Individualism Vs Collctivism

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Individualistic countries generally tend to be ranked higher due to the accountability and individuals having a sense of “this is my own work” and therefore perform tasks quicker whilst collectivist countries tend to share the work which may work slower and make business a little challenging to function. Though if a country provides well facilitated system to make business easier to operate the type of culture may serve less of an impact on the operation (Husted & Allen, 2008).

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Conclusion

Deciding the level of investment or the type of business or the ease of doing business in a country is not as simple as considering the Power Distance Structure in a country as each individual country may have separate subgroups whose power distance may vary as established by the research on Estonia by Vadi, et al (2002).

Emphasising on the points by Husted and Allen (2008) it is not always a matter of individualistic versus collectivistic as individuals as could have characteristics of both cultural factors.

In a world where emerging markets are playing a bigger role in the global economy be it buy Western companies utilising the resources available in those countries be it technological information from India, Manufacturing of electronics from Singapore, raw materials, Commodities like coffee and oil from Brazil and many other countries like Nigeria and Angola through their oil reserves it is important to understand the culture that exists in that nation and how to address it keeping in mind the organisational plans of operation through that market. Be it, setting up businesses or working in the country by owning local companies as their codes of operation and decision making may differ. An individual whose culture is more collectivist based may have moral dilemma about making a decision that may negatively affect others while creating a positive impact on his decision and may choose to avert such a decision even though his/her superior of Individualistic culture may be astounded by his decision making ideology therefore it is key for anyone working with or working in an environment where the Power Distance effect may be different to their own

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References

Gorodnichenko, Y., & Roland, G. (2000). Understanding the Individualism-Collectivism Cleavage and its Effects: Lessons from Cultural Psychology. Berkeley: University of California: Berkeley.

Hofstede, G. (1984). Communication Between Cultures. National Cultures and Corporate Cultures.

Husted, B. W., & Allen, D. B. (2008). Toward a Model of Cross-Cultural Business Ethics: The Impact of Individualism and Collectivism on the Ethical Decision Making Process.

Oxford University. (2016). Oxford Dictionaries: Language Matters. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/culture

Schein, E. (2004). This Definition of Culture (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

The World Bank Group. (2013). Doing Business. Retrieved from Measuring Business Regulations: http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

University of Minnesota. (2014, May 27). CARLA. Retrieved from http://carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html

Vadi, M., Allik, J., & Realo, A. (2002). Collectivism and Its Consequences For Organizational Culture. Tartu: University of Tartu.