In this episode of the ‘Reconstructing Inclusion’ podcast, Amri chats with Dr. Starling David Hunter III, who, having lived outside the U.S. for 18 years, recognizes the importance of cultural nuances in shaping organizational behavior theories. He shared valuable insights into his journey from engineering to organizational behavior, emphasizing the importance of bridging theory and practice.

The conversation delves into the dynamics of teaching in diverse cultural contexts, from the Middle East to Europe, and how adapting teaching methods has unveiled the cultural underpinnings of organizational theories. They explored the challenges of making Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) a necessary component in people analytics and organizational development.

Dr. Hunter III emphasizes the significance of applying network analysis to organizational behavior, leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion, offering a macro view that complements traditional approaches and its potential to examine issues like belongingness and DEI through the lens of actual connections within organizations.

 

Key highlights

• Teaching Adaptations in Cultural Variation


• Unveiling Cultural Assumptions


• Social Capital: a key aspect in organizational dynamics


• Driving ONA Adoption in Organizations


• The Role of ONA in DEI Conversations

 

About the Guest

Dr. Starling David Hunter III received his MBA (in Human Resource Management) and Ph.D. (in Organization Theory) from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. He has been a faculty member at MIT's Sloan School of Management and Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. His research, teaching, and consulting all focus on the application of social network analysis to questions of organization design and performance.

At present, Starling is a co-founder of Organalytic, a Stockholm-based advisory and consultancy specializing in organizational network analysis. 

Learn more about his work by checking out Organalytic: https://organalytic.se/

 

About the Host

As CEO/Founder of Inclusion Wins, Amri B. Johnson and a virtual collective of partners converge organizational purpose to create global impact with a lens of inclusion.

His theory of change is focused on building ‘Inclusion Systems.’ Inclusion systems provide direction and momentum in the complexity of organizations that allow them to be antifragile—leaning into and engaging with resistance, stressors, disruptions, and disequilibrium and being stronger as a result of such engagement.

His book, Reconstructing Inclusion: Making DEI Accessible, Actionable, and Sustainable outlines how organizations can create inclusion-normative cultures and build approaches to DEI that are designed for and with everyone, unambiguously prioritized, and purpose aligned.

Born in Topeka, Kansas (USA), Amri has worked and lived in the U.S., Brazil, and currently lives in Basel, Switzerland, with his wife Martina and their three kids.

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