Entrepreneurship: A Challenging, Fruitful Domain for Ethnography

Entrepreneurship: A Challenging, Fruitful Domain for Ethnograph

Working at the Speed of Innovation: Impedance Mismatch in Rapid and Innovation Projects

In this paper we report on the results of an ethnographic study of a rapid design innovation (RDI) experiment in NASA Aeronautics. This work is based on the study of the Aeronautics Autonomy Testbed Capability (AATC) team in the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project. This paper focuses on and summarizes one of the key over-arching findings from the study: there is a significant mismatch in the organizational culture in the rest of the organization compared with that required for RDI. And, if this organizational cultural mismatch is not addressed, the likelihood of any organization being able to advance a new and different type of work (such as RDI) will be jeopardized. We delineate several aspects of the two different cultures identified in order to enable leaders and practitioners to better understand what contributes to the cultural dissonance and the implications of the differences in the cultures. As well, we identify ways in which those differences can be addressed. Research from organization and other social sciences are incorporated to highlight the differences. The implications of the research suggest that the significant cultural differences trigger a strong and resistive response from the dominant culture that may negate leaderships strategy to build the new capacity for RDI. While the research results noted the pervasive nature of innovation throughout the workplace, the type of innovation envisioned in RDI is a rare type of innovation that requires significantly new methods, work processes, tools, and skills such that approaches used in the dominate culture cannot be adopted by expediting the existing approaches. Examples include: innovation teaming and leadership; the need for adaptive leadership that changes the relationship of a research leader to the other researchers; and, an interdisciplinary teaming approach which shapes team relationships and activities. Each of these aspects requires new teaming, tools, and skills in order to succeed. Thus, when introducing RDI activities where there is a different dominant culture, teams need to be: well trained; protected; recognized and rewarded. And, team leaders must also be trained in the unique types of teaming and innovation tools used in RDI. Both RDI teaming and team leadership must be sanctioned, supported, and rewarded by leadership. Because of the cultural mismatch, in some organizations looking to add RDI to their existing and established organizations, sep to avoid or mitigate the negative impact of the culture mismatch

Guiding Change as President of the Board of Trustees: Learning from the Liminal Drama of It All

Organizational-culture change has been of interest to scholars and practitioners for decades, though little empirical data has contributed to our understanding of ritual transitions. By contrast, transitions for individuals, but not organizations, have been examined through the theoretical lenses of ritual process. This article builds on both literatures to explore planned change in an assisted living and nursing care community. I led an effort, as President of the Board of Trustees, to establish philanthropy as a core element of the organizational culture at a time when the long-term-care sector had become increasingly competitive. Participant observation, documentary data and discussions, along with the roles I played, resulted in this account. My term of office was marked by ambiguity, inaction, polarization, and conflict. I distinguish among three types of “liminal” or transitional periods, using van Gennep and Turner’s works as a foundation. I illustrate the relationship between liminality and the resistance and interventions that emerged within the Board and Leadership Team, drawing implications for ritual theory―particularly, liminality and social drama. The practical lessons from this experience, depicted in the Countering Resistance Model, should be helpful to other organizations and leadership groups in mitigating their own transition difficulties

The Woes of Implementation Practice: Getting Caught by the “Program of the Month”

Senior leaders from a large American hospital told me that they wanted their hospital to become more “patient-centric” and asked me to help them.  I was hired to conduct an ethnographic study of the hospital with a team of six employees and the goal of improving patient experiences.  Sixteen months later, the research was completed, effective models of hospital work practices documented, recommendations made, and 16 tools developed to improve hospital culture.  Yet none of our work was implemented.  I returned to my field notes to discover clues that might explain why.  This article explains the process I followed, the stories that revealed unwanted messages, the transcripts that enabled sensemaking, and the program-of-the-month cycle that prevented implementation from occurring. 

The Coming of Age of Anthropological Practice and Ethics

Anthropology as a discipline is well over 100 years old; as a profession it is just gearing up. It is the diversity of anthropological work, not simply by subfield and geographic location, but by job function that has contributed to the field’s expansion. This growth has led to ethical questions and issues surrounding anthropological identity, adaptation, and collegiality, as increasing numbers of anthropologists are finding alternatives to the work of the professor. While the “split” or “divide” between academic and nonacademic work now seems narrower, much more needs to be done to acknowledge that practitioners are a growing and contributing segment of the field. As the career paths of anthropologists continue to differentiate, efforts will be necessary to unify anthropology so that the work of practitioners is considered on par with academics. This article takes on that challenge and proposes solutions to help practice and academia work together to advance the field

Opinions: Ethnographic Methods in the Study of Business

For this issue of the Journal of Business Anthropology, I approached a number of people who have conducted research in, with, on, or for business organizations of one sort or another and asked them to reflect upon their ethnographic experiences. What follows is a series of essays by scholars and practitioners ‒ many of them extremely experienced, but one at the beginning of her career ‒ who between them have provided us with a collation of exemplary practices and insights. It isn’t just restaurant kitchens and home cooking that provide ‘food for thought’, but cruise ships, art museums, General Motors, and an Austrian electrical company. Bon appetit