Opinions: What Business Anthropology Is, What It Might Be, and What, Perhaps, It Should Not Be

What is business anthropology and what should it be in the future? My reflections are based upon my reading of others’ work and my own experience as an observant participant in marketing research and advertising. My current practice is that of a Principal at a marketing research firm, with which I have been affiliated since 2006. For 25 years prior, I was an advertising executive, working in the areas of account management and account planning. My recommendations here are eminently pragmatic; they aim to advance the careers of business anthropologists first and contribute to the theory of business anthropology second.