The Second Hofstede Cultural Dimension Compared : Individualism Vs. Collectivism

Explanation: Hofstede 's framework rates Japan and Singapore as "collectivist" and the United States as "individualistic." A collectivist cultures has a stronger group identity than an individualistic culture.

One of the main themes in the story is “Social inequality”. There are many differences in the social status of the different people in Maycomb which causes confusion in the eyes of Jem and Scout. Scout thinks that all folks are folks while Jem thinks that one’s social standing is seen according to how long their ancestors have been reading/writing. The Cunningham’s are the country farmers. Scout clarifies the situation on the first day of school. In class Walter Cunningham refused to take a quarter when the teacher realized he didn’t bring his lunch. Scout explains how the Cunningham’s financial situation is bad and how they trade goods for services. The Finch family is near to the top of the hierarchy. The Ewells are people with no education

Question 1. How might the troubles with the tourism company be explained by Hofstede’s dimension of culture. Make sure to look at both Japanese and American cultures.

Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture are power distance, individualism v collectivism, masculinity v femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term v short-term time orientation. In the film the five dimensions are present, in the dimension of power distance it clear with the powerful positions that all the characters have within their professional lives. The way they live and own lavish houses leads to believe that they don’t believe they are equals to everyone else because of their status. Most of the couples demand respect and expect not to be question in their motives, which is a higher power context. Next is individualism versus collectivism, in

When a business decides to venture internationally into different countries with its products, services, and operations, it is very important that the company gains an understanding of how the culture of the different societies affects the values found in those societies. Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most famous and most used studies on how culture relates to values. Hofstede study enabled him to compare dimensions of culture across 40 countries. He originally isolated four dimensions of what he claimed summarized different cultures — power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity (Hill, 2013, p.110). To cover aspects of values not discussed in the original paradigm Hofstede has since added two more dimensions — Confucianism or long-term orientation and indulgence versus self-restraint (Hofstede, n.d.). Because of the way Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are given an index score from 0-100, it is easy for a company to get a general comparison between the cultures they are expanding into and the culture they are already in.

Collectivism is doing something not just for yourself but for the good of everyone involved. It has nothing to do with the individual and everything to do with the overall group’s success. This is what the Japanese value highly. They always reinforce this throughout the movie about how they will do whatever it takes for the company to do good. One of many examples of this is when the Japanese show up to play the softball game. Before the game starts you see the Japanese team working together and participating in a team warm up. The Americans make fun of this and think of it as something that makes them weaker. When the game starts you are able to see exactly how this hurts the Americans. The Japanese play a “small ball” game and worry about getting runners on base and relying on everyone working together to get runs on the board. The Americans, who are less team oriented, try to do everything themselves and try to hit the ball as far and hard as they can every time they come up to bat.

| * 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

This essay aimed to evaluate and critique the paper written by Geoffrey Williams and John Zinkin. It was divided into seven parts. First of all, I would brief introduce what the essay is about, followed by giving the description of the paper being evaluated. Then, theory and literature would be evaluated, with highlighting the theoretical frameworks used by the authors in developing the paper. Research design and approach would come to the fourth part, in which I would explore the research design and methods and discuss the benefits and limitations. Afterwards, benefits and limitations of the research design and approach would be given, and finally comes the suggestions of alternative research strategies/method and the

Hofstede’s first dimension is individualism vs collectivism. An individualist culture emphasizes the individual over the group, thus individual goals trump the group’s objectives. While a collectivist culture promotes interdependence amongst the group, individualism expects one to be independent and self-sufficient. As a result of individualism in cultures, individual rights and needs are a major focus of all decisions. Inferring from the characteristics explained above, an individualist culture is remarkably inwardly-directed with a sharp focus on one’s self. On the other hand, a collectivist culture correlates to one’s self sourcing identity in the group. Individualist and collectivist cultures have stark differences between each other, and people from each respective culture often clash in regards to identity and self.

Hofstede’s model (1980) has been used widely in research in the past two decades. The

Communication is one of the most important aspects of our lives. It is a process that ties us together and helps us to get most of our work done. Communication plays a big role in transmitting cultural values from one generation to the next. Communication can be categorized as two; verbal and non verbal. In a multiracial country such as Malaysia good communication can be considered as a savior to keep everyone united. Being a multiracial country, it shows the existence of cultural diversity in Malaysia. Cultural diversity often leads to society’s biggest challenge.

Using Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions as a point of reference, what are some of the main cultural differences between the United States and France?

In my Round Table Essay I would like to introduce seven philosophers that we have discussed in class and focus on three specifically for my choice topic. The seven philosophers are as follows: (1) Socrates, (2) Plato, (3) Aristotle, (4) Francis Bacon, (5) St. Augustine, (6) Thomas Aquinas, and (7) Rene DesCartes. The specific three I want to focus on being; St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Rene Descartes. Lastly, I will proceed to relate their ideas on the existence of God and their development of these ideas.

“In your country of origin it is normal that people are not treated equally” (Graph 4)

This essay will discuss the influence of cultural dimensions on behavior. A cultural dimension is defined as a perspective of a culture based on its values and cultural norms. In particular, Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism vs. collectivism will be discussed. Individualism vs collectivism is defined as the preference of a person only being concerned about oneself and looking after oneself, compared to a person who wants to remain in a closely knitted network. These are some terms with definitions which will be used in this essay: the Asch paradigm, which refers to the studies conducted by Solomon Asch, in which he showed his participants different lines and asked them to verbally judge and respond as to what the length of the