My colleague and I have presented our on-going research on ethnographer identity at Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism (SCOS) 2021.

Negotiation of researcher identity within ethnographic fieldwork: A reflexive account of identity work 

This paper looks at the negotiation of identities within ethnographic fieldwork, in relation to how researchers identify themselves, interpret their relationship with the respondents and manage their fluid position within the field. It explores the changes of self researchers can undergo during research as they conduct individual ‘identity work’ to gain acceptance and attempt to become an ‘insider’ within the organisations they are researching. The paper examines researcher’s multiple identities, the way these can differentiate and distance them from their respondents, and the manipulation of spatial practices they undertake in their identity work as they attempt to (re)position themselves within the research site.

I am delighted to present my on-going research with my research collaborator, Dr. Yu Fu at Lancaster University China Centre (LUCC).

You can see the event page at LUCC here and Youtube video here.

Toward a non-essentialist paradigm of culture: A study of Chinese and Japanese management culture

Speaker: Yu Fu and Zoe Zhu, Lancaster University Management School

Place: Online via Teams, co-hosted with the Lancaster University Confucius Institute

Time: May 25, 2021 11am-12pm (UK time)

This study reviews and compares the Chinese and Japanese national culture values and norms discussed in the management studies to illustrate the importance of non-essentialist paradigm of culture facing the key cross-cultural issues faced by organisations when designing and implementing management policies and practices in East Asia. This paper addresses Nathan’s (2010) call of non-essentialist approach on culture studies by acknowledging the importance of exploring and respecting local culture when developing organisation strategies. A comparative review on the notions in the Confucianism shows the limitation of essentialist scholars who used the functionalist approach on culture. The simplification of culture based on functional and essentialist perspective and the lack of interpretive and non-essentialist analysis on the core of its management culture will result in confusing the corporate ideology (what the company say they do) with the reality (what they actually do). Only through an analysis of the continuity, change, and context of a company, we can better understand the culture behind the mask. Thus, the authors contend that the development of national cultural values and norms and their impact of management policies and practices in Japan and China, needs to be investigated in a dynamic context through a long-term view.

Speaker bios: Yu Fu is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology, Management School, Lancaster University. She delivers lectures in the areas of Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour. Her research interest lies in international HRM, particularly national cultural factors in employment. The main focus of her research is to investigate the impact of Chinese cultural values on the Western Transnational Corporations’ HR policies and practices in their Chinese subsidiaries.

Zoe Zhu is an International Teaching Fellow in the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology, Management School, Lancaster University. She teaches management and marketing in the China campus as well as the Bailrigg campus. As an ethnographer, she is interested in corporate culture in the era of globalization, in particular in the formation, dissemination and interpretation of corporate ideology at Japanese company in East Asia.

先日、エスノグラフィの仲間と共に、パーカーズの「世界はグレーからグリーンへ」ライブ配信のゲストとして、参加させていただきました。

#4　文化人類学のエスノグラファーと、人類の「場」と「創造」について考える

今回は、「エスノグラフィー（エスノ＝民族、グラフィー＝〜を書いたもの）」について説明したのち、ビジネスにおけるエスノグラフィの活用やオンライン・オフラインの場づくりについて話をさせていただきました。

「マネージャーは誰しもがエスノグラファーであるべき」以前、MBAでビオジネスマンに人類学的な思考法を教えていた教授と話をしたとき、実際マネージャーとエスノグラファーに共通点は多くある、という議論をした記憶があります。簡単に言えば、自分の物差しで上司や部下をはかるのではなく、相手を日ごろから観察し、客観的に周囲を見渡しながら、俯瞰的かつ具体的に考えましょう、ということです。

当り前のように聞こえますが、実際実行するのが難しいんですね。これらを完璧に毎日行うことが目的ではなく、自分とは違う人がいるということを認識し、違う意見を持つ人と出会ったとき、うまく釣り合わない同僚に会ったとき、冷静客観的に考えられる思考法が必要ということで、エスノグラフィ的な思考法をお勧めしたいと思います。

以下をクリックすると、当日の動画にアクセスできます（YouTubeにて無料配信）：

好評につき、第2弾開催します！

ゼロから始めるビジネス・エスノグラフィ　〜フィールドワークとインタビュー〜

参加登録はこちらから。

参加登録はこちらから

I am going to be a discussant for an upcoming event entitled Anthropology and/or Practitioner? Plural ontologies in the worlds of Mindfulness and Coaching scheduled on July 15, 14:00-17:30 at Sophia University (Yotsuya Campus).

Download poster here.

Access the link of the organizer here.

I organized a panel entitled “Identity Construction and Management: Implication from Asia” and plan to present a paper “Doing Ethnography in Business: Identity Manipulation and its Implications” at the 8th International Conference on Business Anthropology (June 6-8).

Doing Ethnography in Business:

Identity Manipulation and its Implications

Yi Zhu

 This presentation is an autoethnography of my experiences conducting participant observation in a business organization aiming to examine an ethnographer’s manipulations of identity in the field, its connection to the meaning of Hong Kong society, and its implications on actual business. This presentation analyzes, from the lens of the presenter who was born in Mainland China and educated both in Mainland China and Japan, the process of identity manipulation based on one-and-a-half years of fieldwork in a Japanese multinational retailer in Hong Kong. During my participation in the retail shops as full-time intern, I assumed multiple identities related to nationality, ethnicity and social class, and sometimes I felt necessity to manipulate these identities aiming to build up trustful relationship to get data I needed.

First, I avoided actively promoting my nationality as Mainland Chinese to local employees because I was aware some of them had anti-Mainland sentiment. Data I collected through fieldwork as well as online social network communication showed a glance of the complex identity politics in Hong Kong after the handover. Second, some of my behaviors have confused local employees to identify my ethnic identity. Being educated in Japan for primary school and higher education, some of my behaviors, such as the way of speech and make-ups, inherited various cultural traits from Japan, and this made local employees to identify me as Japanese. On the other hand, since I am also capable of speaking fluent Mandarin with Southern accent, some would identify me as Taiwanese. In some occasions, I tried to strengthen their identification by emphasizing the image they have as Japanese or Taiwanese. Third, I change my social class according to whom I am talking to. Sharing my stories being a post-graduate student at one of the prestige universities in Hong Kong allows me to become friends with management trainees who felt privileged in the company by possessing university degrees. In a meanwhile, when communicating with high school graduates and associate degree students who had grudge against management trainees for feeling inferior, I intended to show I am in fact non-privileged.

This presentation shows the process of identity manipulation and implies that ethnographers sometimes might have to manipulate their identities according to the unique context of the field or to be neutral to avoid workplace politics. Researchers may also need to make good use of their identities as academic fieldworkers to proactively pursue their needs for better research outcomes. This case has several implications for training ethnographers in business. First, an ethnographer needs to be a silent listener. An ethnographer needs to not only avoid getting in the middle of workplace politics, but also to build a trustful relationship with different parties. Second, an ethnographer needs to be neutral in opinion. It is expected for an ethnographer to be “blank” before and while in the field. Third, an ethnographer needs to be less emotionally attached to the organization they are investigating to remain objectivity.

Ted×Otemachi LIVEでのトークがアップされました！

なぜAI時代に人類学的思考法を持った人材が必要なのか？ AI時代において人間の役割は何か.今企業にとって、どのような人材が必要なのか。ビジネスと人類学の視野からひもといていきます。

Why do we need human resources with anthropological thinking in the AI era? What is the role of human beings in the AI era? What kind of human resources practices are needed for companies now? Business Ethnographer Yi Zhu addresses the topic, linking perspectives from both business and anthropology.

現在、サブタイトル追加の作業を行っております…

非常にベーシックなことを話しているので、エスノグラフィに少しでも興味のある方は、ポチっとしてください(^^)

TEDに関するその他情報は公式ウェブサイトから：https://www.ted.com/tedx

この度は、光栄ながらも2019年度異文化経営学会の学会賞（論文）を授与致しました。当学会からは、研究助成金をいただいたうえ、論文発表の機会もいただき、大変ありがたく存じます。今後とも研究に精進してまいります。

受賞した論文：

Zhu, Yi. 2019. Cultural Conflicts in the Process of Embedding Mission Statements. Transcultural Management Review (Ibunka Keiei Kenkyu), 15, 55-70.

Ted×Otemachiのライブセッションにてスピーチをすることになりました（4名のスピーカーの中の1人です）！

詳細はこちらから⇛Ted×Otemachi

チケット購入はこちら（Peatixに移ります）⇛チケットの購入

2019年3月15日、筑波大学（東京キャンパス）にて開催される第1回産学連携シンポの第2部マッチング会場にて、ビジネス×エスノグラフィ×組織変革／イノベーションについてのブースを設けます。

興味のある方は、以下のポスターに掲載されている会場までお越しください。マッチング会場「ビジネスサイエンス系」15：00－16：00、担当は朱助教です。

【日時】　2019年3月15日（金） 9：45～16：00　＊入場無料（事前登録制）
【場所】　筑波大学東京キャンパス文京校舎　（東京都文京区大塚3丁目29-1）
【対象者】民間企業、スタートアップ企業、ベンチャーキャピタル、投資家、金融関係、政府関係、地方自治体など

ポスターはこちら。