This afternoon TheAnthroGuys are giving a presentation about our core competency: Analytic Induction. Our objective is to introduce entrepreneurship students to Analytic Induction in search of opportunities to “add value“.
We will be in a lecture hall of entrepreneurship students at Fresno State. Incidentally, the name of the lecture hall is, “Pete P Peters”. As I often tell students of ethnography, reality is usually far more interesting than fiction once you start actually noticing it.
Ethnographers and entrepreneurs share a reliance on inductive skills to accomplish their goals. Once this is understood, we can learn a great deal from each other.
Our presentation can be found here: Ethnographic (Inductive) Opportunity Analysis .
In a few weeks, we will return to their class to continue this discussion. Our hope is that some – if not all – of these students will see the value of this skill set and in so doing, realize that “thinking out of the box” can be learned.
anthroguy
Felicia Salcido
TheAnthroGeek
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April 25, 2011 at 12:32 pm
James Ros
I wonder why I never thought “outside of the box” before when it comes to business. It makes sense to look into what people are using or doing now and see how one can improve or “add value” those things or experiences.
April 28, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Lilit Chamlikian
The beneficially vast and varied applications of ethnography in a business environment is a subtle and easily overlooked educational tool for arbitration and solidarity between managers and employees; even employees and customers. A business is in itself a social organization and no matter which country it is established in, or city, or the types of employees within, each business environment is a unique social cluster of individuals with different ideals, backgrounds, and perspectives.
To dedicate time and understanding of these delicate variations, such actions only permeate reason and understanding in an individual. Aside from the believably spiritual and pleasant sensation of continuously striving to better oneself, such knowledge, if used accordingly, can become a tour de force in its intentionally designed and developed application to not only make the work environment more comfortable for employees and customers, but resonate with positive support for the employees. In turn, this positive support would maximize worker performance, loyalty to the business, and sustain healthier business practices.
To achieve this though requires, as mentioned before, designed and developed practices to be enforced within a business environment. These practices are to be used in diffusing conflicts and resolving personnel issues. And each problem is unique, thus requiring an understanding person to analyze the problem and a developed understanding of cultures and people will make that analysis more concrete as well as accurate. The other half of the process involves creating a unique solution to accommodate each person’s individual personalities in solving the problem while still remaining focused and goal oriented towards making the right choice for the business.
In a world where borders are being marked with thicker or thinner lines depending on the time of day, we need more people understanding of these culturally varied business tools.
This presentation, I hope, will spread the awareness of the need for more determined understanding and acceptance of different cultures among our society. All it takes is one person to learn the skills necessary and introduce the methods of coexistence in their own social environment, whether it’s at a place of work, in a classroom, in a hospital, or any social environment, to set an example by which others will follow once the benefits are visibly perceived.
Anyone interested in learning some skills which can be used in any social environment, should go to such presentations. Remove the veil of ignorance, drink from the cup of knowledge, and blow your nose using the tissue of understanding. I hope it was a success and thank you AnthroGuys for trying to improve Fresno by broadening the cultural understandings of its citizens.
Ps, the link you guys posted for the presentation on slideshare.net is broken. It seems the site is down or something.
April 30, 2011 at 12:47 am
Leslie Sipat
I wonder if the introduction of apple products is an overall benefit or detriment to how we see electronics. I see more people owning apple products than any other. When I mean any other, I mainly mean mp3 players like the ipod and mobile devices like the iphone. I know there are many other alternatives, but are the alternatives not able to make a profit because of how popular apple is? I do see people with mp3 players like zune and android, but the ratio is a low number. I tend to be surprised when I see someone that does not have an apple product. The reason I’ve been told have mostly stem from the cost. Apple products tend to be more expensive than their counterparts. Why buy an apple product, when you can save at least 50% on something else? I support, but one of the reasons that apple products still continue to be popular is because of how easy it is to use. Take for instance an iphone and an android phone like htc inspire. The biggest difference is that android phones are more customizable than iphones. Iphones are made to be used out of the box and the software is meant for general use.
I suppose there will not be one end all be all answer to whether it has been either a benefit or detriment. Comparing apple products to the competition is difficult because the reasons have a high probability to become subjective. Personal reasons will reign over anything else. Some might like that they can be a part of a group and enjoy the perks of having the same product. Some might like the emotional attachment like growing up with the product and seeing it blossom into something special. Either way, it might not even be either but both. With a product that has been around for a long time, it can collect the benefits and be stuck with the detriments that comes along with a historic product like apple.
April 30, 2011 at 9:26 pm
AkiraN.
Public discussion of applied anthropology in Fresno, CA should be inter-related among the anthropology of community planning and development, anthropology of organizations, and ad hoc anthropological research initiatives carried out as the request of organizations and community members. Inter-relation of these anthropological applications assists community members and organizations to realize and exploit their strengths and deal with their weaknesses, particularly when using ethnographic concepts and approaches. In anthropological language, community planning and development entails the assessment of change, and programs for change, from an authentic perspective, encircling all the diverse cultural and social consequences of community development and change. Ad hoc anthropological research programs should be conducted at the request of local organizations and needs of the local community so as to provide better solutions to community change and development.
Public discussions of applied anthropology in Fresno, CA are most significant to the public, when they enhance the lives of the community and organizations in the area. Public discussions of applied anthropology should be practiced as a model of research carried out to solve practical issues with concerned stakeholders (local community and organizations). Equally, public discussions of applied anthropology should not only comprise of anthropologists but also non-anthropologists across the local community and organizations, which will portray a bright future for public discussions of applied anthropology in Fresno, CA.
Anthropological ethnography should be used in public discussions of applied anthropology in the local area so as to empirically examine the elements that influence the relations between and among the local community, local organizations, as well as the local environment. Public discussions of applied anthropology provide the involved stakeholders with effective and efficient response the issues significant to them. This helps to improve the quality of life as relevant problems are easily solved through the public discussions and practicing of applied anthropology. Public discussions of applied anthropology can utilize traditional as well as contemporary ethnographic approaches to come up with relevant solutions to the problems facing them.
Public discussions of applied anthropology should be conducted in an open-ended approach so that unexpected insights can be raised by the stakeholders, hence improving the discussions as participants build on the existing brainpower, expertise and experience of others in the discussion room. On the other hand, public discussions structured in a close-ended design do not provide participants with the chance to give their insights to the discussion. This highlights the need to value public input in public discussions of applied anthropology as you tap into the knowledge and creativity of the local participants. Organizers of public discussions for applied anthropology should be well accessible and open to communication and debate from the public. Organizers should introduce the discussion topic (applied anthropology) and invite the public to approach and discuss the topic with them. Organizers should be certainly open to communication and discussion to match the interactive intent of the public discussion. Conversely, public discussions on applied anthropology should not be organized in a series of one-to-one discussion of participants and organizers, because this approach cannot achieve the intent of community building. In addition, one-to-one discussions or conversations do not promote lively public discussions, which organizers should plan and encourage. Contrary, one-to-one discussions in public meetings promote creative interaction not experienced in the lively public discussions approach.
May 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Marisol Vera
Today, everything has “add value” to its regular price of value. I think business are smart markets that know how to call buyers attention. On the other hand, I think is very important to think outside the box and understand what are those business markets doing for us and also the experiences we gain from buying their products. For instance, Apple is a famous brand of technology involving, newer computers, ipods, mp3 players, electronic devises and the iphone. These electronic devices are very useful for many of us. Today, I think time have changed and have welcome a modern society who not only take advantage of he business market but also contribute to the growth of our economy. However for many of us apple products are expensive, but for others they view apple products as a good investment.