Welcome on the new COM-munity platform, which gives you a unique insight into the master Culture, Organization and Management and the COM department within the faculty of Social Sciences at the VU University Amsterdam. This site also gives you the opportunity to (re)connect with Com-alumni, colleagues, students and Com-fans.

The COM perspective integrates knowledge of management and organizations with social-scientific insights into culture, identity and power. 'Hands-on' is the key term for this programme, which is characterised by its avoidance of standard models and its emphatically practice-driven approach. To really get a grip on the essence of COM, you should check out the different areas of this site.

The short stories of students, who are doing research right now or who have just finished, will tell you about the adventure of COM master research. The tales of the COM alumni show the diverse career paths you can choose after you have finished this master. And the profiles of many scholars working for the COM department will reveal to you the people who embody the COM spirit.

Furthermore, in the viewer on this site you can have a glimpse of the phenomena that are central within COM research. The short movie clips are focused on the diversity of business culture, the complexities of organisation and the often miraculous styles of management. Within the Community area, the different connections between COM and other actors in society are made visible. If you are dazzled by the COM perspective and feel it is the only master study that really suits you, enter the contact area and you will find info on how to join the COM-munity as a master student. Or if you are looking for a postdoctoral position please check our vacancies.

Welcome on the new COM-munity platform, which gives you a unique insight into the master Culture, Organization and Management and the COM department within the faculty of Social Sciences at the VU University Amsterdam. This site also gives you the opportunity to (re)connect with Com-alumni, colleagues, students and Com-fans. The COM perspective integrates knowledge of management and organizations with social-scientific insights into culture, identity and power. 'Hands-on' is the key term for this programme, which is characterised by its avoidance of standard models and its emphatically practice-driven approach. To really get a grip on the essence of COM, you should check out the different areas of this site. The short stories of students, who are doing research right now or who have just finished, will tell you about the adventure of COM master research. The tales of the COM alumni show the diverse career paths you can choose after you have finished this master. And the profiles of many scholars working for the COM department will reveal to you the people who embody the COM spirit. Furthermore, in the viewer on this site you can have a glimpse of the phenomena that are central within COM research. The short movie clips are focused on the diversity of business culture, the complexities of organisation and the often miraculous styles of management. Within the Community area, the different connections between COM and other actors in society are made visible. If you are dazzled by the COM perspective and feel it is the only master study that really suits you, enter the contact area and you will find info on how to join the COM-munity as a master student. A good way to discover what the COM master is really about, is to take a look at the research activities of several COM students. Some of the students on the left are starting up their research, others are in the middle of it and others are just finished. If you are inspired by the stories of these students, then you know that COM is the master of your choice. www.eos-vu.nl - Studentenvereniging van de faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen Name: Maud van Doorn Research: Research the Big Apple www.iff.com I had one dream: to live in New York City once. And I did. Thanks to a distant relative I landed an internship position in Hazlet, New Jersey Not actually exciting New York but the beauty about Hazlet is that itÂ's only an hour and a half away from the Big Apple!So I got to live in NYC, I commuted three hours a day, but it was more than worth it; for three full months I became a true New Yorker: I stuffed myself in cramped subways every morning, had bagels for breakfast (roasted with a little bit of butter), I drank Starbucks coffee (a tall mocha soy milk cappuccino, no cream), shopped fat-free muffins and light orange juice and I became a true New York fashion girl by walking in little black dresses and 10cm high heels (while pretending that didnÂ't hurt). Mister Sinatra was right: Â"I want to be a part of it, New York!Â" Ok, back to Hazlet: I conducted my research at IFF, International Flavors & Fragrances, a leading manufacturer of scent and taste components for the consumer market. Think taste buds for perfumes, the aroma of McDonalds grilled hamburgers or cheese flavored nacho chips. My research focused on the cooperation between the Hazlet IT department and their Dutch counterpart, located in Tilburg. I was searching for the Â'realÂ' stories within the organization and to find those I had to win the trust of the employees first. Meaning I spend a lot of my time in and around the kitchen (long live the coffee machine!). I socialized as much as possible before asking people to sit down with me for an interview, to make sure they felt comfortable around me. The results of these interviews made it possible to write a detailed and lively portrait of IFFÂ's IT department. A very COM-like approach! Just like the coffee and conversation ;) Name: Rebecca de Haan Research: Anthropological consultancy firm Links: www.kgotla.com Let me introduce myself. I am Rebecca de Haan and I started this master course in September 2008. COM offers a exciting range of possibilities. I have chosen to focus on cultural change. Like organisations, the world of cultural change is in constant flux offering COM students a wealth of research opportunities. My goal is to work in a consultancy firm once I have completed my master so this is where I decided to conduct my research. My research has lead me to exotic grounds within the Netherlands as this consultancy firm uses insights used by African tribal leaders. The consultancy firm, "Le Kgotla" encourages organisations to develop and transform by engaging in dialogue with all members of the organisation. Le Kgotla is the African word for dialogue. I will be looking at how the "Le Kgotla" change process is perceived by members of the different organisations, including employees at all levels. It is intriguing to see the dynamics that occur when all people are give the opportunity to speak. Many alternative approaches to change have become fashionable in recent years and as a COM student I am encouraged to develop new knowledge by looking at new concepts. Although I have only just started this project, I have already come into contact with several organisations. Because this project gives my the opportunity to acquaint myself with the job market it provides a good steppingstone for my future career. Name: Eva Vos Research: Stad en Taal (City and Language) project Links: Stad en Taal Stedelijk Museum Stad en Taal Amsterdams Historisch Museum RPMS Management Informatie Stad en Taal Amsterdams Historisch Museum www.cultuurinorganisatie.nl Contact: Hyves Linkedin Facebook In 2007 I have finished the master Culture, Organization and Management. For the masterthesis I conducted research at the Stad en Taal (City and Language) project. This project was initiated by the city of Amsterdam. Both the Amsterdams Historisch Museum (Amsterdam Historical Museum) and the Stedelijk Museum (Museum of modern and contemporary art) developed an educational programme for immigrants in the Netherlands. This program consists of art classes and a guided tour in the museum and is part of the 'Dutch as second language' classes for immigrants. The programs were designed to match the level of language skills of the participants. Part of the focus of the project was the improvement of participation of immigrants in the Dutch society. Interaction, participation and exchange of culture were the three main goals of this part. The research focused on the impact of art education in language and integration classes on citizenship and social cohesion. I conducted my research several moths during the pilot year of this project. The research was based mainly on qualitative methods: documentary analysis, surveys, interviews with both participants and teachers, observations at the museums and classes. Especially the in-depth interviews I had with immigrants were very inspiring. Some of them shared their complete life stories with me. Moreover it was an unforgettable experience to participate in guided tours in a museum with a group with many different ethnic backgrounds. The guides were instructed to create a 'save environment' at the museum in order to enable the participants to fully interact. This was essential since some of the participants never had visited a museum before. The different perspectives and open view on art and history were definitely an eye opener for me. At the moment I work as a conference developer at 'RPMS management informatie'. This conference organization specialises in conferences on management, personnel and organization. We provide Human Resource managers up-to-date information on topics such as reorganization, merges, conflict management, labor law and health management. Name: Chris Büscher Research: Community development through tourism Links Website research project: www.maloti.org Contact Linkedin What I specifically liked about COM is the holistic approach that is taken to studying organizations and people that act within them. The broad spectrum of topics that could possibly be explored under the heading of COM are endless and enabled me to continue doing research on a topic that had longer been of my interest: tourism and the often associated high potential to help eradicating poverty in developing countries. My master thesis brought me to South Africa and Lesotho where I did research on a major organizational entity, the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Project. Within this project, the two countries of South Africa and Lesotho together take up the management of a mountain ecosystem that straddles both countries' boundaries. One of the major goals in this project was to contribute to community development through tourism. Given a project that involves numerous large and small stakeholders, public and private, from South Africa, the major political and economic power in Africa and Lesotho, one of the smallest in this respect, you can imagine the complexity to actually have communities benefit from tourism in the region. Although I had been in Southern Africa before, it remains indescribable the many exciting experiences I once more had doing research in and travelling this amazing part of the world. Back in The Netherlands, I wrote my thesis and simultaneously did a traineeship at Rijkswaterstaat, the public department of Water management. Graduated in September 2008 and finished the traineeship in October, I am currently working at the department of knowledge management at a water research institute. Cultuur in organisatie Name: Kelly Bouma Research: Master thesis in Sabah Contact: LinkedinPersonal diaryName: Mindy Yuen Research: Return migration to Shanghai Contact Linkedin Hyves After following the course Transnational Entrepreneurship in the first semester of the Master's COM, I knew immediately that I wanted to do research about entrepreneurs. What better way to do research about a topic you're interested in combined with other interests that you have? One of my interests is China and the Chinese culture. Since China has 'opened its doors' in the late 1970s, we can notice a trend of Western people going there to do business. Also, ethnic Chinese people, born and raised in the West, go back to the country where their parents or ancestors were born. Why is the latter group 'returning'? Does the rise of China have played a role or have other factors influenced the decision? Are there any differences between the West and China and how do they cope with the differences? With all these questions in my mind, I decided to do research on returnee Chinese, born and raised in the West, who had 'returned' to China, Shanghai in particular, to open an own business. Doing research in Shanghai has been great. At first you need some time to get used to a country with a different culture and language, but after a while, you will get used to it (or not). Speaking loudly, spitting right next to you, squatting on the streets, skipping the line and pushing to get into public transportation, those are things that hard to get used to. But being in a country with a culture which is totally different than the Netherlands and being able to travel around to beautiful places in China, combined with doing fieldwork for my Master's and interviewing different entrepreneurs, has definitely been unforgettable. You can say that the topic of my research is very COM, due to the theoretical concepts that are related to it, such as return migration, entrepreneurship, identity and cultural values. COM-students try to explore organizational and management processes in cultural contexts and we want to get to know organizations from the bottom up and from the inside out. By letting returnee Chinese entrepreneurs telling their story, I can gain a lot of insight on decisions of 'returning' and of starting up a business in a different cultural context. M seems a fascinating master study, but what kind of career can I look forward to with my COM degree?' There is a great diversity in the career paths of COM alumni. To the left there are some alumni who tell about their work and the way they use insight learned at COM. There are many ways to make use of knowledge on culture, organization and management. Links Alumniportretten van de sociale faculteit Alumni COM over hun werk Name: Laurens van der Sluis Cultuur organisatie managementContact: Linkedin In 1997 ben ik afgestudeerd aan de VU Â- studie richting COM. Daarvoor heb ik HEAO gedaan en ben na deze HEAO studie direct doorgestroomd naar de VU. De voornaamste was dat een vriend van mij begonnen was met COM en hier zeer enthousiast over sprak. Na een introductie dag besloot ik dus ook voor COM te kiezen. Na mijn COM studie ben ik gaan werken bij zogenoemdeÂ"echteÂ" bedrijven . Ik ben deze organisaties echter altijd vanuit een COM perspectief blijven bekijken. Wat ik met een COM-perspectief bedoel is dat je kijkt naar de mensen. Ik ben mij er van bewust dat dit een zeer uitgebreide en enigszins vage omschrijving is. Maar in feite komt het er volgends mij op neer dat de COMMER kijkt en denkt ; Â"hoe doen ze Â" , Â"wat doen zeÂ" en Â"waarom doen zij het juist zoÂ". Dit is overigens iets wat ook wel in mijn aard zit en ik zie mijn COM achtergrond als een theoretische aanvulling op deze zienswijze. Na een aantal jaar werken ben ik een jaar gaan reizen. Daarna ben ik voor mijzelf begonnen. Bedrijven huurden mij in voor een specifieke opdracht. Als zogenoemde zzp-er kom je in bedrijven waarvan de cultuur in de eerste plaats nieuw voor jou is. Je komt daar voor een opdracht en bent en blijft toch een buitenstaander. Om je goed in zoÂ'n nieuw bedrijf te kunnen bewegen is het van groot belang snel door te krijgen Â"hoe de dingen daar werkenÂ". COM in zijn (voor mij) meest pure vorm. Uiteraard is het verleidelijk om een en ander aan te duiden als subjectief. Dat dit niet het geval is blijkt wel wanneer je in gesprek gaat met de mensen om je heen en hen aangeeft hoe jij de zaken ziet. Vaak is er dan de opmerking Â"goh, zo heb ik het nooit bekekenÂ". En dan is er na 4 jaar freelancen toch weer een echt eigen bedrijf. Met meer mensen iets willen neerzetten. Toen opeens was ik mij extra bewust van mijn COM achtergrond. Ik ben eigenaar, ik maak beleid, maak plannen, maak de organisatie. De cultuur die je onder je vingers ziet ontstaan is het gevolg van je eigen inspanningen. Daarnaast zie je opeens mensen acteren op een manier waarbij je een beetje je zelf terug ziet. Hoe ze praten tegen klanten, tegen mij tegen elkaar. Ga zo maar door. En wat raar. Ik neem dingen over van hun, van mijn klanten, van mijn omgeving. Ook besef ik mij wat een zegen het is om in het hele ondernemen de omgeving en de cultuur die je daar tegenkomt niet uit het oog te verliezen. Ondernemers zijn in mijn ogen mensen die altijd op zoek zijn naar kansen en mogelijkheden in hun omgeving. Door als COM-er naar de wereld om je heen te kijken zie je wellicht gewoon wel meer kansen en mogelijkheden. Name: Sjoerd Buitinga Links: www.newcomresearch.nl Contact: Linkedin A priceless lesson www.cultureinorganization.nl/ Why do people and organizations act as they do? How can irrational business decisions be explained? What influence does organizational culture have in present network organisations? These persistent questions created the foundation of my choice to study Culture Organisation & Management (COM) at VU University. Now several years after graduation I work as a research manager for a market research corporation and in many B2B occasions I pose these same questions to CEOÂ's of a variety of organizations. In market research the found data are as strong as the will of our clients to live up to the results and act accordingly. By studying COM IÂ've learned to successfully appreciate, understand, question and influence, structural and cultural issues (and misbalances) in processes, (products) and people in organizations. A priceless lesson I try to pass on to our clients on a daily bases. Name: Kim Poldner Hi! My name is Kim and I finished COM in April 2003, a long time ago! I can't believe what I have done since then, from living in Africa and Brazil to running my own business to ending up in Switzerland doing my PhD. And all of it was and is connected to my passion for sustainability and especially eco fashion. Leaving the VU six years ago I remember I felt odd. COM teaches you a lot, but nothing in particular and I didn't know what job to go for. It was only when the job found me, that I realized this was exactly what I wanted to do. For almost three years I led campaigns and projects as a projectcoordinator at Move Your World www.iff.com(www.moveyourworld.nl), the youth agency of NCDO (www.ncdo.nl). It was an exciting time working with cool people and travelling all over the country. But after some time, it started itching to do something for myself, to be more independent. Before I knew it, I quit my job and opened the first eco fashion store in The Netherlands called YOI (www.yoi.nu). Within a few months I learnt more than in three years at NCDO and since then I have been hooked on being an entrepreneur. For the past three years I have travelled around the world working as a consultant in eco fashion. With my background in fashion, management and design (http://www.amfi.hva.nl/) combined with what I had learnt in COM, I was lucky to serve the companies and projects I worked with. At the moment, I am involved in organizing Ethical Fashion Show (www.ethicalfashionshow.com) in Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for June 2009. Besides that, I run the website Eco Fashion World, which I have just launched with three partners in France and Canada. On this website I keep a blog on all my adventures (http://www.ecofashionworld.com/Kim/). When I graduated from COM, my professors asked me if I didn't want to do a PhD. I said no, but knew that one day I would get back to them. That day has come with Professor Marcel Veenswijk as my co-promotor at COM in Amsterdam. My research helps me to make more sense of the eco fashion industry and challenges my analytical skills. I feel that pieces of the puzzle are falling into place with my global perspective, passion for fashion and COM education. The odd feeling has made place for a confidence in that seemingly strange choices I have made in the past, turn into me living a life that couldn't have looked any different. Name: Janneke Buur Links: www.sdu.nl (artikel over Janneke op pagina 18/19) www.inaxis.nl www.minbzk.nl www.dordrecht.nl Who: Janneke Buur What: COM doctoraal Van 2003 tot 2005 volgde ik de doctoraalstudie COM vanuit mijn interesse naar (sociale) processen binnen organisaties en mijn belangstelling voor de organisatiecultuur, -structuur en het gedrag van mensen binnen organisaties. Het is boeiend om te onderzoeken hoe werknemers tegen een organisatie en hun werkomgeving aankijken, hoe de (sub)culturen binnen organisaties ontstaan en hoe je de structuur en cultuur van organisaties veranderd. Deze aspecten vond ik terug in de studie COM. Mijn afstudeeronderzoek Â"Prestatiemeting in de publieke sectorÂ", richtte zich op de invloed van prestatiemeting op de arbeidsmotivatie van medewerkers binnen de Justitiële Verslavingszorg. Direct na mijn afstuderen in mei 2005 ben ik aan de slag gegaan als onderzoeker aan de Wageningen Universiteit. In deze rol verrichte ik in opdracht van het ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties (BZK) onderzoek naar de Â"Frisse Blik van nieuwkomers binnen de rijksdienstÂ". De centrale vraag was of nieuwe medewerkers (jong en oud) binnen de rijksdienst een frisse blik hebben. Zo ja, hoe lang blijft die blik dan fris? Oftewel: wat is het socialisatieproces van ambtenaren binnen het Rijk? Mede door dit typisch COM-onderzoek ben ik gaan werken bij Bureau Strategische Kennisontwikkeling (SKO) van het ministerie van BZK. Binnen deze stafafdeling hield ik me voornamelijk bezig met onderzoeksbegeleiding, strategische en conceptuele maatschappelijke vraagstukken. Dit waren zowel (politiek)bestuurlijke als sociaal-wetenschappelijke themaÂ's. De lijnen richting de ambtelijke top waren heel kort en samen met collegaÂ's heb ik ideeën uitgewerkt en initiatieven opgepakt, workshops gegeven en presentaties gehouden. De blik was veelal naar buiten gericht. Voor de functie waren relevante vragen: wat gebeurt er in de maatschappij en wat betekent dat voor de burger, of het departement en de beleidsvelden? Hierdoor had ik continu contact met partijen in het bedrijfsleven, de onderzoekswereld of andere departementen en overheidsinstellingen. Voor deze functie was het van belang te werken vanuit het perspectief van de burger, de maatschappij, de organisatie en de interne medewerkers. Sinds december 2008 ben ik werkzaam bij het Stads Bestuurs Centrum, afdeling Kwaliteit en Middelenstrategie bij de Gemeente Dordrecht. Deze afdeling is net als SKO een stafafdeling. Dat betekent dat ik in mijn rol als adviseur op een strategisch niveau en vanuit verschillende blikken naar de gehele organisatie kijk. Ik houd me binnen deze functie bezig met (organisatie)ontwikkeling van de gemeente Dordrecht en haar medewerkers. Dit houdt in dat ik werk aan de structuur en cultuur van de organisatie. Een leiderschapstraject maakt hier deel van uit. Daarnaast omvat mijn takenpakket het coördineren van de Planning en Control Cyclus, werken aan een Human Rerource Managementproject en het bewaken van (grote) strategische huisvestingsvraagstukken binnen de organisatie. Voor beide functies die ik hier heb genoemd geldt dat Cultuur, Organisatie en Management belangrijke elementen zijn. Dagelijks heb ik te maken met themaÂ's uit de studie. Dit maakt dat het werk met een COM-achtergrond bijzonder veelzijdig en afwisselend. Daarbij komt dat het veld continu in beweging is! Name: Maaike Broos Contact: Linkedin In 2002 I graduated at COM by writing a masterthesis on the unique identity of fashion company Oger in the posh P.C. Hooftstraat. My passion for film and documentary making gave me the idea to make an additional documentary film on the company, based on the theories in the thesis. Together with two students of the Film Academy Amsterdam, I produced the documentary called 'behind the scene at Oger'. This visualization of my master thesis forms a mirror for the employees at the company, highlighting their roles and identity. www.bureauparadox.nl/ Why use audiovisual methods at COM? The study is a form of anthropology of organization. Anthropologists have used the medium film for al long time, to capture and learn more about cultural distinctions, rituals, codes of behaviour within non-western societies. An organization is nothing else as a tribe consisting of a tribal hierarchy, rituals and norms and values. The camera conveys many details through the richness of the data and the possibility to review data over and over again. My career as an ex-COMMER After my studies I started working for bureau Paradox, an organizational advice-firm in the field of culture change and intercultural management. I assisted during the change process of a large internet corporation and trained international OiO in dealing with the Dutch culture. www.bureauparadox.nl/ In 2007, I produced a documentary, together with Andre Kloer, on the position of Palestinian workers on the Westbank, working for Israelian companies located in the occupied territories. The documentary was funded by FNV Mondiaal, Oxfam Novib and United Civilians for Peace. The documentary demonstrates how disturbed political relations influence the working conditions of civilians. www.march21.nl/seedsofpeace Since march 2008 I am employed by &Samhoud as junior advisor in financial services. &Samhoud is a special and unique organization consultancy agency, guiding companies through organizational changes. The company was founded by Salem Samhoud with the purpose to create breakthroughs by inspiring and connecting people; in business as well as on a social and personal level. www.samhoud.nl How do I use COM in my daily work? I use the COM perspective every time I read the paper, watch television or movies, walk the streets, and of course during my work as consultant. By observing behaviour of people, their rituals, language and codes. As an organizational anthropologist I go through life, with the camera as my tool, my work as my field and it remains fascinating to learn more and more about people and their behaviour in organizations. Name: Arjan Verhoeven Function: Consultant at Berenschot Links: www.berenschot.nl cuture in organization Contact: Linkedin I started my premaster Culture, Organization and Management out of curiosity for anthropology and management. Studying patterns in behavior of groups of people in a organizational context was what had and has my interest. Why do people the things they do in the way that they do it? And howcome we all do and perceive the actions of other people differently. The organizational context is for me an exiting dimension to these questions. Straight out of university I started working for a renowned consultancy firm Â- Berenschot. For me it was a very logical step from my COM- master to a career in consultancy. At Berenschot I work - on average - on five to eight different projects at the same time. The content of the projects divers widely but the interaction between people is much more consistent than one would initially think. My biggest eye-opener during COM was to really experience the notion that the anthropologist himself is the most important instrument. For the consultant Â- to my opinion Â- this goes also. In my work as a consultant I daily experience what the missionaries, Boas and Malinowski must have experienced years ago in the Orient. Realizing that I am my most important instrument, and to always be curious and surprised about Â'the way things are doneÂ' helps me in my day to day work. Name: Dr. Sierk Ybema Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Â"The top managers of those capitalist institutions they are the real crooks. Whereas we: we stand for honour, family, pride.Â" (Tony Soprano, mafia leader) Usually, people find inventive ways to present themselves in an enthusing way. I guess that is what we all tend to do when telling others who we think we are and what matters to us most. I guess it is also what we are trying to do here with you, on the COMmunity website: sharing our enthusiasm and explaining what we are about (albeit, I hope, with a little less self-glorification than Tony Soprano!). How people present their individual and collective identities in organizational settings is also the primary interest in my teaching and research activities. The question who we are and where we stand for becomes particularly significant when the crazy chaos of contemporary organizing hits actorsÂ' long-cherished identities and vested interests. Restructuring and outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, the growth of interorganizational networks, anti-bureaucratic change initiatives, culture management, transnational collaboration, etc. cut people loose from their collective pasts and create conflicts, confusion and a sense of crisis. Asking people about their Â'selvesÂ' in such situations helps to direct our attention to fundamental sensemaking practices, to what people find most essential about their organization, their profession, their Â'cultureÂ' and their day-to-day work. Throughout the years, many of our students have helped to develop our understanding of, and raise our sensitivity to the more Â'irrationalÂ', difficult-to-manage aspects of organizing. For those of you who wish to develop or sustain their interest in such issues and establish or maintain relationships with the COMmunity: do not hesitate to contact us! You can reach me by email (sb.Ybema@fsw.vu.nl) or by phone (020 5986735). If you are interested to read more about my research, teaching and publications please go to: www.fsw.vu.nl. Name: Dr. Ida Sabelis Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin Ida Sabelis worked as an organisational consultant, due to her experience in the emancipatory movements of the 1970s and her career in social Â- emancipatory work (Bildung). In the early 1980s, she founded Kantharos, consultancy for management of diversity, with Lida van den Broek (also in Germany and Belgium). From the mid 1990s on, the perspective of time/s in organizations offered a conceptual framework further to theorise questions of inequality in organizations (gender, multiculturalism, and diversity) and of long-term development of organizations (sustainability, future/s, continuity and change). Fascinated by the development of organizational analysis via a perspective of time/s, she continued to expand her international network, more in a broad (interdisciplinary) sense than with a focus on specific themes. Through publications, congress organization and presentations, she established a position in the field of inter/national and interdisciplinary time studies, conceptually particularly concentrating on methodology and critical theory, and thematically on diversity (gender) and sustainability (future studies). From 1998 on, she was involved in several key conferences (Isida Â- Palermo, Italy; Egos Â- Helsinki, TimeÂ-Ecology project, Tutzing / Germany, Discourse and Organization Â- London, Amsterdam, Brest Â- France) resulting, among other things, in the publication of Making Time (2002, Oxford University Press, with Richard Whipp and Barbara Adam) and Zeitvielfalt (2006, Hirzel Verlag, Germany, with Karlheinz Geissler and Klaus Kümmerer). Lately, her research has again made the switch to thematically inspired empirical research: time use (work load studies), work Â- life balance (related to gender issues) and time regimes (time policies and politics). Name: Drs. Femke Brandt Field of interest: Farm Dwellers in South Africa culture organization and management Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl For anyone who is interested in the local consequences of global processes and probing the organizational/institutional - individual nexus, COM is the right place to be. How does what I do at the department of Culture, Organization and Management at the VU University Amsterdam relate to my life? To start with, COM is taking me to South AfricaÂ's Eastern Cape in 2009. Throughout 2008, I wrote a PhD research proposal about processes of social networking by South-African workers and their families who stay(ed) on farms that convert to some type of wildlife-based production. I am interested in these farm conversions and how and why workers and other farm dwellers respond to this changing environment in different ways. With an ethnographic Â'gazeÂ' I will engage myself among farm dwellers, farmers, landowners, policy makers, community members and many others to extricate the social relations and power configurations on the farms and in the province. Having lived in South Africa before and doing research in its remarkable social and political context, this PhD project is an astounding opportunity to further explore and develop my research and writing capacities. For anyone who is interested in the local consequences of global processes and probing the organizational/institutional - individual nexus, COM is the right place to be. Name: Dr. Françoise Companjen Field of interest: Intercultural cooperation with EurAsia Links: http://home.hetnet.nl/~fj.companjen/index.html Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin My name is Françoise Juliette Companjen. I teach, consult and do research in organizational studies in three domains: 1) culture and democracy in the Caucasus, Georgia; 2) in intercultural management; 3) the creative city, Amsterdam Zuidas. Having a background in Human Resource Management and in Cultural Anthropology I have an overall interest in the construction, attribution and communication of meaning both in macro (geo-political) and micro (workfloor, organizational development and diversity) relations. Some of these activities are combined under the flag of Caucasus Interconnect. Name: Prof. dr. Halleh Ghorashi Links: http://hallehghorashi.com/ Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Why is it important to be culturally sensitive in this culturalist world and how can this cultural sensitivity be created while at the same time avoiding culturalism? Since September 2005, Halleh Ghorashi has held the prestigious position of PaVEM-chair in Management of Diversity and Integration in the Department of Culture, Organization, and Management at the Vrije University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She was born in Iran and came to the Netherlands in 1988. In 1994, she completed her MA degree in Anthropology at the Vrije University Amsterdam. She received her Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of Nijmegen. She is the author of Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and the US (2003, Nova Science Publishers, New York) and several articles on questions of identity, Diaspora, and Iranian womenÂ's movement. She is conducting research, questioning: Why is it important to be culturally sensitive in this culturalist world and how can this cultural sensitivity be created while at the same time avoiding culturalism?Â' Name: Dr. Carel Roessingh Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl In spite of the fact that most Mennonites live more or less on the edge of society, they still have been able to establish a strong and stable economic position within Belize. CarelÂ's research focuses on the way small entrepreneurs in the tourism industry in the Caribbean Basin try to cope with contextual changes caused by the development of (mass) tourism. These entrepreneurs struggle with all sorts of problems, mainly resulting from the dominance of the large, multinational, all-inclusive resorts in the tourism industry. With the exploration of new tourist destinations in the Caribbean basin in the early 1980s, the local entrepreneurs were hoping to obtain a substantial part of the income-growth derived from this new industry. This caused many locals to shift from their previous jobs to professions in the tourism industry. Nearly 30 years later, most of them are disappointed with the results, but because of the regionÂ's dependence on tourism they feel they have no way out. The cases in the Caribbean Basin are used to further explore the impact of tourism on the culture and identity of the small entrepreneurs. Carel also researches the religious and entrepreneurial differentiation within Mennonite communities in Belize, Central America. In spite of the fact that most Mennonites live more or less on the edge of society, they still have been able to establish a strong and stable economic position within Belize. The different communities show a clear variation when it comes to social as well as economic activities. Since the first Mennonite migration from Mexico to Belize in 1958, they have developed a more differentiated economical system including commercial agriculture and agribusiness. The Mennonites maintain a remarkable transnational network, which consists of Mennonite communities and organizations in countries like Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. These networks introduce innovations on different levels: from improved machinery to religious and social changes. The influences from Mennonites outside Belize on the social-economic system of the Mennonites in Belize, along with the developments within the community, will be the main focus of this research. Name: Dr. Marleen van der Haar Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Only by reading the news paper you will see that our topic is very much in the picture: think about the discussion concerning the introduction of ethnic registration in the case of youth at risk with an Antillean background (Verwijsindex Antillianen). Hi, my name is Marleen van der Haar and I am a postdoctoral researcher in the department of COM. Together with Professor dr. Dvora Yanow and our research assistant Karlijn Völke, I am working on a project about the differentiation between allochtoon and autochtoon in Dutch public administrative practices. We study the category logic of these state-defined categories by analyzing the terms as metaphors and their genealogy, and studying the everyday practices that differentiate among people in order to discuss the implications for identity construction. Only by reading the news paper you will see that our topic is very much in the picture: think about the discussion concerning the introduction of ethnic registration in the case of youth at risk with an Antillean background (Verwijsindex Antillianen). My background is in cultural anthropology (Utrecht University). After an 8-month program of news paper journalism (Erasmus University), I started my PhD-project on the professional discourse of social workers on dealing with a culturally diverse clientele at Utrecht School of Governance. Before starting at the VU, I was affiliated to Hasselt University (Belgium). Name: Prof. dr. ir. Alfons van Marrewijk Links: www.bureauparadox.nl Hello, my name is Alfons van Marrewijk (1960) and since October I am an endowed professor corporate anthropology at the VU university. I focus on the intersection between science and consultancy, using my professional background as anthropologist and telecom engineer. Corporate anthropology is the application of anthropological theory and methods in problem-solving activities in private sector organizations, especially within the industrial sector. An corporate anthropologist places himself in the position of employees and managers and studies their daily activities from the inside out to get an impression of Â'the way things are doneÂ'. This is called symmetric anthropology, in the tradition of anthropologists of exotic societies, for instance in Irian Jaya. For me, fieldwork is making an appointment with a manager in the business sector, taking notice of all the artefacts, rituals and symbols used by this person. Normally, these consist of a fancy suit with tie and polished shoes and a Volvo V70. Corporate anthropologists and business people do not connect with each other often enough. The competences of corporate anthropologists are difficult to recognize for businessmen; on the other hand, anthropologists are not the best in explaining their value for companies. Oddly enough, competences like empathy, flexibility, cultural sensitivity and knowledge of business idiom are lacking when relating to business culture. My working method consists of being hired by companies to do participant observation in their organization. I am doing that for some 15 years, first within KPN Telecom, later within my own company Bureau Paradox (www.bureauparadox.nl). I mostly work in the infrastructure sector; the people working there have a hesitant opinion about anthropologists, but they come back from that after a while. Scholars in for instance organizational science and economics certainly donÂ't beat anthropologist on the level of company knowledge. Name: Drs. Gea Wijers Field of interest: Social entrepreneurship in Cambodia Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl The central object of this research is to compare the value added by Cambodian American and Cambodian French returnee-entrepreneurs in transnational businesses, to the societal development of Cambodia. Just after finally finishing my third Ma at the VU, in Political Sciences, and after 10 years in business as a consultant, advisor and project manager, I have returned to the department of Culture, Organization and Management in 2007. As a lecturer I was given the opportunity to work on fulfilling my ambition to further study the Cambodian diaspora. This country has become the focus of my interest in 2005 & 2006, during an assignment as a management- and communication advisor to the Ministry of Environment in Phnom Penh. Its customs and traditions (highlight: participating in the dragon boat races during the waterfestival), its beautiful monuments (highlight: participating in the Angkor Watt marathon and its people have even found their way into a book (see: www.freemusketeers.nl/ontwikkelingssamenwerking.html). But more importantly, it has made me find my place in the Cambodia Research Group (see: www.cambodiaresearch.org) and work on an integrated academic programme for WOTRO in close cooperation with Cambodian. While working on realizing this beautiful programme, I am lucky to have already been awarded CCSS funding for my part of the research in 2008: http://www.fsw.vu.nl/en/research/ccss/index.asp). The central object of this research is to compare the value added by Cambodian American and Cambodian French returnee-entrepreneurs in transnational businesses, to the societal development of Cambodia. A multi-sited research design will facilitate the analyses of Cambodian circular migrantsÂ' unique experiences in the American liberal, and the French coordinated, market economies. A great challenge for the next four years, and there is so much more to tell...! Looking forward to meeting you on the second floor at the Metropolitan building. Best regards, Gea Name: Drs. Hanneke Duijnhoven Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin I wanted to find out how employees in the railway organizations make sense of and cope with security challengers in their daily work practices. In 2005 I started my PhD research at the COM department. As a former COM student I was already familiar with the central themes and theories of the department. Together with my supervisors, Prof. Marcel Veenswijk and Dr.ir. Kees Boersma, I developed a research project on security practices in the Dutch and Spanish railway sectors. The terrorist attacks in Madrid in March 2004 and increasing attention for personal security in almost every realm of our societies awoke my attention for this subject. I wanted to find out how employees in the railway organizations make sense of and cope with security challengers in their daily work practices. In particular, I was interested in the situated meanings, discourses, cultures and local practices with regard to (railway) security in these two very different contexts. The main railway operating companies in the Netherlands (NS) and Spain (Renfe Operadora) shared my interest and I obtained access to conduct ethnographic fieldwork at both organizations. The fieldwork took place in 2006-2008. During this period I talked to a lot of employees at different levels of these companies and even got to spend a few days tagging along with small groups of operational staff (see pictures). In my dissertation I will present a collection of stories about daily life at the railways, focussing on the dangers, joys and tensions of work in this sector. From the myriad of data collected in the fields of study, I wrote a number of stories that represent my interpretation and analysis of the data from these two companies. In these stories I play with the use of different writing styles, genres and writing techniques. Not only does this allow me to give rich, in-depth insight into the lifeworlds of the people I studied, but it also gives me the opportunity to contribute to scientific debates on the construction and use of stories in social science. Overall I want to provide the readers of my dissertation with an understanding of the way that certain discourses or Â'grand-narrativesÂ' dominate the (organizational) lifeworlds of people across society as well as the ways in which we understand our own lives. I hope to obtain my PhD in the fall of 2009. Quotes: Â"[Ethnography] rests on the peculiar practice of representing the social reality of others through the analysis of oneÂ's own experience in the world of these othersÂ" (Van Maanen, 1988: xi) Â"The use of stories to make sense of a situation or the world itself emphasizes their role as part of the interpretive repertoire of cultureÂ" (Orr, 1996: 12). Orr, J. E. (1996). Talking about machines : an ethnography of a modern job. London: Cornell University Press. Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the Field. On Writing Ethnography. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Name: Dr. Marja Spierenburg Links: http://www.kennislink.nl/web/show?id=143864 Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin I am still in touch with a quite a number of students who graduated under my supervision, and most of them ended up in very interesting jobs. I joined the COM department in September 2001. Before that, I had worked for UNESCO, in Senegal and in France. I enjoyed my work there, but after four years decided it was time to return to university and critically examine the issues that I was confronted with during my work for UNESCOÂ's environmental programme. Conservation and land rights are the topics that have always interested me, and were also the subject of my PhD-research in Zimbabwe. Before joining COM, I focused mainly on the impacts of conservation and land reform projects on local communities. However, over the years I developed a keen interest in the organizations that were designing and implementing these conservation and land reform projects. At COM I am focusing on public private partnerships (PPPs), especially in conservation and land reform projects in Southern Africa. I am studying how governments work together with private non-profit organizations (or NGOs), but increasingly also with private for-profit organizations, to implement conservation and land reform projects. How do these organizations, with their different objectives and mandates, but also often with different organization cultures, work together to design and implement projects? Such forms of cooperation are often presented as win-win solutions, bringing together types of organizations with complementary functions and skills. What is often neglected are the different interests that these organizations may have, as well as power relations between the organizations involved, but also between the organizations and the public that is supposed to benefit from public-private partnerships. My own research projects are all located in Southern Africa, but I also supervise students who work on PPPs in different regions of the world. I very much like to involve students in my research projects, and so far, the students participating have been very enthusiastic as well. I am still in touch with a quite a number of students who graduated under my supervision, and most of them ended up in very interesting jobs. Some are working for development or environmental organizations, others have joined (local) government, or the private sector. Some have continued their academic careers, and are now working on the PhD-theses. Fortunately I have been able to raise funds, together with some of my colleagues in the Netherlands and abroad, for research projects that offer possibilities to recruit PhD-students. If you would like to know more about the research projects and the courses I am teaching, you can check links above. Name: Dr. Harry Wels Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl If I am to believe my former students, nothing prepares you for the juggernaut of life as much as research in this fascinating world of South and southern Africa. 'Southern Africa as an Academic Adventure Trail If you like travelling, and if you are not afraid to bungeejump into the various fascinating worlds of South and southern Africa, I, Harry Wels, have maybe something to offer for you. Since 1986 I am doing research in southern Africa. First in Zambia, later in Zimbabwe, and currently mainly in South Africa.over the years I have supervised lots of students who wanted to combine a sense of adventure with a serious dive into academic research. Of course Indiana Jones is pure fiction, but there have been students over the years who experienced their greatest joy when they could go into the remoter parts of southern Africa in pursuit of answers to their research questions. My own research field, most of it together with my colleague Marja Spierenburg, is around questions of organisational cooperation in the field of private nature conservation. Here local communities, government officials, NGO's, white farmers and business try to work together, while they come from completely different backgrounds and often pursue different agenda's. I want to know how organisations work together despite their almost antagonistic differences. In order to find answers to these questions, I talk and participate in these organisational networks. I visit offices, villages, farms, meetings and what have you, in order to find relevant information to answer my research questions. Over the years, many of our students have done their own bit to contribute answering these questions in fields like joint ventures, tourism, nature conservation, community based natural resource management, policy formulation, conflict resolution, etc. Of course, you have to be prepared before you can dive into these worlds. General preparations in terms of theoretical orientation and methodological training are done through the coursework we offer in our Bachelor and Master course. Country specific and thematically focused preparations are done in close cooperation with myself or Marja, or both. If I am to believe my former students, nothing prepares you for the juggernaut of life as much as research in this fascinating world of South and southern Africa. For some ideas please check the photographs. If you just want to know more, please don't be shy and call mee (+ 31 (0)20 598 6706) or email me. Your adventure might start with that call or mail.' Name: Dr. ir. Sytze Kingma Links: http://www.trosradar.nl/index.php?id=uitzending&itemUid=1122 Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin The material side of organizations has been much neglected in organizational management and research but is recently gaining a new relevance. My name is Sytze Kingma and I became associated as a lecturer to COM in 2001. At the time I didnÂ't know that you could get an academic degree in organizational anthropology, but the cultural perspective on organizations was very appealing to me and matched wonderfully with my multidisciplinary background. Before I started working at COM I had already been involved in academic life in various capacities, as a teacher, as a researcher and as a PhD student. I had also been working in the business world for some years. My research interests involve the confrontation between the Â'materialÂ' and the Â'virtualÂ' dimensions of organizational networks, and the way Â'riskÂ' is implicated in contemporary organizational contexts. The material side of organizations has been much neglected in organizational management and research but is recently gaining a new relevance. It includes organizational dimensions such as architecture, interior design, technology, urban space etc. Especially in the context of digital technologies and processes of globalization the material dimension of organizations are redefined and redesigned. My fields of interest include Â'Globalisation & EuropeanisationÂ',Â'Office space & Digital spaceÂ', Â'Regulation & GovernanceÂ', Â'Risk & SafetyÂ', Â'Gambling & EntertainmentÂ'. Publicatie link (global gambling): http://www.routledge.co.uk/books/Cultural-Perspectives-on-Gambling-Organizations-isbn9780415996778 Netwerk link (sociology of risk and uncertainty): http://www.kent.ac.uk/soru/RN22/RN22about.htm Name: Drs. Nicole Brenninkmeijer Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin After a series of honour killings in the Netherlands the Dutch government, strengthened by the general attention for the integration and emancipation of migrant women in the public debate, started up an interdepartmental programme to combat honour related violence in 2006. Hello! Welcom to the COMmunity! My name is Nicole Brenninkmeijer, I am one of the many PhDs working at the department of COM. The topic of my doctoral thesis is honour related violence in the Netherlands. After a series of honour killings in the Netherlands the Dutch government, strengthened by the general attention for the integration and emancipation of migrant women in the public debate, started up an interdepartmental programme to combat honour related violence in 2006. However the government is not the only actor involved; the complexity of the problem leads to the involvement of a divers group of actors, like the police, women shelters, migrant organizations, schools and municipalities. In my research I concentrate on the way this group of actors create a new organizational field, in which they, by negotiation, develop a social and cultural order. To examine the introduced problem I analyze the discourse and discursive practices of the involved actors. The data collection involves qualitative research methods, like in-depth interviews with representatives of the involved organizations; observations of discursive practices during relevant meetings and finally the collection of policy documents, organizational documents and media documents as products of discursive practices. If you want to learn more about honour related violence you could watch one of the documentaries mentioned below. Many of the interviewees have also contributed to my research. Â"EerwraakÂ", by Frans Brommet Â"HuwelijksmigratieÂ" by Reporter Or watch this CNN report on a honour killing in the UK http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtRVugNjcY Name: Drs. Myrte Berendse Field of interest: Culture Change in infrastructure organizations Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin COM enabled me to look at issues of image building and sustainability in a critical way, analyzing social interactions by means of theoretical concepts like Â"authenticityÂ" or the theatre metaphor of Â"frontstageÂ" and Â"backstageÂ" regions. Only several months after I finished my master thesis in Culture, Organization and Management early 2004, I started working at the department, first as a junior lecturer and later as a PhD student. Apparently COM and I fit well together. Before studying COM I traversed Central and South America as a backpacker and as an author of a travel guide. My masters research enabled me to go back as a researcher. Talking to and observing the daily working practices of those involved (tour guides, lodge and hotel owners, taxi drivers, archaeologists or marketers), I studied how the various actors in the Belizean tourism industry tried to preserve an image of Belize as a hidden paradise, unspoiled and with consideration for the natural environment, while at the same time they were increasingly catering to mass tourism. COM enabled me to look at issues of image building and sustainability in a critical way, analyzing social interactions by means of theoretical concepts like Â"authenticityÂ" or the theatre metaphor of Â"frontstageÂ" and Â"backstageÂ" regions. The PhD project IÂ'm currently working on opened up a world that was previously unknown to me, but of which we daily encounter its artifacts: the world of civil engineers and their structural artworks. After parliamentary enquiries on irregularities and cost escalations in the construction industry and in times of continuous public reforms, public infrastructure organizations are fascinating research areas for organizational anthropologists interested in the study of organizational cultural change. In my PhD study I focus on the everyday negotiations surrounding the introduction of new working practices, analyzing this process in various settings, ranging from the annual ceremonies around New YearsÂ' meetings, during Â"road showsÂ" of higher management or weekly meetings of project teams. Getting involved in the inter-organizational collaboration between Dutch engineers and the US Army Corps of Engineers also turned out to be a unique case study into the continuous negotiation with regard to new roles and responsibilities of the public sector in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Name: Dr. ir. Kees Boersma Links: www.keesboersma.com Zuidas: snel terugkeren naar de menselijke maat www.zuidas-abc.nl Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin My research is about Â'Knowledge, Work and Organizational ChangeÂ'. The research addresses the question of how, why, by whom and with what consequences (new) technologies are developed within and for knowledge-intensive organizations and networks and how this does affect the social identities and work(space) of individuals. I study these issues in the context of globalization, urban development and city-management. Name: Dr. Frans Kamsteeg Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin This is how I would summarize culture and identity research in organizations: using one's senses to grasp daily sensemaking. Researching in organizations requires social skills and a proper use of one's senses. At COM, we think these are the qualities ethnographers have. And watching, smelling, talking and socializing is at least what I do from the start of my academic career. I started my research journey in a Pyrenees mountain village, participated in Pentecostal churches in Chile and Peru, assessed development agencies in Netherlands, and recently I walked around in amazement in South African black and white universities. Always looking for the "this-tells-it-all" moment: the image, event, story that best illustrates organizational problems and complexities. This is how I would summarize culture and identity research in organizations: using one's senses to grasp daily sensemaking. The same message I spread in my COM teaching. Culture & Organization and Organizational Ethnography are the bachelor and premaster courses I teach. Finally, as chairman of the examination committee I have to assess whom to admit to the COM master programme. In that capacity close reading, one more example of sensitivity, is of critical importance. Name: Dr. Juliette Koning Field of interest: Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia Contact: www.fsw.vu.nl Linkedin We ask questions about the basis on which people cooperate in (international) business and entrepreneurship ventures departing from the idea that these are not just related to economies of scale and profits but that such features as religion, ethnicity, and kinship are important interrelating factors as well. Hi, my name is Juliette Koning. I joined the COM department in 2003 after having worked at various other universities in the Netherlands and Indonesia. The latter country immediately reveals an important feature about my academic work and me: I have a passion for Indonesia and have been working, traveling and studying there since the mid-1980s. During my studies in social anthropology at the University of Amsterdam I was already drawn to questions of politics and culture in Indonesia (probably related to some personal family history in 'the Indies') and it led me to do a PhD on rural-urban youth migration on the island of Java. I started this PhD only several years after graduation. In the 'in-between' years as I call them I did such odd things as working as a tour guide in Indonesia for a Dutch tour operator which taught me many valuable lessons on group-psychology that come in quite handy during my teachings at the university! My current research and teaching at the department of Culture, Organization and Management brings together my never ending interest in current affairs in Indonesia (see a recent contribution by me to the online journal Inside Indonesia at www.insideindonesia.org) and a research domain in the COM master called 'transnational entrepreneurship'. We ask questions about the basis on which people cooperate in (international) business and entrepreneurship ventures departing from the idea that these are not just related to economies of scale and profits but that such features as religion, ethnicity, and kinship are important interrelating factors as well. This interest not only shows that I like to combine anthropological approaches with business studies; it also brought me recently to explore why ethnic Chinese managers and business owners in Indonesia are converting to Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity. Where do religion and entrepreneurship/leadership meet? Another research line concerns the question of what the China-boom means for ethnic Chinese people who live in Southeast Asia sometimes for several generations but often in 'minority' positions. What does the China rise means for business and identity questions? Photo: Juliette Koning at International Conference of the ChinaWorld Research Network: 'Implications of a Transforming China: Domestic, Regional and Global Impacts'; Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, August 2007. Inspired by this, many of my master students find their way to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand but also China for exciting fieldwork studies (usually 3 to 4 months) on tourism entrepreneurship, ethnic Chinese entrepreneurship in Malaysia, ethnic Chinese investments in China, return migration to China, to mention but a few. With an interest in this region COM positions itself in the middle of a very dynamic region (Asian Tiger economies) with many exciting research themes and questions on culture, entrepreneurship (as the creation of 'new' organizations) and management for the years ahead of us. Our faculty of Social Sciences made the Southeast Asian region one of their focus regions and in 2005 we established an informal research network with several Southeast Asian partner universities, named: SEAVU of which I am at present the coordinator. Please go to www.fsw.vu.nl in order to read all about this exciting research network! If your are interested to read more about my research, teaching and publications please go to: www.fsw.vu.nl Name: Prof. dr. Heidi Dahles Contact Linkedin "...she interviewed gigolos and beach-boys chasing rich female tourists - and she labeled them as ?entrepreneurs in romance?..." Enterprises and businesses, enterprising communities and networks Â- these kids of organizations are central to the work of Heidi Dahles, full professor in organizational anthropology. Heidi is trained as an anthropologist and she feels passionate about doing fieldwork. Heidi put on her rubber boots to study business deals closed and bust during hunting parties in the Dutch polders, she hung out with Â'wildÂ' tour-guides in popular Indonesian tourist destinations, she interviewed gigolos and beach-boys chasing rich female tourists - and she labeled them as Â'entrepreneurs in romanceÂ'- , she visited Chinese businessmen in their chic high-rise offices in the Singapore business district wearing nylons and long-sleeved outfit while temperature was soaring at 35 degrees Celsius, she did testimony and praised Jesus as CEO with Malaysian businessmen in meetings of the Full Gospel Business MenÂ's Fellowship in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, and she exchanged mails with Cambodian high-ranking officials who involve themselves in the business of higher education. At present, Heidi coordinates a research programme which addresses organizational and institutional change in so-called transitional countries which enter the liberal market economy after decades of state-centralism. One of these countries is post-conflict Cambodia. Cambodia is a crazy place where extreme wealth exists next to desperate poverty. Western liberal democratic ideals (mediated through international and local non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations) become challenged by East Asian and Middle East economic development models (represented by large-scale infrastructural investments). This complex situation is crisscrossed by the growing influence of diverse diasporic groups such as US-Cambodian and French-Cambodian return-migrants, and the thriving ethnic Chinese Cambodian business community. Against this background, the research programme aims at contributing to critical globalization scholarship addressing concepts such as Â'transnationalizationÂ', Â'many globalizationsÂ', Â'multiple pathways to modernityÂ' and the Â'clash of globalizationsÂ'. See: www.cambodiaresearch.org If Heidi is not doing fieldwork, she may perform funny acts at conferences, wear out her running shoes in the Amsterdam Flevopark or maltreat the rowing machine at the gym. Name: Prof. dr. Marcel Veenswijk "During the past years, I?ve become fascinated by managers and their ongoing ?drive? for change in (large scale) organizations." ItÂ's really great to meet you here on this new virtual Com-munity platform. My name is Marcel Veenswijk and IÂ'm professor in Management of Cultural Change in the Com department. I feel that the Com-munity is a unique opportunity to (re)connect with Com-alumni, colleagues, students and Com-fans. During the past years, I've become fascinated by managers and their ongoing Â'driveÂ' for change in (large scale) organizations. On the one hand they are the most creative, innovative people IÂ've met. They are passionate, ambitious and true artists of good stories. On the other hand . they can be so boring and fixated on models, standards and checking their neighbours Â'how to/go toÂ'. Nowadays, most of them are preaching dramatic transformative Â'programs of cultural changeÂ'. ThatÂ's where I come in. With colleagues, IÂ've been studying cultural change programs in a wide range of sectors. Sometimes in private (multi-national) firms, but mostly public sector organization. What narratives do they use to create new forms of meaning? How do they organize their Â-so called- 'interventions'. What works for them and why (not)? How do workers survive the Â'been there/seen allÂ' syndrome? Questions which are only partially answered so far. Besides university researcher/lecturer IÂ'm currently head of the Com department. And yes, IÂ'm more than happy to use models, standards and IÂ'm constantly checking developments in other departments. It makes me feel in control and to be honest .. I really like it.If you have questions, comments, or creative ideas on new forms of collaboration with our department, please contact me.Best, Marcel Veenswijk These are some of the scholars that together for the 'soul' of the COM perspective. They tell about their own research experiences and their fields of interest. As these scholars while guide you during your master research, it is quite useful to get to know them better; some of them have even left video messages for potential COM students. Anthropology and business: Nokia creative research> the importance of ethnography to forsee design trends Business Anthropology TV strives to be a collective resource of information contributed by global business leaders and anthropologists. Weblog with many links on anthropology of business Culture Matters, a site concerning the appliance of ethnography Personal websites COM: Website Alfons Website Kees Website Francoise Website Myrte Website Halleh Research Projects Amsterdam Bright City, inspirerende ontmoetingsplaats voor alle actoren aan de Zuidas. Cambodia Research Group, research program in close collaboration with international and Cambodian NGOs, Cambodian government, diaspora and business associations, and other stakeholders. Next Generation Infrastructure Foundation represents a large international consortium of knowledge institutions, market players and governmental bodies. Seavu Southeast Asia-VU cooperation EGOS European Group for Organizational Studies ISST International Society for the Study of Time. Links to COM-suited companies Samhoud is een ongewoon gewoon adviesbureau. Het werd in 1989 opgericht door Salem Samhoud met het visionaire doel om doorbraken te realiseren door het inspireren en verbinden van mensen; zowel in business, maatschappij als op persoonlijk vlak. Berenschot is an independent organisation consulting firm with approximately 450 employees in the Benelux. We have continually impressed our clients with new insights for over 70 years. Twynstra Gudde provides result-oriented consultancy services for many different market sectors. Our core competences are in: Project and programme management, Change management and Organisational design. Linkedin networks concerning COM The COM group on Linkedin(access only for LinkedIn Members) Alumni network Faculty of Social Science on LinkedIn Society and COM Centre for International Cooperation (CIS) is VUA's focal point for international development cooperation with partners in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. DIV landelijk network Diversiteitsmanagement Move your world development organization Antropologen beroepsvereniging (dutch) Beeld voor Beeld documentary festival on culture and representation