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Dr. Enrico Mulawarman BSc.MBA
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Semester Genap 2008/2009
23 Feb. ’09 | First Day of Class @ BiNus | Semester Genap 2008/09
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Blog 101 @ dkv-BiNus
Blog 101 @ dkv-BiNus with Pak Danu | Feb. 17th, 2009
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Anthropology Can Lend Insight to Business
Enrico Mulawarman, The Jakarta Post | Sat, 01/31/2009 | Opinion
A trend is on the horizon. Many people are jumping on the multicultural bandwagon. In the political realm, more politicians are more often stressing the importance of cultural diversity.
In academic circles, qualitative research is gaining ground on the predominant penchant for quantitative research, highlighting a renewed interest in social and cultural phenomena. President Barack Obama said, “there are no blue states or red states, just the United States of America”. Obama highlights the importance of unity in cultural and social diversity. This trend is also apparent and highly visible in business and corporate settings.
Tom Davenport of Babson College has been predicting for years that anthropologists would be in demand in the workplace of the future. As the world’s economies have become globally oriented and interdependent, the consequences of the 2008 global financial crisis is forcing governments across the globe to find ways to save their ailing economies.
Governments and the private sector, financial institutions and corporations battle to preserve themselves by restructuring their approach or coming up with new business models and plans. Anthropological approaches and research is increasingly appealing to business because it is helping answer pressing questions about consumers, consumption, and how people use products and services.
What anthropologists have to offer is not just confined to marketing and consumer behavior research. Anthropological approaches also makes it possible to understand what we have come to call the culture of an organization: every business entity, because it is a kind of social organization, develops its own corporate culture.
Anthropologists commonly use the term culture to refer to a society or group in which many or all people live and think in similar ways. Likewise, any group of people who share a common culture and, in particular, common rules of behavior and a basic form of social organization constitutes a society.
An anthropological approach is able to expand the understanding of corporate culture from an organizational premise, where often serves as a management tool, to an analysis on how corporate culture can be used to identify an individual’s way of life in relation to an existing structure.
Cultural anthropologists have been very effective in studying organizational behavior (Jordan 2003). In his essay “A Scientific Theory of Culture”, Bronislaw Malinowski states the science of human behavior begins with organization.
Malinowski argues that the frame of an institution is a legitimate isolate of cultural analysis. In the 1970s, Clifford Geertz radically refigured culture theory in anthropology arguing that culture must be seen as “webs of meaning” within which humans must live.
There are differing perspectives on organizational culture, from the idea that culture is a continuous process in which meaning is made collectively to that idea that culture as a thing which managers can define from above and act upon within a system of command and control.
The concept of corporate culture grew from organizational studies, but scholars of this research have been largely influenced by the field of anthropology from the outset.
Within corporate organizational settings in general, anthropology makes it possible to analyze in depth a company’s value system, language, thought and behavior.
Anthropology constantly stresses the importance of ethnography in its approach and methodology. In corporate settings, ethnography helps describe and interpret the culture and worldview of consumers and employees.
For example, employees, particularly those in the field, have frequent encounters with consumers which gives insight into consumer patterns. Employees evaluate and classify customers and consumers needs, concerns, complaints and unfulfilled needs.
Consumers articulate them directly to employees, and effective employees turn those patterns into strategies to enhance sales, improve customer relationships and alleviate customer concerns and grievances. Within a business, ethnography helps explain the effect the corporation’s culture has on the implementation of operations by an organization’s employees.
Knowing how they perceive the effectiveness of the various sanctions or rewards that are attached to their work performance and vertical corporate relationships helps explain how employees manage their role within the broader social organization of the company.
It also explains how employees receive and interpret the relevance of top-down operational procedures, service policies and marketing initiatives.
Some companies use ideas of culture as management tools. Others emphasize that companies are clearly demarcated entities bounded vis-*-vis their environment, containing specified groups of people, organized hierarchically, each with a checklist of behaviors fostered by and unique to that company’s culture.
For example, McDonald’s is identified by their golden arches logo, standardized decor and branded packaging. The core beliefs of the company – quality, service, convenience and value – are instilled into managers in order to create a sense of unity across franchises. Counter staff have to follow a checklist of standardized behaviors as they perform their job.
I view corporate culture as a holistic concept. It refers to the ways in which an entire organization is perceived and construed. Over the years, mainstream anthropology has shifted from a discipline that enumerates a systematic functional approach of social structures to a more critique-oriented and postmodern methodology.
The writer is a graduate from the University of Indonesia and is currently a lecturer in the marketing and communications department at the Faculty of Communication and Multimedia of Binus University
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Understanding poverty through a qualitative approach
Indraswari , The Jakarta Post | Tue, 01/20/2009 | Opinion
Enrico Mulawarman in his article Understanding global trends: Culture matters which was published in this paper on Jan. 3, 2009, provides good insight on how anthropology and its qualitative approach contribute to understanding global trends.
He writes on how anthropology’s unique tool — participant observation — helps anthropologists to obtain a deeper and more experienced insight into the activities performed in a society and how people think and it also allows them to gain a good overview of how and why a society functions.
The writer is correct about the importance of a qualitative approach in understanding global trends and other social phenomena. There was a time when researchers believed that the only phenomena that counted in social sciences were those that can be measured, regardless of the fact that not all phenomena in the world group themselves naturally into quantities. A qualitative approach fills the gap.
With regard to poverty, despite its importance, the qualitative evaluation comes in second when discussing poverty — which is more about quantitative measures.
The latter defines poor people as those with an income of less than US$ 1 or $2 per day. The government’s commitment to eradicate poverty is determined by the amount of money spent in various poverty alleviation programs.
Whether or not a country has succeeded in combating poverty is measured by the percentage of poor people relative to the nation’s population. Such an approach is wrong, but we cannot rely on a single method only as it does not reveal the entire picture.
Findings from my research on Bandung’s urban poverty show how a lack of income combined with other deprivations affect poor people. The research used a qualitative approach with a combination of in-depth interview, observation and participant observation to collect field data.
As space here is limited for a detailed explanation of my findings, I will only discuss one case history — just call her Ati — who told me a story on how poverty has severely affected her life and her family.
Married, Ati is in her early 30s and had a four-month-old baby. Her husband sells newspapers, getting on and off Bandung’s city buses daily, and earns Rp 10,000 (less than US$ 1) a day.
Ati previously worked as a maid but stopped working because of her baby. One day she told me that she had just sold three of her five batik clothes (kain) used for carrying her baby for Rp 10,000 each to buy food.
I thought this was the worst picture of poverty but then the other day I was in her mother’s home when she arrived, which is about 3 kilometers away from hers, carrying her baby in her arms.
She had been forced to return as she said, “I can no longer bear fasting”. She had been “fasting” for three days, eating nothing and drinking only plain water, as she had no money to buy food.
During these days her baby was “fasting” too, as he only drank plain water mixed with coconut sugar.
Because of stress and lack of food and drink, her body had stopped producing breast milk. She was forced to walk home as she had no money to use public transportation, stopping every four to five steps due to a headache.
Another of Ati’s miserable stories was when I visited her on a late afternoon. It was a hot day and was already dark when I arrived at her home — a three-meter room with sheets of newspaper and cardboard attached to the bamboo walls and leaking roof to prevent cold and rain from seeping in — and Ati apologized for receiving me while not yet having had a bath.
I thought nothing of it at the time but only told her that I did not mind waiting if she and her baby wanted to bath first. A moment later I was speechless when she replied that she could not take a bath because her husband was not yet home, meaning that she had no money to buy water for bathing.
At this point I discovered that she and others in the neighborhood rely heavily on buying water from a local vendor. Ati may end up spending Rp 6,000, or 60 percent of her husband’s daily income of Rp 10,000, for water only.
There are many other Atis in the community whom I studied. Ati’s case describes the qualitative dimensions of poverty. It is about how poor people struggle not only with a lack of income but also with a chronic deprivation of resources, capabilities, choices, security and power which all work to keep them from reaching an adequate standard of living.
It is also about the failure and inability to have dignity, civic, cultural, economic, political and
social rights. The story gives a deeper insight into what poverty is and shows the human face of poverty which is much more important than just numbers.
Therefore, the qualitative approach should be included in poverty analysis. The richness of qualitative data will give a more balanced view on poverty.
Programs to alleviate poverty should be designed not just from numbers and from behind a desk, but from the field where researchers and policymakers should go to listen and capture the picture for themselves.
The writer completed a PhD in Anthropology in 2006 from The Australian National University, Canberra, specializing in gender and poverty. She is a lecturer at the School of Social and Political Science, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.
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Understanding Global Trends: Culture Matters
Enrico Mulawarman, The Jakarta Post | Sat, 01/03/2009 | Opinion
What does Indiana Jones have in common with Barack Obama’s mother? They were both fascinated by culture. Indiana Jones studied human culture by analyzing artifacts through archeology. Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham Sutoro, received her PhD in Anthropology for her work on rural development.
Many academics are saying that we now live in a multicultural society and that society is becoming even more pluralistic. Obama’s victory made history, making him the first African-American to hold the highest office in the United States. Aside from his shrewd political maneuvers, could it be that his worldwide appeal stems from the fact that his character was shaped from a multicultural background? A mother from Kansas. A father from Africa. Siblings of different nationalities. Childhood memories from Indonesia. And finally finding himself in the United States.
The fact of the matter is that culture has indeed demonstrated its significance in the global market, the political realm, in academic discussions, mass media and even in the make-believe world of Hollywood movies and TV shows. But what is culture? In 1952 Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of culture. Many claim to be experts in culture, but they tend to have different approaches in their analysis of culture creating diverse and vibrant viewpoints.
Eric Wolf once described anthropology as the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences. Most academic programs’ approach to anthropology encompasses physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistics and cultural anthropology or social anthropology. Cultural anthropology illustrates how many subjects are interrelated — analyzing historical, political and psychological aspects of humanity so that one can better understand the interrelationship of issues and understand human nature and how it got to be a certain way.
There are arguments that anthropology is a discipline with its roots in colonialism, that early anthropologists typically had more power than the people they studied and that the knowledge learned is seen as a form of theft in which the anthropologist gains at the expense of informants. Regardless of its origin, anthropology has developed into a discipline and its fascination with culture spans from the exotic to the ordinary and from the study of deeply isolated societies to the study of modern business organizations.
Typically, anthropologists are often portrayed as real-life Indiana Joneses obsessed with their mummies or researchers mingling with indigenous people on an isolated tropical island. In reality, that is no longer the case. Many anthropologists have replaced their curriculum vitaes for resumes and are increasingly seen not just within academic circles, social services, government work and NGOs, but are increasingly active across a multitude of disciplines including organizational studies, corporate settings, advertising, administration, market research, sales management, public relations, banking, merchandising, medical, journalism and management consulting.
Anthropology is no longer confined to analyzing bounded and isolated societies, but it has been proven that anthropological approaches and theories have been successful in understanding the humanity of borderless communities and contemporary societies. As a result, over the years various emphases within anthropology have developed, such as lingual anthropology, urban anthropology, visual anthropology, corporate anthropology, medical anthropology and forensic anthropology — to name just a few.
What is so appealing about anthropology that it attracts a diverse and broad spectrum? How does anthropology give a better understanding about a certain culture, about humanity, about how people think and view the world around them? In my humble opinion, anthropology has been quite successful across different fields due to its basic scientific approach and research methodology.
Deeply rooted in humanities and social science, anthropology is exceptionally qualitative. The primary aim of quantitative research is to measure, whereas through qualitative research and analysis, anthropology attempts to understand culture.
Anthropologists study and analyze artifacts in order to grasp its significance and meaning for the associated people and society. They take a more emic view compared to an etic view, where the points of view of the people being researched are more significant than those of the researchers. Anthropologists are trained to avoid bias as so to lessen any misconceptions the researcher may bring reflecting his/her own cultural standpoint.
Other unique tools anthropologists use are participant observation and ethnography. Participant observation involves the anthropologist in the activities of the people, so that instead of just observing them, the anthropologist is able to have a hands-on experience of how they live their lives.
The main advantages of participant observation is that it allows anthropologists to obtain a deeper and more experienced insight of the activities performed in a society, how people think and it also allows them to gain a good overview of how and why a society functions. Anthropologists study and interpret cultural diversity through ethnography based on fieldwork.
Ethnography provides an account of a particular culture, society or community. The fieldwork usually involves spending a year or more in another society, living with the local people and learning about their way of life.
Ethnographers are participant observers. They take part in events they study because it helps with understanding local behavior and thought.
As the global economic crisis continues, countries are struggling to preserve their economies through various means. Last October, President Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Commonly referred to as the “Bailout Plan”, this Act authorizes the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to US$700 billion to help the ailing economy.
In December, the CEO’s of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler showed up on Capitol Hill to plead for US$34 billion from Congress. They said the funds were needed to save the automotive industry. Among their plans to Congress that detailed how they would use loans to return to profitability, one CEO stated that they have learned from past mistakes and are planning to make the company more customer driven: To be sensitive towards the market and consumers.
Anthropological approach and research is increasingly appealing to business as it helps answer academic questions about consumers and consumption and attempts to gain an understanding on how people use products and services. Major consumer product companies such as Procter & Gamble, Whirlpool, Volvo and Electrolux have utilized anthropological research in marketing to understand consumer behavior, segmenting out different social, ethnic or racial groups and marketing products specifically to these target markets. In business, anthropology is not just a useful marketing tool but it can help one understand the corporate culture of a business entity.
By analyzing different social groups or peer groups, an understanding of employee’s behavior, thought, and perception at an office or factory may eventually increase individual performance and creativity as well as organizational output.
Advancements in technology, communication and transportation have accelerated globalization at a rapid rate. What happens in one part of the world will consequently affect another part faster than ever before. Traditional borders are almost obsolete as people are able to easily move from one place to another.
In today’s global society, we don’t live in isolated communities. In fact, in a single location, people of all backgrounds, cultures and languages interact in a single space all the time. People are never void of culture; they ultimately have their own distinct customs, language, food, beliefs and way of life. This phenomenon is apparent in almost all communities and even organizations, thus confirming the idea of a multicultural and plural society.
In this globalized economy and in this multicultural and pluralistic society, culture is constantly present across a variety of fields. As a consequence, the significance of culture should never be disregarded as it is able to act as a gateway into understanding humanity and human nature.
The writer is a graduate from the University of Indonesia and is currently a lecturer at the Marketing Communication Department, Faculty of Communication and Multimedia, Binus University.
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