A. L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, "culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions"

I am a researcher and graduate student of American Indian descent (Stockbridge-Munsee/Mohican). I have always been very aware of the absence of other American Indian students in postsecondary education programs; have noticed the shortage of American Indians employed as educators, professors, or administrators; and am acutely aware of the number of American Indian populations excluded from qualitative or quantitative data sets as part of mainstream research agendas that are published on the state or national level. This is the beginning of my dissertation research journey, and the data that I have studied thus far demonstrates a ten-year failure of the traditional, Western, and public educational system in Wisconsin to nurture, graduate, and utilize Native Americans from birth through adulthood. This historical failure in the Wisconsin educational systems and organizations has left the First Children and the First People of this country far behind as compared to their other minority and white counterparts (Bowman ). The extent of how far and why they are behind is what I am determined to discover. Anecdotally speaking, I knew in my heart that the few Indians who did survive school accomplished this despite many barriers or whatever politically correct legislation was the popular rhetoric at the time. But in my head I needed to ascertain, scientifically document, and understand the factors that were responsible for this shameful record regarding the education of Native American students and their underrepresentation as professionals within the educational community. In a time of attempts to abolish affirmative action and hearing the promises of leaving no children behind, I have diligently tried to set aside time to conduct research Cultural Differences of Teaching and Learning

Cultural differences in teaching and learning

Positive Organizational Scholarship

The Other Path: the Invisible Revolution in the Third World

The paper presents a follow-up to the saga of organizational culture, first chronicled in two issues of the Leadership & Organization Development Journal in 1996 and tracing culture's development from the organization development model through to the interest in total quality management (TQM), forming a link between the three concepts. Since the 1996 articles, culture as a concept has proceeded to develop in many new directions. In revisiting organizational culture after five years, this paper attempts to show how it has branched out from TQM and has since been associated with business process reengineering, organizational learning, and knowledge management; all of which claim to involve either changing a culture or working with an existing culture. Discusses also the role of culture in the emerging ideas and perspectives of strategic alliances, sustainability and future organizations. It is argued that the culture saga is far from finished. While many of its components may turn out to be no more than passing fads and fashions, culture has proven itself to be an enduring concept that, as it has travelled many paths in the past, will travel many different paths in the future.

Five years on - the organizational culture saga revisited (Спустя пять лет - пересмотр хроник организационной культуры)

The Indian diamond industry witnessed a severe recession in the year 2008. The industry is already showing signs of recovery in 2009 led by its large-sized firms. This case presents facts from a st...

Surviving the Recession: Venus Jewel—A Case Study from the Indian Diamond Industry:

This paper highlights and explores the emergence of informal sector firms (ISFs) in international business. Due to the increasing size and significance of informal economy in the global context (particularly emerging markets), we also attempt to understand the characteristics and relevance of these ISFs. The globally distributed diamond industry is one such instance, composed of thousands of informal sector entrepreneurial firms (ISFs) which export cut and polished diamonds (CPD) worth USD 20 billion annually. However, these firms thrive in the atmosphere of secrecy and informality that envelops the diamond trade and has for long been labeled as an unorganized sector in the world economy. Interestingly, the collective output of the ISFs in an emerging economy (India) enjoy a 95 percent market share of net global exports of cut and polished diamonds. This study reveals that networking of the Indian ISFs of the CPD industry resembles a close knit community which works on mutual trust, verbal commitments and familial and personal relationships mostly with informal systems in place. The so called unorganized CPD firms are possibly a different form of organizing which we call the "informal sector firm" and are clearly well-organized and enormously successful in international business despite lack of formal systems and formal education of their people.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2620951_code1903898.pdf?abstractid=2620951&mirid=1

The Emergence of the Informal Sector Firms in International Business: The Globally Distributed Indian Diamond Industry*

A healthy workplace culture is necessary for organizations if we are to reap fully the benefits of advancement in technology, finance, and infrastructure. In absence of the values and beliefs which guide the behaviour of people in organizations for a harmonious and coordinated work, the development initiatives may not be sustained. On the one hand, human race has achieved significant advancement of information technology, communications and other physical infrastructure, on the other hand our employed youth is experiencing an increased interpersonal conflict, perceived injustice and stress across different organizational settings which results in lack of motivation and the underutilization of talent. Since majority developmental work is achieved through organizations, and organizations are a group of people who come together for a common purpose; the culture of these organizations shapes and governs the quality and output of human interactions which result in organizational outputs. This paper suggests cultural governance as a model for effectiveness of organizations for sustainable development.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2952709_code1903898.pdf?abstractid=2952709&mirid=1

Cultural Governance and Sustainable Development

The Indian diamond industry thrives in the atmosphere of secrecy and informality that envelops the diamond trade and has for long been labeled as an unorganized sector of the economy. However, it resembles a close-knit community composed of thousands of small, medium and large sized CPD ( cut and polished diamonds) units and has grown to become one of the highest foreign exchange earners for the country. The industry exports cut and polished diamonds worth US $ 14 billion annually and enjoys a 95 % market share of the global exports of cut and polished diamond pieces. An in-depth study of the industry reveals that the so called unorganized sector is in fact highly organized and has great potential to offer useful insights to the field of management in terms of new forms of organizing, networking, business processing and for doing international business. This paper presents summary of findings from research conducted in the Indian diamond industry over a period of last four years. Part I includes insights about the remarkable rise, growth and the unique working of the industry. Part II makes use of a case study of a 40 years old large- sized CPD unit to help gain further understanding of the Indian diamond industry. Part III is about the impact of the 2008 global turmoil and of the industry’s revival after a severe recession. The analysis of findings and implications for future research have been discussed.

/pdf/organizing-the-un-organized-the-rise-recession-and-revival-1mc898kzfw.pdf

Organizing the un-Organized? The Rise, Recession and Revival of the Indian Diamond Industry

India is an attractive destination for global investment. Yet multinational firms seeking to do business in this dynamic and diverse environment often overlook the importance of local values and traditions when designing their human resources policies. Interviews with a dozen human resource managers in three industry leading firms reveal the importance of devising personnel policies that address social relationships and family concerns, and highlight how such efforts can align with and support the achievement of organizational goals. Key lessons center on effective recruitment and selection, ongoing training and development, initiatives that boost employee engagement, and attention to employees' overall well-being.

Indu Rao

Papers

Surviving the Recession: Venus Jewel—A Case Study from the Indian Diamond Industry:

The Emergence of the Informal Sector Firms in International Business: The Globally Distributed Indian Diamond Industry*

Cultural Governance and Sustainable Development

Organizing the un-Organized? The Rise, Recession and Revival of the Indian Diamond Industry

Proven people practices at three leading Indian firms