A Research On Cross Cultural Groups And Organisations

Geert Hofstede is an influential Dutch researcher in the fields of organizational studies and more concretely organizational culture, also cultural economics and management. He is a well-known pioneer in his research of cross-cultural groups and organizations and played a major role in developing a systematic framework for assessing and differentiating national cultures and organizational cultures. His studies demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groups that influence behavior of societies and organizations.

Collectivism-> is basically when you think that values and the goals of the group and the common good over the goals of any one individual are the most beneficial. It stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals

Societies differ in several ways. Many societies are defined as collective or individual. Collectivism is the act of being “owned” or not being independent. Individualism is the act of being independent and people making their own decisions about life. In Anthem the society is Collectivism and in today’s society, it would be reflected as Individualism. These two practices of society differ in several ways.

“Individualism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right to live as he sees fit, to act on his own judgement, to keep and use the product of his effort, and to pursue the causes of his choosing.” My take on individualism, is basically that we can control ourselves, we can do what we want with restrictions to keep those that stand by us safe. Individualism is a way of a society. Now, on the other hand there is collectivism, “the idea that the individual’s life belongs not to him but to the group or society of which he is merely a part of has no rights, and that he must sacrifice his values and goals for the group’s greater good.” My take on this is “idea” is that you are completely controlled when put under this way of society. Having read the book Anthem by Ayn Rand collectivism is for sure something that I would not want to be a part of.

For the last century, individualism vs. collectivism has been a political conflict in America. What is collectivism and individualism you might ask, well collectivism is briefly defined as a group of people working together to give priority over individuals. On the other hand, individualism can be defined as a theory of favoring freedom over collective individuals and working to benefit his/her own self. Although the two seem very different, they also share many similar characteristics.

Collectivism, which states that individual, puts his needs aside and acts for the further betterment of the group and society at large.

Individualism and Collectivism are much more different than they are alike. Collectivist “place a great deal of importance on extended families and group loyalty. In the United States, this is the case in the Amish communities and in some Latino/Native American communities” (pg.104) Being Latina, I am able to see the difference in those that are first generation Mexican-Americans versus those who migrated from Mexico to the United States. A perfect example of this is my aunt. Although she pursued a nursing degree she decided to quit school and get a full time job to stay home to contribute to her mother and father. She sacrificed any self-desire to build her own family because her families necessities were more important than her own. Her loyalty

An individualistic society gives greater weight to personal achievements and individual rights, as opposed to a collectivist society where the individual sees herself through the achievements of the group in which he/she belongs (family, friends, club, etc.) and in which the individual owes dedication

Collectivists? Individualism is encouraging people to be unique, independent, and self-reliant. We socialize our children to be individualists for example when we make them sleep in their own beds. Collectivism is giving a group more priority than on each individual.

This dimension determines the culture in the term of “I” or “we”. Individualism prefers to the society in which individuals only take care of themselves and their immediate family. In contrast, collectivism prefers to the the society in which people integrate and share good relationships in groups, and expect the unquestioning loyalty. (Hofstede, 1991). The three questions related to this dimension are:

| * India scores high on this dimension, 77, indicating an appreciation for hierarchy and a Top – Down Structure in society and Organizations. dependent on the boss or the powerholder for direction, acceptance of un-equal rights between the power-priviledged and those who are lesser down in the pecking order, immediate superiors accessible but one layer above less so, paternalistic leader, management directs, gives reason / meaning to ones work life and rewards in exchange for loyalty from employees. * Real Power is centralized even though it may not appear to be and managers count on the obedience of their team members. * Employees expect to be directed clearly as to their functions and what is expected of them. * Communication is top down and directive in its style and often feedback which is negative is never offered up the ladder

The Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions were created collectively by Geert Hofstede, Michael Bond, and Michael Minkov. These dimensions of culture were created to view how values in the workplace were influence by a particular culture of a given country. Essentially, it was a tool to describe how workforces in different countries operate under their own culture. There are currently six different dimensions of national cultures; power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, long-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint. Professor Greet Hofstede was the creator of the first four cultural dimensions, back in 1973. Roughly two decades later, Michael Bond with the support of Hofstede created the fifth dimension, in 1991. Recently in the 2010, the last dimension was added to the list, by Michael Minkov and his research team (Minkoy & Hofstede, 2011). The first four dimensions discovered by Hofstede, dealt with four different anthropological issues that were handled differently from nation to nation. These issues involved; methods of coping with inequality and uncertainty, relationships within a primary group, and the emotional significance of having been born as male or female (National, n.d.). The fifth dimension is long-term orientation. Long-term orientation provides the idea that a given culture or country prefers to do things in an old-fashion manner or in a modernized pragmatic approach. The last dimension,

Culture can relate to a country (national culture), a part of a community (sub-culture) or an organization (corporate culture). It is widely known that a person is not born with a culture, and that culture is learned throughout a person’s

As defined by Triandis (1995), collectivistic societies are those in which individuals see themselves as a significant part of one or more collectives, while individualistic societies consist of

According to Hofstede, in individualist societies people are supposed to take care of themselves and remain emotionally independent from group (Schneider and Barsoux 1997 P.79). According to Morrison (2002) P.139 individualism refers to the extent to which individuals perceive themselves as independent and autonomous beings and at the opposite pole is collectivism in which people see themselves as integrated into ‘in-groups’. Uganda, Pakistani and Thailand cultures are individualistic societies as differentiated from the Indian culture. In the PALS group, Shweta the Indian was always interested in seeing us work as a group yet the rest of us preferred each member producing individual work subject to discussion.