Individualism and Collectivism Essay Example

Individualism and Collectivism Essay Example Individualism and Collectivism Paper Individualism and Collectivism Paper The need to expand actively In the geographical areas beyond national borders puts the company and their managers In the difficult conditions of doing business In different countries. This gives rise to diverse and multifaceted problems caused by the existence of cultural differences between countries. Therefore, studies of effects of Job satisfaction and high quality job alternatives, in different cultural contexts, on desire of employees to exit, neglect, voice or to stay loyal, are very crucial components in todays cross-cultural business environment. Actually, there are two ways of cultural Influence on organizational life. Firstly, culture and behavior are inter- related, and Influence each other. Secondly, culture affects not only what people do, but also how they do it. Next paragraph will be explaining the difference in behavioral responses to low Job satisfaction and job alternatives in deferent cultural contexts, followed by the factors perfecting behavioral responses in horizontal individualism and vertical collectivism cultures. The last chapter will consist of summary of factors, recommendations for global managers how to enhance cross ultra work, and conclusion. Individualism and collectivism According to Hefted, there are six dimensions that differ countries among each other. They are: power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, pragmatism and indulgence. However, this proposal is mainly focusing on two of them, which are power distance and individualism, since they are closely connected. The term Individualism refers to the belief that every person Is unique and should care about him/herself, while collectivism is its antonym and stands for the belief hat people should act in interests of societies instead of achieving personal goals. Several research were conducted on relationship between power distance and individualism, and they have shown that there is negative relationship between them. Meaning that the higher Individualism the lower power distance, while higher power distance will lead to the collectivism within the country. People from Individualistic culture are more Like to quit and voice, when they suffer from low Job satisfaction. In contrast, people from collectivist society are more likely to neglect, nice they are not satisfied by their job, and stay loyal, because they put interests of a group on the first place. The article of Thomas and Au, has shown that employees decisions on whether to voice, exit, neglect or to be loyal are highly dependent on cultural differences. Furthermore, Job satisfaction and the quality of Job alternatives also have Impact on employees performance. Differences in individualistic and collectivist countries The quality of job alternatives encourage workers of both cultures to change position, however sometimes people from collectivist societies may decide to stay to show he level of loyalty to the company. Sometimes strong collectivism may enhance employees commitment to organization, which may result In low staff turnover, with co-workers. Such phenomenon of high loyalty and dedication can clearly be seen in Russia and former Soviet Union countries. Soviet Union was a country which can be characterized by a very high collectivism culture, where interests of society were on the first place. It should be mentioned that the dissolution of the country into fifteen independent countries has weakened the collectivism, however it is still high. According to Hefted 6-D model, the level of individualism in Russia is 39, while the power of distance is 93. Actually, this means that power in country is distributed unequally, and can be categorized as very centralized, since 2/3 of foreign investments go into the capital city, Moscow. Moreover, this happens not only in Russia, but also in other former Soviet Union countries, such as Astrakhan, Uzbekistan and Gyrations, where people very often suffering of low Job satisfaction, but they dont quit, because they are afraid to stay unemployed. However, it should e mentioned that employees might change their position when the quality of Job alternatives is high. According to the News, more that 7,7 million or 11% of workers have changed their positions for the last 5 years in Russia. In addition, it should be mentioned that most of them are people of younger generation, those who were born in ass and ass, during the restructuring and dissolution of the country, while older generation prefer to stay, even if they have high quality alternative. On the other hand, is individualistic cultures where the high value has been put on creativity, autonomy and self-benefit. As an example, we can take United States of America, where the political situation is stable for the past 50 years, the power distance and individualism are 40 and 91 respectively. Within American organizations, hierarchy is established for convenience, superiors are accessible and managers rely on individual employees and teams for their expertise. Both managers and employees expect to be consulted and information is shared frequently. At the same time, communication is informal, direct and participative to a degree. However, it should e mentioned that according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, that people change the Job on average 11 times from ages from 18 to 44. While older people very rare decide to change their Job. So it can be said that political factor and age can also affect the behavioral responses in different countries. Conclusion and recommendations Thomas and Au have identified several factors affecting the behavioral responses to low Job satisfaction and high quality alternatives, which are cultural differences such as individualistic and collectivist cultures, and examined different responses of Job alternatives in those cultures. Furthermore, at their article they have mentioned economic factor as one of the reasons when choosing to exit or stay. In this proposal, comparison of two countries with different cultures, Russia and USA, has identified two other possible factors: political stability and age, as factors affecting the behavioral responses to low Job satisfaction and high quality Job alternatives. To overcome cultural differences global managers should first of all understand that they have to adapt to the culture of the country, not try to adapt the country to the ultra of home country. Furthermore, understanding that all cultures are actually multicultural, can help managers to overcome challenges that the might face. Since, Moreover, men and women are the two largest groups of culture. Another recommendation, is that managers should understand the difference in view of conflicts between collectivist and individualistic cultures. Collectivists, are more likely not be involved in it, since they put more emphasize on stability and harmony, while individualists assume the conflict as inevitable part of life, which can be solved.