International Journal of Business Anthropology

Writing of Business Ethnography: Reflections on Fieldwork and Theory

Xuya Tian — 2024-06-26

The writing of business ethnography has expanded from the study of small social units such as factories to the discussion of transnational markets, transnational business networks and global finance in under the context of globalization. A holistic anthropological perspective and use of ethnography research have played important roles in the development of business anthropology. The research tradition and orientation of anthropology not only determine research perspectives and approaches in business ethnography, they also influence the theoretical construction of business anthropology. The study of business ethnography in China provides not only local interpretations of the theory and practice of business anthropology, but also opportunities to reflect on the use of ethnography for such studies.

Limited McDonaldization as a Success Recipe: An Ethnographic Study of Yili Driving School in Jinan, China

Shu Ping — 2024-06-26

Current corporate culture studies mainly emphasize the management and motivation of employees within an enterprise, while little consideration is taken of the interaction between the enterprise, employees and customers. Based on an ethnographic study of Yili Driving School in Jinan, this article explores the success recipe of service-oriented enterprises. It argues that the success of the driving school can be attributed to its corporate culture of limited McDonaldization, consisting of two contradictory but coexisting models, i.e. a rationalized and standardized management model and a relational and emotional work model, in which corporate management, employees and consumers are all involved. So far as the driving school is concerned, the school administrators, coaches and students selectively use cultural resources to adopt different action strategies which enable the participants of the corporate culture to achieve a win-win situation. This study highlights not only the McDonaldized management of the enterprise, but also the mechanism of emotional cultivation between the driving school, instructors and trainees. The result of this study is hoped to contribute to research on corporate culture and enterprise anthropology by breaking with the previous approaches from within the company.

A Study on the Sustainable Development Strategy for Cultural Brands from the Perspective of All Media

Mengke Luo — 2024-06-26

The era of all media, as a new cognitive background connecting together everything, provides a new perspective for the operation and communication of cultural brands. Taking the connection between all media and cultural brands as the entry point, this paper discusses how to operate cultural brands in a reasonable and efficient manner. On the one hand, the task is on the construction and communication of cultural brands themselves, focusing on the cultural connotations of their brands and the integration of their marketing with multimedia resources; on the other hand, the operation strategy needs to be further improved, such as the innovation of operation concept, balance of brand layout and creation of brand differentiation advantages. In the context of the era of all-media integration, cultural brands create a more comprehensive and three-dimensional communication mode in a more diversified form. Choosing cross-media and multimedia for brand planning and operation is an inevitable choice.

Understanding the Guanxi Culture in Chinese Art Market: Okada Kosho and Shanghai Art World in the Late-nineteenth Century

Ni Na Camellia Ng — 2024-06-26

Shanghai art market had developed a strong international trade system since China was forced to have her gate ajar in the late-nineteenth century. In 1873, a Nagasaki doctor Okada Kosho (1821-1903) travelled to Shanghai and Suzhou. Thanks to the development of stochastic models for the analysis of social networks in contemporary statistics, the structure of Okada’s guanxi (social connections) in Shanghai and Suzhou in the late nineteenth century can be represented by the model, which illustrated that Okada was connected with a few “bridges”, including the Japanese artist Yasuda Rozan, Japanese Consulate Shinagawa Tadamichi, an official dispatched at the end of 1860s to Shanghai, Kumashiro Encho, and the prominent art collector of the Guoyun Chamber, and Gu Cheng, all of whom helped Okada Kosho to explore the Shanghai and Suzhou art world. Through the bridging ties spanned by these individuals, Okada interacted closely with a particular cluster of Chinese artists, art collectors and art dealers. This proved that the Chinese art community heavily relied on social connections of the “bridges” in advertising itself and spreading its reputation. This paper first outlines the Shanghai art market in the late nineteenth century based on Okada Kosho’ s Diaries of Shanghai and Suzhou (1890). It then argues for the opportunity and limitation of building guanxi in the context of the Chinese art market. Finally, it suggests research approaches based on viewing the late-nineteenth-century Shanghai art market in this new way.

Development Logic From Regional Cuisine to Global Fast Food — A Case Study of Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Jing Li — 2024-06-26

Lanzhou Beef Noodles is a distinctive regional food in and around Lanzhou, China. With the development of the society, Lanzhou Beef Noodles has become a shared culinary cultural element among people across many parts of China and even expanding globally. The phenomenon of “Lanzhou Beef Noodles” evolving into “Lanzhou Ramen” and spreading throughout the streets worldwide highlights the combined significance of this food and its business. This combination has led to the dual expansion of the economic significance of cuisine and the social significance of business. Using ethnographic research methods based on anthropology and incorporating anthropological theories of business, this paper argues that adhering to traditional culinary standards constitutes a core competitiveness and value advantage of Lanzhou Beef Noodles. A rational operation of capital plays a crucial social role in the process of business inheritance and transformation. The joint efforts of the government and the private sector, along with an adaptive business model, have transformed Lanzhou Beef Noodles from a culinary cultural resource into a cultural capital. This transition is the developmental logic behind the widespread success of Lanzhou Beef Noodles, making it a culinary delight locally, nationally and globally.

Smart Port Construction on the China-Vietnam Border and Smooth Cross-Border Trade: The Case of Dongxing

Yuhan Deng — 2024-06-26

As the construction of e-commerce platforms and communication tools based on the internet has gradually matured, online transactions and smart customs clearance have emerged as new trends in cross-border trade and port construction. This paper takes the Dongxing Port in Guangxi Province, China, as an example, and analyzes the intelligentization of trade clearance, transactions, settlement and some other aspects including cross-border exchange, recognizing smart port construction as a new development model. It conforms to the current characteristics and the actual needs of borderland residents. On the one hand, it can improve the construction of the border exchange network, stimulate the economic expansion and elasticity of the port regions and promote smooth cross-border trade. On the other, it serves as a powerful means of encouraging the interconnection and mutual benefit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) member states.

The “Umbrella Society” and the Emergence and Development of Modern Enterprises During the Self-Strengthening Movement in China

Jijiao Zhang — 2024-06-26

The “umbrella society” is a main feature of the Chinese social structure. The “umbrella” protection that government offers business operators is not only a major social relationship but also an important means of resource allocation in China. During the Self-Strengthening Movement, the “paternal”, “kinship” and “friendship” relationships between the government and enterprises promoted the emergence of state-owned enterprises, government-supervised commercial enterprises and commercial enterprises, respectively, as modern enterprises. Simultaneously, different resource allocations facilitated their development. However, due to the ambiguities in the umbrella services provided by the government to enterprises, the Chinese efforts to establish modern enterprises during the Self-Strengthening Movement were far from successful.

Reinventing Anthropological Dimensions for HR Progression: Conceptualizing a Measurement Scale

Partha Naskar — 2024-06-26

The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic ruined the business hemisphere across the globe and thus organizations are on the pathway to restore people, planet and profit. At this intermittent phase, the relevance of anthropological dimensions at work sphere for building an agile and resilient organization that can sustain in both normal and crisis times is quite realistic and pertinent in present environment. The essential objective of the present paper is to identify the prominent domains and related items that may be considered in redesigning work-place anthropological dimensions and to set up structured scale in tune with anthropological traits. The main source of conceptualizing the research scale is formulated from the detailed literature survey involving essential considerations of the paper viz. character strength, human psychological behavior, behavioral implication on business education, mind purification, culture, personality & values. From the literature explicated in the paper, a clear attempt has been made to identify five broad domains and the items considered for the study. The five broad domains identified are Doman A: Character strength, Domain B: Human psychological behavior, Domain C: Behavioral implication on business educations, Domain D: Mind purification on human behavior, Domain E: Ethical dimensions on human behavior. A structured scale in the clear nomenclature of “CPBME” scale has been developed with the potential for future scope of the study. “CPBME” scale implies C-Character, P-Psychology, B-Behavior, M-Mind, and E-Ethics. The study makes a modest attempt to uphold the potential of human anthropological avenues as a revitalizing HR element in the digitalized business hemisphere.