Two Buttocks Cannot Avoid Friction: Supporting Cultural Projects from Outside: A Model for Interaction

Degree Name

MA in International and Intercultural Management

First Advisor

Karen Blanchard

Abstract

Two Buttocks Cannot Avoid Friction - Supporting Cultural Projects from Outside: A Model for Interaction is an examination of issues facing a small grass roots women’s craft organization in Zambia, Africa. The group is moving from an informal to a more formal structure as it is growing in scope. With this growth comes a need to restructure relationships with outsider experts who have up to this point supported their efforts, but with this new growth, will be unable to meet increasing needs from the group. The paper first looks at the present dependent relationship the group has with “outsider experts”. The paper then goes on to examine the ingredients that have led the women’s group and “outsider experts” to this type of relationship. Finally, the paper examines how, in the future, this relationship can adapt to the benefit of both – moving the women’s group from dependency to increasing ownership of the projects they are working on. The main questions addressed in this paper are as follows: What are the necessary components of a model of interaction that allows for the healthy sharing of outsider expertise yet limits control of the group by such outsider experts? There will be a specific focus on how this applies to the Malambo Women’s Group of Zambia. This question was broken down into the following sub-questions. 1) How has the group interacted with outsider experts? 2) How has this affected their ownership of the project? 3) What are some of the reasons for this behavior? 4) How might these problems have been resolved to create a more equitable relationship? 5) How might the strengths be built upon?

Disciplines

Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | Growth and Development | Interpersonal and Small Group Communication

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