ASSIGNMENT 1

INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVIST, POWER DISTANCE, ACHIEVEMENT-NURTURING ARE SEVERAL KEY VALUES THAT PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS SUBCRIBE TO. THESE VALUES PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE IN ORGANISATIONS AND WOULD UNDENIABLY AFFECT THE ORGANISATIONAL PRACTICES IN THE ORGANISATION. DISCUSS AND REFLECT ON THESE VALUES.

There are many values that people and organizations usually practice. One of these key values is Individualism vs. Collectivist. Individualism is a term used to describe people that stress human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty. This is normally refers to the people who likes to get things done by themselves, very independent, values personal freedom and being appreciated for unique qualities. In other words, individualism stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself. In an organization for an example, the employees are rather willing to complete their task individually then to work together in a group. For example, individualism cultures like USA (highest score = 1st rank) and France (10th rank) are more self-centred and emphasize mostly on their individual goals. People from individualism cultures tend to think only of themselves as individuals and as "I" distinctive from other people. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaLMuI0FMRk . This video helps to futher define the term individualism.
Collectivist on the other hand, refers to people who prefer to work in groups, rather then individuals. Collectivist cultures have a great emphasize on groups and think more in terms of "we". The relationship between employer and employee is based on trust and harmony and deep understanding. Collectivist culture is usually practiced by the Asians, such as Malaysians. Most of the time the employees here in Malaysia carry out their task in groups or teams rather than doing it alone or individually. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uFa0hBPqOY . This video shows in further the differances between individualism and collectivist culture.
I had experienced both individualism and collectivist in completing my assignments in my university life. For example, I have done assignments by myself and also in groups. Individualism is a much faster process and I get to be my own boss. I’m able to get tasks done based on my own ideas. Although it’s a faster process, the ideas may seem to be from only one perspective. Collectivist allows me to obtain more perspectives by receiving different ideas from other people. It allows me to think from different perspectives and share knowledge among ourselves. I think that collectivist is a little time consuming because we have to conduct meetings with our members, discuss a lot of ideas to finalize it and wait for their parts. I would prefer individualism culture because I find it more effective and efficient, but collectivist would also be effective if diverse ideas are needed and the group members are proactive.



Next key value would be Power Distance. As said by Hofstede, power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. Power distance refers to how the employees within an organization react towards their superiors. High power distance is usually practiced in Malaysia, where employees are comfortable receiving commands from superiors and resolving conflicts through formal rules and authority. This means that the employees will just receive instructions from their boss without providing any inputs. For example, Malaysia is said to be high power distance due to the bureacracy that is practiced in the goverment and organisations. But things are changing now in the up coming generations because education is also playing a role these days, where students are trained and practiced to work in teams during their tertiary studies.
Low power distance is where the employees more prefer participative management and resolving conflicts through personal networks. This means that the employees will provide inputs such as ideas and suggestions to their superiors in order to make any decisions within the organization. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btkOHQMa9y4 .This video helps us to differentiate high and low power distance better.
In my point of view, low power distance is better then high power distance because the employees are given change to voice out their opinions and suggestions which may be the best idea. This is due to the fact that each individual has their own perception and they can think of a solid idea which the superiors didn’t think about. It’s also better to practice low power distance because as the employees participate by providing inputs, this will further improves the commitment and performance of the said employees. Allowing employees’ participation also helps to make them feel appreciated by the superiors. I think that high power distance is effective and fast, but it doesn’t allow a two-way communication between the employer and employee. This is because the boss just passes down the command and the employees will just carry it out. The relationship between the employer and employee is also not as close as in a low power distance culture.
I had experience low power distance almost in every assignment which I have done in university. This is where the leader of the group will receive inputs from the members rather than just commanding them to do certain task without any inputs provided by the members. From my experience, most members in such a group will not have a hundred percent commitment in doing their task because they feel that they are not being appreciated by their leader. Even so, Malaysia practices high power distance culture very widely. In my opinion, high power distance helps work to be completed faster and more effectively as the employees are afraid of their superiors because their relationship is not as close in the low power distance culture.



The final key value would be Achievement vs. Nurturing. The achievement culture refers to organizations where the employees value assertiveness, competitiveness and materialism. This means that these employees are focused on achieving goals and targets and are concern about the organization’s success. These employees ensure that they achieve the goals and targets that are planned successfully and within the time allocated for the task to be completed. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsp8H9UiI3E .This video shows ur how to create and understand further regarding an achievement culture.
On the other hand, nurturing culture refers to people that values relationship and the well-being of others. This means that these organizations think about their employees’ well-being first before the organization and they focuses more on helping others. These culture shows that the employees are caring and concern towards each other and the relationship between them is very strong. Unlike nurturing, achievement culture doesn’t really take relationships among employees into much consideration. The main focus is just about achieving what is targeted.
In my point of view, I would say that it is better to practice achievement culture, but also with the blend of nurturing culture to an extent. This is because achievement culture will help us to get things done effectively, efficiently and within the time constraints, but we have to also help each other and ensure the well-being of others at the same time to a certain extent. I think that with the blend of both cultures a particular organization will be better off.
I experienced both achievement and nurturing culture in my home with my parents. My mother shows the achievement culture and my father shows the nurturing culture. This is because my mother will always want me to study hard and obtain high marks for all the exams I sat for in school. She used to push me to study very hard in order to achieve good grades, even though at that time of the day I was tired and can’t pay attention to study. Therefore, I would say that my mother shows that achievement culture because she always wanted me to achievement good grades without considering the well-being of me. On the other hand, my father practices the nurturing culture. I would say this because whenever my father tells me to do something, he will consider my well-being first. For example, when my father asks me to study, he will ask me whether I can pay attention first or not. If I say I’m tired and can’t focus on the subject at the moment, he would tell me to take a rest first and study later. He would also help my in my studies especially in Mathematics. This shows that my father practices the nurturing culture, because he values the relationship and also he is concern regarding my well-being first.
Each culture is good to practice to a certain extent, because too much of something good can also be not too good sometimes. Therefore we must practice each culture with the blend of each opposite culture to a certain extent. For examlpe, the individuallism culture is good for an effective task, but a little of collectivist culture should help to diverse the idea to obtain better results. In coclusion, i would like to say that





REFERENCES

1. "Individualism is a term used to describe people that stress human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty (McShane & von Glinow2007), from Organizational Behaviour, McGRAW. HILL INTERNATIONAL EDITION.
2. http://oliverhofman.de/284.html
3. "Collectivism is defined as the theory and practice that makes some sort of group rather than the individual" by Stephen Grabill and Gregory M.A.Gronbacher. "Individualism holds that a human being should think and judge independently, respecting nothing more than the sovereignty of his or her mind."
( http://freedomkeys.com/collectivism.htm )
4. Jun Zhao, Lijun Chen, 2008, Management Research News Journal, Individualism, collectivism, selected personality traits, and psychological contract in employment: A comparative study.
5. "Individualistic societies tend to show a high preference for confrontational procedures such as arbitration, while those from collectivist cultures prefer harmony - enhancing procedures like negotiation and mediation, in resolving disputes" by Leung,1987.
( http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3717/is_199701/ai_n8749483 )
6. "Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally" by Hofstede (page 262)
( http://www.via-web.de/282.html )
7. "Individualism is a moral, political, or social outlook that stresses independence, self-reliance and individual liberty." "Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals. Collectivists focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group goals over individual goals."
( http://wikipedia.com )
8. http://www.youtube.com