Qualitative methods of business research are emerging as vital tools. Business anthropology is at the heart of this movement. Although many recent books provide nuts-and-bolts advice regarding the field, Rethinking Business Anthropology: Cultural Strategies in Marketing and Management discusses the intellectual traditions from which the discipline has emerged and how this heritage opens up new vistas for business research. Gaining these broader perspectives is essential as business anthropologists transcend being mere research technicians and seek to influence organizational policies and strategies.  Opening chapters deal with the current status of the field and its relationship to ecological and cultural sustainability. This is followed by discussions of the intellectual foundations of anthropology and their continued importance to business anthropology. An array of chapters provides illustrative applications of business anthropology in order to demonstrate the field's unique and powerful potentials within both scholarly and practitioner research.  The book concludes with a discussion of the role of business anthropologists in dealing with indigenous people, rural populations, and cultural enclaves. Increasingly, businesses seek to connect with such communities even though mainstream leaders and negotiators often lack the skills necessary to effectively do so. Business anthropologists, with their dual background in business and cultural diversity are poised to excel in this capacity.  An appendix by Robert Tian, editor of the International Journal of Business Anthropology, provides a useful overview of the field as it now exists.  As business anthropology comes of age, this timely monograph provides the perspectives needed for the growth and further development of the field and those who work within it. Excellent for the professional bookshelf and as a textbook.

Vivek Bhushan Sood is an NIT Hamirpur alumnus, with 27+ years’ experience in railways. He has extensive experience in track and bridge maintenance in the Railways. His specialisation lies in maintenance of steel bridges, girder launching and bridge rehabilitation. Mr V B Sood has long experience with teaching and research. He was posted for 6+ years at RDSO, Lucknow and did extensive research work in the subjects of Fatigue Design of steel girders, Rail-Structure Interaction studies due to continuation of Long Welded Rails on bridges and Bridge Instrumentation. He played a key role in introducing new technologies like High Strength Friction Grip Bolts and automatic shear studs to bridges on Indian Railways. He also has extensive experience in the field of station redevelopment. He has worked on project execution, planning, strategic direction, valuation, and business development aspects of the Amrit stations, which are part of a very ambitious project of Ministry of Railways.

An accomplished author and public speaker, he has edited the book Steel Girder Fabrication for Railways and has self-published Stories That Bridge, covering the field of steel fabrication and other aspects of bridges. Since July 2023, he is working as Divisional Railway Manager at Sonpur, Bihar in Eastern part of India.