification, relationship of races, physical characters,

environmental and social relations and culture.” Although there are many different kinds of

anthropologists and areas of study, business anthropology has become increasingly important, especially in

our increasingly global world.

In the past two decades, business anthropologists have been studying corporate culture, focusing on issues

such as how to encourage creativity, or how to best integrate multicultural learning techniques into an

organization’s training program. In reality, very few actually use the term “anthropologist”, and most

would rather be referred to as consultants. To this day however, there are about 200 individuals currently

working “in and for” corporate America. One of these “consultants” is known as Lorna M. McDougall, a

staff anthropologist at Arthur Andersen’s Center for Professional Education. In addition to having an

outstanding background, McDougall has been a key player in shaping the firm’s ELIT (Business English

Language Immersion Training) program, which builds a “common language skill for communication

between people who speak English as a second language, while building an awareness of each culture’s

unique approach to business encounters.”However, anthropologists are more interested today in observing

and analyzing group values and behavior in a cultural context”, as one can clearly identify a connection

between national culture and organizational culture. Obviously, it is crucial for an organization to invest in

cross-cultural training programs, as the effectiveness of cross-cultural interactions and partnerships can

only be measured when one looks at the “outcome in improved relations between the people involved.”The

article then continues about the different studies and projects McDougall is involved in, such as teaching

associates the cultural meaning of gestures and selecting colors for computer screens. Although it seems

quite futile, one quickly realizes that different cultures associate different meanings to different gestures

and colors, making it a vital skill for managers attempting to avoid cultural misunderstandings and errors.

More importantly, McDougall insists on the fact that in today’s global world, the challenge is to understand

the differences in cultures, and in work and family values. Needless to say, Lorna McDougall has greatly

contributed, and will continue to contribute to our increasing knowledge surrounding different cultures

Interestingly enough, it has also been proven that anthropology boosts creativity. This was the case with the

Houston based Generon Systems, which was facing a creativity crisis in an increasingly competitive and

global world. In fact, because of the extremely individualistic and competitive organizational culture that

Generon Systems employees were working in, creativity was stifled, and productivity considerably

decreased. From that point on, change was necessary, and Mark Grace, operations development manager

for the Houston based Generon Systems, called Roger McConochie, a business anthropology consultant,

for a little bit of advice. Ever since, McConochie and his partner Anthony Giannini have been an

anthropological surrounding board for Grace, showing us how through effective techniques such as

“bridging” or “scaffolding”, which allows workers to use the many facets of their collective conscious to

come up with solutions to current problems, employees have gained a better understanding of their

colleagues cultural differences. Nonetheless, the creative process that can originate from an organizational

culture depends on several factors, and an individual will only be increasingly motivated, more creative and

more productive if he is given an “opportunity to be creative and an opportunity for challenge and growth”.

That is to say, as long as creativity is supported in corporate culture, and everyone is given the tools

necessary to help broaden their thinking.