The anthropology of nepotism

Social distance and reciprocity in organizations in developing countries

Bibliographic Data

ID5780334
AuthorsSimon Ulrik Kragh (Copenhagen Business School, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume12
Issue2
Pages247-265
Publication date2012-05-23
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cross Cultural Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-5958 • E-ISSN: 1741-2838
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1470595812439869
OpenAlexW2334767949
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited23

Nepotism is widespread in organizations in developing countries but has so far received scant attention in cross-cultural management research. The paper seeks to contribute to the underdeveloped research topic suggesting an anthropological explanation of nepotism. It is argued that nepotism reflects the presence of tribal and peasant social morals in organizations where they replace norms and principles typical of industrial society. Examples from African and Latin American organizations show how nepotism works, and drawing on quantitative data it is suggested that nepotism is relatively common in countries at the earlier stages of industrial development. Four managerial approaches to nepotism are outlined: managers can accept nepotistic ambiguity; they can attempt to strengthen the modern organization; they can use the tribal and peasant norms underlying nepotism as the basic principle of the organization; or they can codify the pre-industrial norms and make them part of the formal organization

Ambiguity · Emic and etic · Nepotism · Peasant · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Anthropology · Computer Science · Family Business Performance and Succession · Global and Cross-Cultural Management · Law

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