This study aims to analyze some of the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological implications between organizational anthropology and ethnography. Departing from the assumption that ethnographic analysis and interpretive research on organizational anthropology has an emergent and symbolic role rooted in social processes and with no a priori assumptions, with explanations and categories defined by the organizational actors. The method employed is based on analytical and descriptive issues from the theoretical and empirical literature review leading to reflective analysis. It is concluded that ethnographic methodology is pertinent to be used in the analysis of its interactions, with organizational anthropology as a new specialty in organizational studies.
TopProblem Statement
Organizational anthropology is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand the complex relationships between humans and organizations. This discipline is based on the collaboration of various fields, such as psychology, social anthropology, ethnology, sociology, among others. However, according to Fotaki et al. (2020), there is still a need for greater inclusion of the anthropological perspective in organizational studies.
Organizational anthropology has historically focused on researching organizational structures, work practices, corporate culture, and cultural diversity within organizations. Although the discipline has developed theoretical models and research methodologies in collaboration with other fields, such as industrial and organizational psychology, there are still knowledge gaps. For example, the discipline has tended to focus more on the description and analysis of organizational practices and less on the analysis of workers' subjective experience and the processes that influence their behavior.
On the other hand, ethnography and other anthropological approaches offer valuable tools for researching processes of signification, the social construction of reality, and subjective experience. These approaches can complement the more quantitative and structural approaches of organizational anthropology and enrich our understanding of behavioral problems in the workplace.
Therefore, this study aims to explore how the inclusion of the anthropological perspective can contribute to a solid theoretical framework for organizational psychology and how it can generate dialogue between disciplines to address behavioral problems in organizations. It is expected that this study will contribute to the consolidation of organizational anthropology as a discipline that integrates various theoretical and methodological perspectives to understand the complexity of contemporary organizations.
Next, we will address the section “Importance of the study,” which considers various definitions and theoretical perspectives that have emerged in this field. It also highlights the need to approach the study of organizations from a multidisciplinary perspective, with anthropology, paleontology, historiography, and sociology as the main approaches.