scholarly journals Liminality, Anthropology, and the Global Organization

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Julia C. Gluesing
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Pure Possibility ◽  
Multiple Contexts ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
Global Understanding ◽  
Global Work

Turner described liminality as a “realm of pure possibility” that can give rise to novel configurations of ideas within a ritual framework, while Bourdieu referred to liminality as a “space of possibles.” One of the greatest challenges managers and their employees face in multinational enterprises that cross multiple boundaries is the increased complexity brought about by ambiguity, multiplicity, interdependence, and constant, rapid change. Working in global organizations means operating simultaneously in multiple contexts. Anthropologists can make a contribution to an understanding of global work by managing ambiguity and crossing boundaries; by living and working liminally―something acquired in both anthropological training and through experience; and by bringing creativity to the forefront to foster global understanding.

Issues of Identity in the Indian Diaspora: A Transnational Perspective

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajaya Kumar Sahoo
Keyword(s):  
Indian Diaspora ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
The People ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Indian Origin ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
The World ◽  
Recent Advancement ◽  
Professional Fields ◽  
Diasporic Communities

AbstractIndia is unique for the magnitude of her diversities in terms of languages and regions, religions and sects, castes and sub-castes, rural and urban, food and style of dress, which are also reflected by her diasporic communities. There are diasporic communities formed on the basis of linguistic or regional identities such as Punjabis, Gujaratis, Sindhis, Tamils, Malayalees and Telugus. Global organizations such as Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), World Telugu Federation (WTF), and World Punjabi Organization (WPO), have recently emerged to preserve and promote the identities and cultures of Indians, uniting transnationally India and the global Indian diaspora. The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal dynamism among the diasporic communities, made possible by the recent advancement in technologies of travel, transport, and communications. Not only did these developments bring the diasporic communities and their motherland closer but they also facilitated in bringing together the members of their community dispersed around the world. The present article examines this emerging trend with the illustration of one of the important regional Indian diasporic communities, the Gujarati Diaspora. Gujaratis, the people from the central western parts of India, are one of the early Indian communities who have ventured out to different parts of the world for multiple reasons. Today, as one of the prominent Indian diasporic communities in the world, Gujaratis are successful not only in business, which is their first love, but also in professional fields such as technology, science, medicine, and business management.

A Framework for Managing the Life Cycle of Knowledge in Global Organizations

2011 ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Mark Salisbury
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Significant Problem ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
The People ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
The Right ◽  
Dissemination System

This chapter describes a framework for managing the life cycle of knowledge in global organizations. The approaches described in this chapter were initially used to successfully build a knowledge dissemination system for the laboratories and facilities that are under the direction of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) (Salisbury & Plass, 2001). The follow-on work to this effort was the development of a collaboration application that fed the dissemination system for the DOE laboratories and facilities. The resulting system managed the life cycle (creation, preservation, dissemination and application) of knowledge for the DOE laboratories and facilities (Salisbury, 2003). While seen as a highly successful system, a significant problem was the difficulty in identifying the right knowledge that needed to get to the right people at the right time. This is also a significant problem for global organizations that need to share their knowledge across international boundaries. What is needed to solve this problem for global organizations is a systemic way that can be applied as an organizational strategy to identify this knowledge, the people that needed it, and the time it should be accessible. This chapter focuses on the use of performance objectives for managing the “right” knowledge in a global organization. In the next section, the background of the projects that inspired the framework is introduced. Next, the framework itself is discussed: the theoretical foundation for the framework, Work Processes, Learning Processes, and Methodologies for managing the life cycle of knowledge in a global organization. (For a full discussion of this approach in book form, see Salisbury, 2009).

Cultural Variations and the Global Organization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabi S. Bhagat
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Cultural Variations ◽  
Global Organization

Cultural variations present significant challenges for managers, customers, and clients of global organizations. Cultures of the nations are enduring differences that have evolved for centuries and do not change easily. Without adequate consideration of cultural variations, the effective functioning of global organizations is nearly impossible. The classification of cultures on a national scale that is based on careful analysis should provide the context for expanding the operations of global organizations across nations. Some cultures function more effectively by taking into account the role of relationships, whereas others are more governed by rules and regulations that have existed for centuries. Working across these two distinct types of cultures is considerably difficult. This chapter discusses various strategies for dealing with such cultural differences. The topics of cultural intelligence, cultural sensitivity, cultural competence, and cultural distance among nations are presented.

Global Institutions without a Global State

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Farrell ◽  
Martha Finnemore
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
Global State ◽  
Sociological Institutionalism ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Global Understanding ◽  
The Many

Historical institutionalism has not yet grappled with the deeper intellectual challenges of “going global.” Understanding international, particularly global, institutions, requires attention to and theorizing of a global social context, one that does not rely on a national government in the background, ready to enforce laws and rules. It also requires theories about the global organizations themselves. This chapter argues that a historical institutionalism that engages with the many varieties of sociological institutionalism would be a richer tradition that could more systematically examine the role of norms and ideas, thereby expanding its analytic range to institutional contexts beyond the state.

The Mutual Constitution of Social Media Use and Status Hierarchies in Global Organizing

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heewon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Enterprise Social Media ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
Emerging Patterns

This study offers an in-depth account of the mutual constitution of technology use and status hierarchies in a global organization by investigating the use of enterprise social media (ESM). Analyses of individual interviews ( N = 32) and ESM posts ( N = 1,050) showed that (a) the visibility affordance was perceived and used differently by various status groups and (b) emerging patterns of ESM use contributed to the reproduction of status hierarchies. Specifically, increased communication visibility allowed dispersed workers to obtain previously unshared knowledge; however, the very same visibility also revealed knowledge disparities between different status groups, thereby sustaining status hierarchies. Thus, visibility, which has been traditionally linked to recognition, can be also conceived as a quality that highlights inequitable distribution of knowledge and status. This study advances our understanding of social status in global organizations by delineating how communicative practices, organizational structures, and technology use jointly constitute status hierarchies.

scholarly journals Meta-Teams: Getting Global Work Done in MNEs

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 510-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Santistevan ◽  
Emmanuel Josserand
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Intermediate Structure ◽  
Global Teams ◽  
Global Integration ◽  
Operational Practices ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
Global Work ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Organizational Needs

To allow for flexibility and global integration in multinationals, global teams are becoming more fluid, forming and dispersing quickly to address organizational needs. The coordination that takes place in these temporary agile teams is critical for global work. However, current conceptualizations of teams and methodological approaches do not provide a clear understanding of dynamic global teams and how they get global work done in multinational enterprises (MNEs). To address this, we mobilize the teaming perspective to explore global work in the complex matrix structure of Computer (a pseudonym), a large technology MNE. Our study includes interviews and observations from 40 global account teams. The findings suggest that an intermediate structure, which we call a meta-team, provides a referential space that supports teaming. Within the meta-team, operational practices and a common mind-set provide guidelines for member behavior and expectations. Additionally, teaming substructures form and change to adapt to activities. This study contributes to the literature by (1) demonstrating how dynamic global work gets done in MNEs through meta-teams and teaming; (2) showing how meta-teams address some of the challenges of global work, such as fluid collaboration and multiple-team participation; and (3) providing new insights for teaming in context and temporary work.

Global Mindset and the Global Organization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabi S. Bhagat
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Global Mindset ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Global Strategies

Global organizations must make continuous attempts to move and develop the mindsets of senior managers and others involved in global transactions from parochial and diffused ways of thinking to a global mindset. This chapter provides examples of organizations that encountered difficulty in expanding globally because they did not attempt to understand the importance of a global mindset in developing their global strategies and the various modes of expansion on a worldwide scale. The factors that develop a global mindset are discussed with special emphasis on the role of cognitive complexity, nonjudgmental thinking, and emphasis on universalistic versus particularistic modes of decision-making. The role of supportive networks of family and friends in the development of a global mindset is also presented. The chapter ends by presenting a discussion of how organizations can emphasize the paths of moving to a global mindset from a predominantly domestic one.

Structuring the Global Organization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabi S. Bhagat
Keyword(s):  
Global Scale ◽  
Global Integration ◽  
Organizational Boundaries ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Strategic Role

To implement their strategies on a global scale, global organizations must design appropriate structures that take into account the demands and complexities of their changing environments, such as the diversity of offerings/businesses as a function of the geographical region in which the firm operates. The strategic role of subsidiaries and how they integrate into the overall system have changed and should be considered in the design of the firm—especially the kind of flexibility needed in managing vertical and lateral flows of information as well as integration of various functions. This chapter discusses three different types of design: decentralized federation, coordinated federation, and centralized hub in terms of their significance in accomplishing flexibility, national responsiveness, and the need for global integration. One significant development is the use of global networks and international teams composed of technically competent people who are dispersed across spatial, temporal, cultural, and organizational boundaries.

High time resolution enzyme cytochemistry of rod outer segment

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 878-879
Author(s):  
Takuma Saito ◽  
Toshihiro Takizawa
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Outer Segment ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
High Time Resolution ◽  
Visual Cell ◽  
Enzyme Cytochemistry ◽  
Activation Effect ◽  
Rod Outer Segment ◽  
Enzymatic Cascades ◽  
Rapid Drop

Cells and tissues live on a number of dynamic metabolic pathways, which are made up of sequential enzymatic cascades.Recent biochemical and physiological studies of vision research showed the importance of cGMP metabolism in the rod outer segment of visual cell, indicat ing that the photon activated rhodopsin exerts activation effect on the GTP binding protein, transducin, and this act ivated transducin further activates phosphodiesterase (PDEase) to result in a rapid drop in cGMP concentration in the cytoplasm of rod outer segment. This rapid drop of cGMP concentration exerts to close the ion channel on the plasma membrane and to stop of inward current brings hyperpolarization and evokes an action potential.These sequential change of enzyme activities, known as cGMP cascade, proceeds quite rapidly within msec order. Such a rapid change of enzyme activities, such as PDEase in rod outer segment, was not a matter of conventional histochemical invest igations.

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