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This chapter describes HR processes and practices needed to address four common problems that organizations must address to retain knowledge and develop workforce capabilities in an era of changing workforce demographics. Key elements of an effective HR infrastructure include skills inventory systems that allow managers to evaluate their existing knowledge base, succession planning and career development processes, and phased retirement policies. Culture change is discussed, which is increasingly necessary to create the characteristics of a retention culture that enhances retention of both high performing employees and critical knowledge.

This chapter reviews archaeological evidence for culture change during the first millennium ad in north-central Peru, and its implications for the spread of language(s). Important developments deriving from regional interaction typified the first centuries ad (north-west Ancash), the seventh century ad (Callejón de Huaylas), and the end of the Middle Horizon (across departments). If major language expansions can be pegged to transformations in material style, they should be sought in these periods and areas. Many different Amerindian languages are known from the region (Culle, Mochica, Quingnam, Quechua, Aymara), although most are now extinct. The cultural heterogeneity in north-central Peru during the Early Intermediate Period may indicate considerable time-depth for such linguistic diversity. The subsequent Middle Horizon marks a period of widespread interaction, though varying in nature and impact through time. This elicits issues for future research in the linguistic prehistory of the central Andes.

This chapter examines disaster responses and environmental perceptions of climate change and glacier retreat through an analysis of the 1941 Huaraz and 1945 Chavín de Huantar glacial lake outburst floods, which killed 5,000 and 500 people, respectively. For the people most affected, the urban Huaraz population, the disaster not only leveled physical structures but also toppled symbols of social standing, wealth, status, and even the culturally constructed racial categories that supposedly distinguished Indians, mestizos, and creoles (whites). Essentially, the floods erased supposed boundaries between highland and lowland, countryside and city, and nature and civilization. Conceptualizing Cordillera Blanca glacial lake disasters as the combination of societal and environmental forces illuminates the culture of climate change and reveals why residents later rejected hazard zoning. It also explains why Huaraz urban inhabitants turned to state science and technology to protect them from glacier retreat.

This chapter presents a philosophical piece problematizing the migration concept through a historical analysis of the relationship between migration and “culture change.” Graciela Cabana argues that current definitions and uses of “migration” were developed to answer anthropological specific questions, suggesting that perhaps, migration has since functioned as a handmaiden to studies of culture change. The challenge presented, then, is to divorce ourselves from our immediate academic concerns in order to think epistemologically about what migration is and how to best approach it in prehistoric studies.

The goal of dynamical minimalism is to identify the simplest mechanisms and the fewest variables capable of producing the phenomenon we are trying to explain. Dynamical minimalism bases its explanation on emergence: Complex properties on the level of a system arise in unexpected ways from the interactions of simple elements. Computer simulations are used to identify the simplest properties of elements and the rules of interactions that produce the phenomenon. Several models of influence and their emergent properties are discussed in relation to how culture emerges and how cultural changes occur. The properties of the models are related to known cultural variables. A second family of models investigates the integration process of individuals coming from different cultures. Computer simulations show that many properties of culture may be explained by simple, local rules of influence among individuals and that typical patterns of cultural change and critical parameters can be identified for the dynamics of culture.

Culture is a system of institutions, each of which is made up of conventions: collective capacities to perform some activity reliably. Institutions are embodied in concrete organizations, and are articulated through common knowledge, i.e., things that all participants know are known by all participants. The collective nature of institutions makes biological evolution, development, and ecological community inappropriate as metaphors for describing culture change. Culture change involves local change in conventions, abstraction and analogy, and recreation of the change in other contexts. These changes require reflexivity at the individual level.

This chapter discusses the UK private sector finance organisation which claims to have moved beyond the work-life policy implementation to address organisational culture change. A drive for culture change stems from the need to develop a single organisational culture and identity following mergers and acquisitions. The workplace policies and practices documented in this chapter are interpreted through a conceptual framework based on organisational learning theory and the concept of a dual agenda for change in which workplace policies aim to meet the complementary rather than conflicting needs of the organisation and its employees. This chapter questions how far a cultural change in this workplace signifies a form of transformational learning. The chapter ends by concluding that change is a complex and a dynamic process, with some transformational change taking place alongside some management resistance.

Historically, anthropologists have treated migration as a source and form of major change, involving mass population movement over large distances and across sociocultural boundaries. Migration studies in molecular anthropology fit squarely within this tradition since most studies have tested hypotheses of large-scale population movement. This chapter provides an overview of how molecular anthropologists approach the issue of migration, drawing on examples from genetic studies of Native Americans. Using two case studies of migration on a more localized scale, this chapter shows that the short range, short term, and incremental movements of individuals are also important. These small-scale movements can have a profound effect on the genetic structure of human populations, and they indicate that migration is not always associated with upheaval and change. Rather, some forms of migration comprise a normal part of everyday life and produce continuity rather than change.

This chapter discusses the social–historical background against which Inuit youth have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It takes a community, cultural, and historical perspective and considers the view that suicide is a symbol of social suffering. The chapter examines the dominant forms of sociocultural change among Inuit during the past several decades. Although White people arrived in the Arctic in the early 20th century as missionaries, police, and a large fur-trading company, the most significant force of change in Inuit history was the moving of Inuit from their land camps into crowded settlements in the 1950s and 1960s. Much of this imperialism/colonialism is discussed, as is hunting, sharing, and schooling.

Ushering babies into this world is the sacred work of a Mayan midwife (“iyoom”). The divine selection of an individual for this work is indicated by a sign at her birth. However, fewer sacred midwives are taking up this calling, which worries the sacred midwives of San Pedro. Chona's interest in setting her life and work down on paper is to preserve the ancient wisdom that is in danger of being lost. Over the years, this account expanded to include childrearing more generally, and how some cultural practices have changed and some have been sustained over more than 80 years. Many changes relate to increased communication with people of other backgrounds, of other places—including researchers. The sources of information for the book include accounts by Chona and her family, Barbara's decades of research and participation in the community, and notes and writings of Lois and Ben Paul and other scholars.

This chapter focuses on the application of Strategic 360 Feedback specifically for large-scale organization development (OD) and change interventions. The emphasis is on (a) ways in which using data-based feedback for OD efforts is similar to and different from other applications and (b) the origins, evolution, and current state of the method as a key tool for OD practitioners. The chapter begins with an overview of the role and key differentiators of strategic 360 Feedback for OD and change-related interventions. Following a discussion of the importance of linking the process to a broader strategic organizational framework such as the Burke–Litwin model, case examples are provided for using 360 Feedback as either a transactional (managerial) or a transformational (leadership) lever for change. The chapter concludes with summary observations about the evolution and potential future of 360 Feedback for OD interventions, with an emphasis on trends in technology and the digitization of human resources.

This chapter examines the dynamics of culture change and cultural stability among the Shuar, an indigenous Amazonian society in southeastern Ecuador. While the Shuar have always engaged in transactions with markets and global flows in Ecuador and beyond, rapid changes in technology and infrastructure in the Amazon region are leading to changes in economic and social practices, norms, ideologies, and modes of interaction within and across Shuar society. The conceptual tools of cultural evolutionary theory may help readers to understand which aspects of Shuar social and economic life remain relatively stable through these transitions and which aspects undergo rapid change and why. This chapter proposes a framework for theorizing domains of change and stasis in contemporary Shuar culture and suggests ways in which this framework can be applied to understanding broader questions about the dynamics of human cultural history.

This chapter presents a practical approach to implementing change in music departments and conservatories by focusing on cultural rather than curricular change. Forward-thinking proposals abound, but meaningful curricular change is difficult and potentially divisive. A focus on understanding institutional culture and then using that understanding to foster changes that align with institutional values can yield tangible results quickly and chart a path toward meaningful curricular change. Drawing on his seven years of experience at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, Dean Brian Pertl shares a snapshot of an ongoing process of cultural change, faculty engagement, and redefining the future of one particular conservatory.

This chapter introduces the reader to structural misanthropology and culture change. It begins with an overview of two paradoxes: the paradox of transcendence, or the traditional paradox, in which the creature becomes the creator of the creation in which it is a creature; and the paradox of technology, or the modern paradox, in which the creator becomes the creature of its creation. It then considers how these two paradoxes relate to the cultural conditions known as “enchantment” and “disenchantment.” It also describes a model of culture change, with both paradoxes at the poles of a continuum that moves and changes through time from the dominance of traditional ideology toward the dominance of modern ideology. Finally, it discusses the basic definitions of transcendence and nature, the abstraction rule, and the role of technology in prosthesis.

In the early 1980s, Guinness found itself facing serious financial problems as a result of the recession, falling profits, and mistaken diversification decisions. This chapter tells how the company confronted these challenges by appointing a new managing director, Ernest Saunders, who transformed Guinness into a multinational beverage conglomerate and changed the culture of the organization forever. In the process, he also committed serious financial misdemeanors. This chapter tells the shop floor workers experienced these changes, in particular how the reorganizations and layoffs affected workplace culture and identity. Drawing on a series of oral histories and autobiographical accounts, the author places what happened at Guinness in the 1980s and 1990s within the wider context of the brewing and spirits sectors in the United Kingdom and globally.

This chapter examines the question of whether knowledge and use of healing plants maintained by traditional societies is disappearing before it can benefit society at large. The main agents are purported to be deforestation, over-harvest for the commercial botanical trade and, most importantly, cultural decay. This chapter argues that the cognitive link with botanical nature may well be at greater risk of extinction than the medicinal species themselves. Missionaries continue to school their rural converts to abandon the use of their medicinal plant recipes, and the increasing availability of Western pills and injections translates to waning attraction for rainforest remedies. More importantly, there seems to be little or no interest among urban or rural young people to assimilate and pass on the medicinal plant legacy of previous generations. For the younger generation, transmission of the old ways connects them with a “primitive” past with which most are keen to escape. The negative implications for future drug development are obvious. But the most significant impact is on the cultural heritage and sustainability of tropical forest societies.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of the criminal, civil, and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales and nondevolved tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2016, HMCTS began a 6-year, £1.2 billion transformational reform program to modernize and upgrade the courts and tribunals system. A need was identified to change the HMCTS performance management (PM) process; the personal impact and development (PID) scheme was developed in response. The PID scheme includes regular conversations with direct reports to discuss performance, strengths, aspirations, and potential. It moves the HMCTS away from a past-focused, manager-driven PM system to a joint manager–colleague approach; employees are supported to achieve their goals and reach their potential. To achieve this, the objective setting was replaced with high-level outcomes and in-year monetary reward. Feedback about the PID scheme has been positive. People like the development focus, and line managers generally enjoy the flexibility they have. It takes fewer resources to operate—principally achieved through removing the moderation process—even when accounting for the higher frequency of performance conversations. Nearly three quarters of respondents to the annual staff survey said they had regular PID chats with their line manager. Of those who said yes, 67% agreed that the PID scheme had made them feel more supported by their line manager, and 69% agreed that their line manager had the skills needed to have a meaningful chat. HMCTS is heartened by early evidence, including feedback and internal audit results.