Business Anthropology and Corporate Culture: Viewing Corporate Culture at Morse Inc.Through the Eyes of a Business Anthropologist.
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Authors
Plaunt, Kristin
Issue Date
2008
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Anthropologically, culture is defined as the shared sets of beliefs and values of
a common group of people. Culture can encompass everything from language, to
religious beliefs, to the types of food one eats and may include the clothes that one
wears. To the uninitiated, culture is often thought of as describing the affairs of an
obscure ethnic group on a far off island. However, one does not need to study the
exotic; different cultural vectors and the rules and regulations that accompany them
control our everyday lives. We can study the effects of culture very close to home.
For most people, whether they understand it or not, the main cultural group they
identify with is found in the workplace. As a result, people become ingrained within
a corporation (workplace) and its corporate culture.
This paper will look at several characteristics of corporate culture: what
comprises corporate culture, the way it works, and how it affects different aspects of
the company. I will look at the way business anthropology functions within the
corporation and how it can benefit corporate culture. Finally, these two ideas will
come to life with first-hand examples from a typical business environment -- the
corporate culture at Morse Inc. By using my research on the topics of business
anthropology and corporate culture combined with the knowledge and insights from
my internship at Morse Inc., I will delineate the workings of corporate culture and
business anthropology within a workplace.