ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some stories that elucidate what it means to take an anthropological view and offers leaders, consultants and advisors practical tips for looking at an organization the way an anthropologist would. In about 1920, intensive fieldwork became the norm for Western anthropologists who wanted to really get to know cultures in an authentic way. Anthropologists have developed a unique and effective set of research methods that can serve in the practical application of the wisdom to the organizational situations. Anthropologists are constantly switching between an emic and an etic perspective. The interview is one of the anthropologist’s most important tools; deciding which type to use in the fieldwork requires careful consideration. It is very important that corporate anthropologists are as open and honest as possible about their own intentions, the task they have been charged with and the true extent to which they can, or want to, guarantee anonymity to an interviewee.
