Paper short abstract:

Corporate boundaries shape business anthropology research designs. Conducting an ethnography at a medium-sized corporation from 2009 – 2010 I'd like to share my experience of negotiating access, establishing rapport with informants across all hierarchy levels and the challenge of exiting after a long sojourn.

Paper long abstract:

Boundaries of a corporation offer possible definitions of research fields and constitute a challenge of accessing it. Being aware that no single corporation acts isolated but just on the contrary is woven in a network of customers, competitors, co-operation partners and suppliers, corporations' boundaries present an empirical and analytical frame for cultural and social structures. Literature provides uncountable case studies of elaborate and long run negotiations or even failure - making research life difficult. Drawing from my experience at Wire Inc., I will share my empirical knowledge of how to negotiate terms and access, conducting research establishing rapport with informants across all hierarchy levels and the challenge of exiting after a long multi-entry sojourn. Wire Inc. is a medium-sized corporation where I spent 5 months within a period of 1.5 years (2009-2010). I engaged in different levels of participant observation and other qualitative research activities to gain insights into the corporate culture with a special focus on trust and trust relations.