Advancing the Value of Ethnography

Tag: strategy

Strategy as an Unfolding Network of Associations

Strategy as an Unfolding Network of Associations

Cast Study—This case explores a business strategy development project run by Stripe Partners for a London-based online healthcare company, Dr Ed. The first part lays out the details of the process: an intense four-day ethnographic research programme called the ‘Studio’ involving the Dr Ed senior...

Going with the Gut: The Case for Combining Instinct and Data

Going with the Gut: The Case for Combining Instinct and Data

"The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut," Otellini said. "My gut told me to say yes." So said the ex-CEO of Intel, ruing his decision to pass on the...

Knowing That and Knowing How: Towards Embodied Strategy

Knowing That and Knowing How: Towards Embodied Strategy

This paper explores two different forms of knowledge. We compare embodied understanding with propositional or abstract knowledge. Ethnographic research, with its commitment to understanding through immersion and engagement in social fields produces dexterous, intuitive and practical cultural...

Practice, Products and the Future of Ethnographic Work

Practice, Products and the Future of Ethnographic Work

Ethnographic work in industry has spent two decades contributing to making products that matter in a range of industry contexts. This activity has accounted for important successes within industry. From the standpoint of ethnographic practice, however, the discursive infrastructure that has been...