Cultural diversity, group formation and alienation as constraints on employee interaction in a wholesale company

Abstract

Although a relatively new concept in anthropology, the notion of cultural alienation appears to be a useful instrument to explain aspects of workplace interaction and behaviour. This article deals with alienation as a function of cultural diversity in a wholesale company in Gauteng, South Africa. It was identified as an important issue impacting upon employees' interaction with others and was manifest in group establishment, various affective experiences, and distancing between people. Sources of the alienation include both organisational culture and culture in the conventional anthropological sense, but it appears that in the company concerned, the former outweighs ‘conventional’ culture as an alienating factor.