A framework for a more reflexive engagement with ethnography in International Business Studies

Mahadevan, Jasmin; Moore, Fiona

doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101424

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This was pointed out in 2018 in a book review published in the Journal of International Management , which noted that the “ Journal of International Business Studies […] has thus far published only one paper informed by postcolonial theory […] and the other major IB journals do not fare much better” (Boussebaa, 2018, p. 196, original emphasis). At the time of writing the present paper (2023), IB continues to disregard postcolonial theory (but see Mahadevan and Moore, 2023, for a rare exception in the last few years). This is despite the deeply transformative impact which postcolonial theory has had on the social sciences over the last four decades and, to a much lesser extent, on general management and organization studies in the last two decades.…”

Section: Silence In the Field Of International Businessmentioning

confidence: 98%

Decolonizing international business

Boussebaa

2023

CPOIB

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to encourage scholars of international business (IB) to engage with the “decolonizing the university” project and reflect on what decolonizing might mean for IB research and education. The paper also argues that it is particularly important for IB scholars to join the decolonizing project given that the field’s main object of study – the multinational enterprise – has been central to colonialism. Design/methodology/approach An essay style is adopted to introduce the decolonizing project to IB and to explain why and how this scholarly field might benefit from engaging with it. As part of that, the paper calls upon IB scholars to work on decolonizing the field and to do so by not only interrogating its knowledge claims but also broadening the scope of its research so it can address the theme of neo-colonialism. Findings The paper reveals the conspicuous absence of IB scholars from the decolonizing project and situates such absence within a long-standing indifference within IB to the issue of colonialism. Social implications In learning about and engaging with the decolonizing project, IB scholars will be able to not only enrich IB theory and education but also help to tackle one of the grand challenges facing the modern world society, namely, social inequality and injustice rooted in colonialism. Originality/value It is hoped that this paper will stimulate reflection on IB’s absence from the decolonizing project and assist scholars in developing an understanding of the project’s rationale and underlying literature. It is also hoped that the paper will open dialogue within IB about how this field might be decolonized and help scholars engage meaningfully with other disciplines as they do so.

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Section: Silence In the Field Of International Businessmentioning

confidence: 98%

Decolonizing international business

Boussebaa

2023

CPOIB

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“…Rather than trying to achieve stability and a general solution, these papers propose to make the phenomenon small , to start from a certain question or intersection, and to unravel the implications of Otherness from there on. Thus, all papers are in a way ‘phenomenon-based’ (Doh, 2015; Mahadevan and Moore, 2023), meaning that they put a shared contemporary experience or process (Otherness or Othering/being Othered), and their oftentimes obscured twin (Sameness or Saming/being Samed) centre-stage and, thus ask what the phenomenon stands for and which implications might follow.…”

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confidence: 99%

Investigating otherness, not difference: Should saming and othering be the focus of the discipline? Implications for a contemporary cross-cultural management studies

Mahadevan,

Primecz

2024

Int'l Jnl of Cross Cultural Management

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Cross-cultural management (CCM) studies is the discipline that investigates and manages the interrelations between culture, and management or organizations. The notion of differenceas objectively definable and/or as experienced in interactionis thus central to CCM studies. Increasingly so, difference is no longer thought of as an obstacle to be overcome, but as an opportunity for learning, growth, complementarities and synergy (e.g. Stahl et al., 2010). For instance, whereas early theories spoke of 'culture shock,' newer theories speak of the need and potential of 'crosscultural adjustment' and stress the need to not only consider difference 'abroad' but also 'at home' (Black and Mendenhall, 1991;Gullahorn and Gullahorn, 1963;Mahadevan, 2024;Maznevski, 2020). Furthermore, there is the question as to whether cultures, and the differences between them, are stable or fluid, or, in other words: 'given to' or 'created by' those in interaction (Mahadevan et al., 2011). Leaning towards the latter, the culture as negotiated meaning approach (Brannen and Salk, 2000; Primecz et al., 2011) implies that cross-cultural differences, for instance, as emerging during intercultural encounters, might be beneficial to all stakeholders involved, namely when an innovative, novel, 'third' culture is cooperatively developed, instead of one partly or fully adjusting one's culture to the dominant one. The idea of culture as negotiated meaning is more constructive in how it approaches difference, namely by considering all parties involved, by assuming that the best

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‘Strategic sustainable development: The role of intermediaries in managing the sustainability compliance of a multi‐tier crop agri‐food supply chain. A developing economy perspective’

Khan,

Behrendt,

Papadas

et al. 2024

Sustainable Development

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This qualitative case study investigation highlights deeply entrenched sustainability challenges within a multi‐tier supply chain of a developing country's crop agri‐food sector. Focusing on the rice supply chain, the study reveals how Agri Processing Company Limited (APCL), operating as a first‐tier intermediary, effectively launched and managed different levels of intermediaries through ‘multi‐actor’ and ‘multi‐level’ management approaches to extend sustainability upstream in the rice supply chain, especially in the lower‐tiers previously considered ‘commodities with no value’. Social networking and progressive farmers played the inclusive roles of change agents in bringing all the stakeholders of a traditional and fragmented supply chain into a coordinated platform. The bottom‐up strategic management approach of APCL gained the trust of local stakeholders and buying firms, resulting in a sustainable business strategy. Increased collaboration at different levels of farming communities led to a transformed methodology for sustainable development through intermediaries. The transformed business structure and mediated governance of ‘multi actors’ supply chains revamped socio‐ecological outcomes for the lower‐tiers and improved local living conditions through economic fairness and equal opportunities. This transformation contributed to significant advances in Pakistan's rice industry towards sustainable development.

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A framework for a more reflexive engagement with ethnography in International Business Studies

Cited by 10 publications

References 43 publications

Decolonizing international business

Decolonizing international business

Investigating otherness, not difference: Should saming and othering be the focus of the discipline? Implications for a contemporary cross-cultural management studies

‘Strategic sustainable development: The role of intermediaries in managing the sustainability compliance of a multi‐tier crop agri‐food supply chain. A developing economy perspective’

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