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The purpose of this paper is to offer an accessible and interdisciplinary research strategy in organisational ethnography, called action ethnography, that acknowledges key concepts from action research and engaged and immersive ethnography. It aims to encourage methodological innovation and an impact turn in ethnographic practice.

A working definition of “action ethnography” is provided first. Then, to illustrate how an action ethnography can be designed by considering impact from the outset, the author draws on a study she is undertaking with a grassroots human rights monitoring group, based in England, and then discusses advantages and limitations to the approach.

The author suggests three main tenets to action ethnography that embrace synergies between action research and ethnography: researcher immersion, intervention leading to change and knowledge contributions that are useful to both practitioners and researchers.

This paper provides researchers who align with aspects of both action research and ethnography with an accessible research strategy to employ, and a better understanding of the interplay between the two approaches when justifying their research designs. It also offers an example of designing an action ethnography in practice.

Whereas “traditional” ethnography has emphasised a contribution to theoretical knowledge, less attention has been on a contribution to practice and to those who ethnographers engage with in the field. Action ethnography challenges researchers to consider the impact of their research from the outset during the research design, rather upon reflection after a study is completed.

In this chapter, we underscore the enduring importance of research on work, workers, labour markets, and the places and spaces of work. We then examine the particular and valuable contributions that come from ethnographic research in providing detailed studies of work, particularly when these are situated and interpreted in their wider socio-political contexts. We discuss the key dimensions of ethnography before overviewing the contributions to the volume. The volume presents cutting-edge ethnographic research on contemporary worlds of work and the experiences of workers from a range of contexts including an alternative community, working online, the gig economy, and the hospitality industry. Alongside novel empirical chapters, the collection includes the reflections of ethnographers with regards to, for example, the experience as a young female management researcher working amongst journalists in a media firm, personal feelings of precarity within and beyond the field, and how to navigate the challenges of researching inequalities ethnographically.

This chapter takes an alternative route to inquiry by drawing on intersubjectivity as a way to challenge taken-for-grantedness in entrepreneurship tools. The authors elaborate on how inter-ethnography can be used to discuss various aspects of teaching tools in entrepreneurship education (EE), where the Business Model Canvas (BMC) serves as example. The aim is to initiate a meta-discussion based on education theory on the purposes of tools that risk being taken-for-granted in teaching. The chapter also raises awareness of the difference between the functional and psychological sides of tools, wherein both visuals/graphics and words play a critical role. As a result, a reflective framework is developed as to challenge the existing use and understanding of teaching tools. The framework combines Biesta’s thought on purpose and desirability in education (i.e. qualification, socialisation and subjectification), and the classic relationships in the didactic triangle between the educator, the students and the subject.

While scholars have demonstrated persistent demographic inequalities in hiring, performance evaluations, and compensation decisions, many of the mechanisms driving these effects remain less clear. Qualitative research methods, including ethnographic approaches, are uniquely poised to fill this gap because they can illuminate how workplace inequalities are produced and reproduced on the ground. But studying workplace inequalities qualitatively also poses specific methodological challenges and considerations. In this essay, I discuss common issues researchers face when studying workplace inequalities ethnographically, including barriers in gaining access to sensitive organizational processes, building sufficient trust and rapport to move beyond official narratives of organizational practice (‘the company line’), and managing the emotional and psychological burden of discovering what lies beyond that line. I discuss potential strategies for navigating these challenges.

In ethnographic research, negotiating insider–outsider perspectives is essential in order to get closer to the participants’ lives. By highlighting the importance of empathy and reflexivity, the paper attempts to trace my reflexive navigation as a novice researcher as I enter the field as an outsider. The process of co-creation between the researcher and the participant is mediated by the nuances of the researcher’s identity, thereby shaping the researcher–participant relationship.

The current study elaborates my journey as a Ph.D. scholar in an ethnographic study of persons with spinal cord injury or amputation. The different themes organised around my personal reflections discuss the various challenges I faced and how I navigated through them.

The paper reflects on how different aspects of my identity, such as being non-disabled, a female and differences in socioeconomic status shaped the researcher–participant relationship. Additionally, it highlights how I traverse through the blurred worlds of insider–outsider and explore the role of reflexivity and empathy in creating a horizontal researcher–participant relationship.

This reflexive journey offers potential insights into budding researchers who often face dilemmas whether or not it is necessary for qualitative researchers to be members of the population they are studying. The paper also contributes to an understanding around practising reflexivity while working with a sensitive population. It argues researchers to look beyond the insider–outsider debate and utilise reflexivity as a tool for a nonhierarchical researcher–participant relationship.

The purpose of this study is to explore the sustainability of innovations introduced during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in remote and rural primary care advanced clinical practice.

The methodology includes an exploratory qualitative study of eight key stakeholders from Scottish remote and rural primary care advanced practice (three policymakers and five advanced practitioners). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews during 2022 and analysed thematically.

Advanced practice in remote and rural primary care is characterised by a shortage of doctors, close-knit communities and a broad scope of practice. Covid-19 catalysed changes in the delivery of healthcare. Innovations which participants wanted to sustain include hybrid working, triage, online training and development, and increased inter-professional support networks.

Findings provide valuable insights into how best to support remote and rural advanced practice which may have implications for retaining healthcare professionals. They also identified useful innovations which could benefit from further investment.

Given current healthcare workforce pressures, identifying and sustaining innovations which will support and retain staff are imperative. Hybrid consultations and online access to training, development and support should be sustained to support the remote and rural advanced practice workforce. Further research should explore the sustainability of innovations introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic in other care contexts.

It is assumed that fieldwork experiential learning on constraints of survey and ethnography research orientations in investigating armed conflict in Africa can contribute to the body of knowledge and help practitioners as well as other researchers working in difficult situations, such as war zones. More importantly, this paper aims to understand significant problems in Southern Africa, further methodological debates and produce new frontiers of knowledge in Southern African research studies. This paper will help other researchers who will be planning to conduct research in ongoing war-torn zones to be flexible with mixed research methodologies and data collection techniques that can ensure not only reliability and validity of the data but also, and more importantly, greater generalizability of this study.

This research in Cabo was initially guided by survey and ethnographic approaches. After facing constraints in their use in investigating the complexity of new wars, the author developed and shifted to interpretivism methodology as an alternative. It is essential that researchers be sensitive to the tensions between survey and ethnography methodologies and how they can be a mismatch to the research purpose.

The fieldwork experiences, using standardised survey and ethnography research orientations in Gabo, show that there is no generally appropriate blueprint of how to conduct research in violent conflicts. The valorised survey and ethnographic research strategies were not closely matched to facilitate understanding of the complexity of hybrid armed actors, indiscriminate and targeted violence which combined to militate against data generation. In the face of these problems, the author developed a new methodology, interpretivism, which embedded the descriptive, explanatory and predictive approaches. In tumultuous contexts, the standardised methodologies prioritize data generation more than critical thinking.

It is essential to study the nature of African armed conflicts by combining creativity and flexibility in the selection of research strategies. The constraints on peace research in war-torn situations in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, have laid out the weaknesses of peacetime research methodologies, including survey research and ethnographic approaches. Now is the time to reassess fieldwork-based research particularly in violent settings.

This paper aims to explore the role of the researcher’s emotions in ethnographic practice in accounting research. This paper focuses on shame as an emotion that lingers on, despite the efforts to work through those emotions.

The authors conducted a collective autoethnography to make sense of the fieldwork and after-fieldwork emotions and their consequences. This autoethnography began with the three authors discovering their shared feeling of shame.

Building on Hochschild’s theory (1979, 1983) on emotional labor, the authors demonstrate how shame emerged as a central and lingering emotion of the ethnographies beyond an emotional labor process. The authors show how a double shame appeared toward the field participants and the academic accounting community, affecting the writing and the work.

The authors demonstrate that the perception of the research community’s rules of feelings gives rise to emotions that ultimately change the work. The authors show how collective autoethnography can help accounting research to acknowledge and give room to emotions.

The negative cultural bias vis-à-vis international business and cross-cultural management has been duly acknowledged, necessitating recommendations towards investigating its positive effects. Methodologically, quantitative research clearly predominates, and there have been calls for alternative approaches. Thus, this conceptual paper addresses the research gap (methodological and thematic) by investigating if multicultural teams can be an essential part of the global workforce and whether positive effects exist regarding dynamic capabilities, learning and knowledge transfer.

The underlying ethnographic research design enabled exploring within the embedded single case study from an emic perspective, including qualitative observation and semi-structured expert interviews, and provided detailed insights into the company’s multicultural work environment.

The results reveal that applying a qualitative design allowed the needed exploration and show that multicultural, geographically dispersed teams are positively experienced and considered necessary in today’s globalised world. They are likely to increase in the future. Moreover, dynamic capabilities (multicultural competencies) are indispensable for multicultural teamwork. Regarding learning opportunities, different viewpoints for discussion and the ability to reflect on these offer valuable insights. In line with theory, multiculturality is considered a “two-edged sword”, providing simultaneous benefits and challenges. Contrary to the theory, even highly important information transfers can occur virtually, although occasional physical contact is essential for trust building.

The multinational family business offers a unique example of a positive relationship between multiculturalism and organisational excellence and demonstrates how the application of a qualitative methodology can support theory building by delivering a revised model of dynamic capabilities in multicultural environments with geographical dispersion.

This research explores the potential incorporation of Indonesian folklore, particularly the folklore of the origin of Bandung, into Arabic language teaching materials. Integrating local cultural elements into language instruction can enhance students' language learning experience and promote a deeper understanding of Indonesian culture.

The origin city of Bandung is one of the famous folklore stories in Indonesia that originates from West Java. Through ethnographic studies, various aspects of the folklore of the origin of the city of Bandung will be examined, which can be utilized in Arabic language teaching. This includes analyzing the linguistic structure, vocabulary and cultural references embedded in the story. Additionally, we will explore how teachers can effectively incorporate this folklore into their teaching materials to create engaging and culturally relevant Arabic language lessons.

This research aims to contribute to developing innovative and culturally responsive language learning by investigating the use of Indonesian folklore in Arabic language instruction. It aims to empower teachers and students by fostering a deeper appreciation of Indonesian culture while improving Arabic language proficiency. This approach enhances language learning outcomes, promotes cultural awareness and cultivates a deeper connection between students and the local culture. By embracing folklore, teachers can create dynamic and meaningful language learning experiences that empower students to become proficient Arabic speakers with a strong appreciation for Indonesian wisdom and culture.

Overall, using folklore as a foreign language teaching material provides significant advantages for students in developing a deeper understanding of language, cultural skills and interest in the language and culture being studied. This approach improves language learning outcomes, promotes cultural awareness and fosters deeper relationships between students and local culture so that foreign language (Arabic) learning is effective. By embracing folklore, teachers can create dynamic and meaningful language learning experiences that empower students to become proficient Arabic speakers with a strong appreciation for local Indonesian wisdom and culture.

Practically, this involves understanding the social, political, economic or cultural context in which the folklore arose, as well as new interpretations that provide a broader understanding of the stories' values, messages or conflicts. In contributing to knowledge, this research has implications for insight into linguistic knowledge and learning a second language in the norms of the first language without shifting the culture of the first language.

Empirically, this study combines an interdisciplinary approach to folklore research that can bring a new understanding of the relationship between folklore and other fields such as linguistics, literature, anthropology or psychology. This approach can produce a more comprehensive insight into folklore and its influence on various aspects of life. Contributing to social impact, introducing culture in learning materials is an educational tourism attraction for students. This also has an impact on public policy that tourism education about folklore is introduced as teaching and used as further field study for students.

This research conceptualizes the diversity of Indonesian culture integrated into the instructional materials of Arabic language learning in Indonesia through folklore. To integrate folktales into the learning process, families, traditions and rituals need to play a role in preserving and educating. Researchers can develop new insights, broaden our understanding of culture and traditions and enrich our knowledge and cultural heritage. These new approaches have the potential to yield discoveries and a deeper understanding of folklore as an important cultural heritage. This research explores the potential incorporation of Indonesian folklore, particularly the folklore of the origin of Bandung, into Arabic language teaching materials. Integrating local cultural elements into Arabic language teaching for Indonesian speakers can enhance students' language learning experience and promote a deeper understanding of Indonesian culture through Arabic language teaching as a foreign language.