Ethnography in international business : learning from the field / Mary Yoko Brannen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brannen, Mary Yoko, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

International business enterprises--Cross-cultural studies.

International business enterprises.

Corporate culture--Cross-cultural studies.

Corporate culture.

Management--Cross-cultural studies.

Management.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxxi, 391 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2025.

Summary:

In today's globalized world, a deep understanding of how culture affects international business phenomena is critical to scholarship and practice. Yet, armed with only superficial measures of national cultural differences proliferated by easy-to-use, statistically testable, generalized classifications, scholars and practitioners find themselves stereotype rich and operationally poor where culture meets real-world international business context. "Culture" is much more complex: made up of various multifaceted and interacting spheres of influence - national, regional, institutional, organizational and functional - and enacted by individuals, many who are multicultural themselves. International business settings are therefore rife with multilevel cultural interactions as individuals with differing cultural assumptions work together in real time (often virtually) across distance and differentiated contexts. Ethnography is the most effective approach for gaining insights into such microlevel embedded cultural phenomena. This coursebook provides detailed examples of three types of ethnography especially suited to researching and building theory in today's complex cultural environments.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Title page

Imprints page

Dialogue between Author Mary Yoko Brannen and Artist Nancy Adler

Dedication

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Culture, International Business, and the Place of Ethnography

Ethnography and Other Fields of Research

Barriers to Ethnography in the Field of IB

What Ethnography Can Offer IB Research

What Ethnography Can Offer You in Your Career as an IB Scholar

A Few Thoughts on What Is and Isn't Ethnography

This Book

Part I Intracultural Ethnography

1 Introduction to Intracultural Ethnography

What Is Intracultural Ethnography and How Is It Relevant to International Business (IB) Theorizing?

Foundations for Theorizing from Intracultural Ethnography

Central Construct

The Literature on Cultural Identity

Opportunities for Further Intracultural Ethnographic Theory Building

2 The Focal Ethnography

Illustrative Example of Theory-Building from a Focal Ethnography

Building Theory from the Focal Ethnography

3 The Comparative Ethnography

Illustrative Examples of Theory Building from a Focal Intracultural Ethnography Using Comparative Ethnography1

Approach to Theory Building in the Comparative Ethnography

Summary Thoughts on Comparative Ethnographies and Theory Building in IB

4 Exercises for Part I: Some Tools and Practice Opportunities for Engaging in Intracultural Ethnography

Tools for Engaging in Intracultural Ethnography

Sample Responses for Practice Opportunity #1

Part II Transcultural Ethnography

5 Introduction to Transcultural Ethnography

What Is Transcultural Ethnography and How Is It Relevant to IB Theorizing?

Foundations for Theorizing from Transcultural Ethnography.

Formative Literature for Understanding Transcultural Dynamics Across Multiple Sites

Semantic Fit

6 The Focal Transcultural Ethnography

A Disciplinary Side Trip in Transcultural Ethnography

Illustrative Example of Theory Building from a Focal Transcultural Ethnography

Illustrative Example of Building Theory from a Focal Transcultural Ethnography

A Note on Getting Such Work Published

7 Building Generalizable Theory from Transcultural Ethnographies

Finding Ethnography's Own Footing as a Foundation for Generalizing

Mapping of Transfer Items

Highly Recontextualized Items at NSK: Quadrant I (Social Processes)

8 Exercises for Part II: Some Tools and Practice Opportunities for Engaging in Transcultural Ethnography

Tools for Engaging in Transcultural Ethnography

Part III Strategic Ethnography

9 Introduction to Strategic Ethnography

What Is Strategic Ethnography and How Is It Relevant to IB Theorizing and Management?

Foundations for Doing Strategic Ethnography and Learning from the Other

Understanding the Knowledge-Sharing Challenge

Theorizing Knowledge Types and Ways to Learn from the Other

Opportunities for Engaging in Strategic Ethnography

10 Strategic Ethnography and Learning from the Other

The Essence of Tesco Project

Project Design

Summary Thoughts on the Usefulness of Ethnography for IB Practice and Theory

Contributions of the Essence of Tesco Project to Theory Building in IB

Concluding Thoughts

Postscript

11 Exercises for Part III: Exercises for Engaging in Strategic Ethnography

#1 FSM Field Notes Tool

#2 Mobilizing Global Knowledge

#3 Using the Recontextualization Grid as a Diagnostic for Partnership and Strategic Alliances

Part IV Epilogue

12 Ethnography in International Business Revisited.

13 Frequently Asked Questions and Some Answers

Appendixes

Appendix relating to Part I: Brannen &amp

Peterson, 2009

Merging Without Alienating: Interventions Promoting Cross-Cultural Organizational Integration and Their Limitations

Conceptual Background and Theoretical Overview

The Setting and Ethnographic Background

Constructs and Hypotheses

Method

Results of Quantitative Triangulation

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

About the Authors

Appendix relating to Part II: Brannen, 2004

When Mickey Loses Face:Recontextualization, Semantic Fit,and the Semiotics of Foreignness

Theoretical Background

Semiotics, Semantic Fit, and Recontextualization

Applying the Analytical Model to the Case of Walt Disney

Appendix relating to Part III: Brannen &amp

Doz, 2012

Corporate Languages and Strategic Agility: Trapped in Your Jargon or Lost in Translation?

Corporate Language and Strategic Agility

How to Assess the Quality of a Company's Language as Enabler of Strategic Agility?

Enabling Strategic Agility

In Conclusion

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 28 Oct 2025).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-009-22492-1

1-009-22494-8

1-009-22497-2

OCLC:

1546524846