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2015/2016  BA-BHAAI1059U  Business Anthropology and Organizational Ethnography

English Title
Business Anthropology and Organizational Ethnography

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 120
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Dr. Ginger Grant, Sheridan College, ginger.grant@sheridancollege.ca
    Sven Bislev - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management (ICM)
In case of any academic questions related to the course, please contact the course instructor or the academic director, Sven Bislev at sb.ikl@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation
  • Communication
  • Management
Last updated on 09-06-2016
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Describe the importance of an interdisciplinary lens in analyzing an increasingly global business context
  • Demonstrate a broad comprehension of concepts, theories, models and frameworks necessary to analyze the relations between difference cultures when addressing ethical dilemmas
  • Synthesize data through intense interaction between the researcher and the field
  • Discuss the evolution of participant observation, informal interviews, semi-structured interviews in light of the increasing level of globalization of business
  • Recognize and describe cultural platforms, interpret nuanced metaphors and set cognitive frameworks in a cross-cultural context
  • Describe the growing importance of cyber-ethnography and the mapping of social networks, content analysis, behavioural profiles and socio-demographics.
Course prerequisites
No prerequisities. This course should be accessible to all undergraduate students, especially those who are considering graduate studies.
Examination
Business Anthropology and Organizational Ethnography:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: 1-5 August 2016.
Retake exam: Within two months from the ordinary exam.
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
a 10-page home assignment, with a new exam question
Course content and structure

Students are introduced to the practice of applying anthropological theories and organizational ethnographic methods in creative problem-solving activities for private and public sector organizations. The course will explore the use of anthropological and ethnographical methodologies in organizations. Tools such as digital storytelling, gamification, psychographics, organizational analysis, espoused values mapping, participant observation, cyber-ethnography (mapping social networks), communication channels and personal and collective values within an organization will be examined. Discussions will center on the ability of business anthropology to provide an alternative voice to the prevailing marketing, psychological and economic discourses in the world of business as well as the examination of the internet as a tool of transformation and social innovation. How do we embrace productive tensions in cross-disciplinary communication and how business anthropology may serve as conduit for social innovation? Most importantly, how can such a deeper understanding of business anthropology drive competitive strategy for a sustainable future? 

 

Class 1:  What does anthropology have to teach business? Setting the stage - historical roots and current practices. Thought leaders.

Class 2: Working with storyframes to gather data. Story arcs and using a storyboard.

Class 3: Techniques for Conducting Fieldwork.  Observation and Interviewing.

Class 4: Cultural Constructs. Context-Sensitive and Actor-Centered Analysis.

Class 5: Ethics and Meaning Making.

Class 6: The Power of Phronesis.

feedback activity: survey/stop/start/continue

Class 7: Marketing and Consumer Behaviour. 

Class 8: Design Anthropology.

Class 9: Digital Anthropology.

Class 10: Social Innovation and Phronesis.

Class 11: Crowdsourcing and Netnography.

 
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminars, guest lectures, discussions and presentations. Students are expected to be active participants in the learning experience as opposed to passive receptacles for information. The importance of clear and concise written and verbal communication will be stressed throughout the course. In addition to the material covered in the texts, students will develop hands-on skills in analysis, participant observation, group dynamics and formal business presentations.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 10 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 144 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 12 hours
Further Information

 

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

 

Feedback Activity: A feedback activitity defined by the course instructor will take place app. half-way through the course. 
 

 

The timetable is available on  http://www.cbs.dk/files/cbs.dk/isup_timetable_2016_updated.pdf
Expected literature

PRIMARY LITERATURE (MUST-HAVE BOOKS): both are available in Kindle editions.

 

Ann T. Jordan

Business Anthropology

ISBN 978-1-57766-827-5

Waveland Press Inc.

Edition/year 2nd 2013

 

Sam Ladner

Practical Ethnography

ISBN

978-1-61132-390-0 Paperback
978-1-61132-391-7 Ebook Institutional

Left Coast Press Inc.

Edition/year 2014

 
Last updated on 09-06-2016