Expert: Ralph Salier - 3/15/2009

Question
Hello, I have a question about careers in the business aspect of social anthropology. I am in the process of choosing a college major. I have always been interested in Anthropology and am wondering about the business side of it. Is it more lucrative than other areas of anthropology, what’s the market like, about how much do you make, etc. I was also wondering if a business minor would be necessary to supplement this. I don’t know much about it and was just wondering if you could help me to understand the details a little better.


Thank You, Dane  

Answer
Hi Dane,

I am a business anthropologist and there are others out there as well.  Some that are into retail anthropology, others that are into corporate change anthropology.  I am an international negotiator as well as a cross cultural trainer assisting people with transitions from one culture to another during relocations on a global scale.  I am also an archeologist but that would be a meager living at best.  

I work with a wide range of companies from Oil and Gas to Automotive and others inbetween.  I work with their procurement organizations to help them develop negotiation strategies for the purchase of goods and services around the world.  These may be simple component part purchases to more complex JV (joint ventures) with companies in distant places that require local value added aspects of the goods they are purchasing.

If you are interested in this area, you will need to do a double major in both Business Admin and Anthropology.  A few schools have this in their line up.  Wayne State University in Detroit, University of Houston in Houston TX, and Arizona.    These programs vary greatly but the key is to develop an appreciation of cultural differences and how business impacts these differences.  Thus, it is only through a clear understanding of different cultures that we can do business with them and not make the horrendous errors we have made in the past when dealing with others.