Essays on Individualism

English

The majority of contemporary Americans do not believe in cooperation and unification of ideas for the betterment of society as a unit. Americans further adopts the concept of self-empowerment and self-enrichment to the expense of the larger society. In fact, the factor of humanity and community inclusion is rarely practiced in the modern American world. What is more, Americans will go to length in getting the best from others for personal interests and gains. The issue of brotherhood and sisterhood is relatively losing its meaning in American culture. Additionally, there is division of American society on the basis of Continue reading...

In Chapter 3 of Generation Me, “You Can Be Anything You Want to Be,” the idea of the self-centeredness of this current generation is addressed. According to Twenge, the current timbre of American culture promotes a sense of individuality over a sense of collectivity and societal cohesion: “Even when schools, parents, and the media are not specifically targeting self-esteem, they promote the equally powerful concepts of socially sanctioned self-focus, the unquestioned importance of the individual, and an unfettered optimisim about young people's future prospects” (72). To that end, Twenge notes a decided increase in focus on cultivating children’s Continue reading...

Overview of Hofstede’s “Four Dimensions of National Culture”

Hofstede’s four dimensions of national culture or the cultural dimensions theory refer to the framework developed by Geert Hofstede. Hofstede completed one of the most researches relevant to the effects of the culture of a nation or society on its members. The four dimensions of national culture comprise the specific dimensions or traits that provide differentiations among various cultures. The research conducted by Hofstede provided several aspects of the effects of culture on individuals belonging to different societies in the workplace. Hofstede analyzed and evaluated the data collected from the employee database of IBM from 1967 to 1973. Continue reading...

JAPANESE POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND/OR SOCIETY BETWEEN 1868-1920

JAPANESE POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND/OR SOCIETY BETWEEN 1868-1920
The period of 1868-1920 saw some changes in the history of Japan. These changes had significant impacts on the political, economic and social aspects of the society of Japan. They influenced the perceptions of individuals during that period concerning political and economic elements of the society. The Japanese developed various attitudes towards these changes and had various thoughts concerning these changes. There was a correlation between the as some of them had significant influences on others. That is; some of the political changes experienced during this time played a role in the Continue reading...

Assignment culture 3

The philosophies of Dr. Hofstede's dimensions are distance versus power, collectivism versus individualism, avoiding uncertainty, femininity versus masculinity and short term orientation versus long-term orientation (Sergiu, 2011). Over the years after he came up with these dimensions, there has been a variety of arguments. Some scholars are for, and some are against; to understand the basis of these arguments, it is first imperative to understand Hofstede's approach to cross culture application (Zaiț, 2002).
Dr. Hofstede's approach is used mostly in cross-cultural management (Zaiț, 2002). Cross-cultural management is the direct result of the world turning into a global village. Due Continue reading...

Cultural Differences Theorists

The Geert Hofstede Dimensions of Culture
According to Hofstede, culture refers to the collective programming of people’s minds, which sets them apart from the category of other people. As much as culture is collective, it is possible to connect it to different collectives.
The term has a primary use where it refers to ethnic groups in the field of anthropology. However, culture also finds meaning when referring to nations (political science, management, and sociology) and when referring to organizations in the context of management and sociology. Hofstede developed five dimensions to the definition and understanding of culture.

Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

Power/Distance
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Empirical self of each individual that is at all times referred as me (William Jones, 279). It is difficult to draw a clear line between what a man refers to as me and what he says its mine. Individuals act and feel about specific factors in life that belong to them as they feel and act about themselves (William Jones, 279). The work of each individual’s hands, their fame, their children are dear to them just like their bodies and bring about the same feelings in the event they are attacked. It is clear that the main factor Continue reading...

In the book Ayn Rand, the reader comes face to face with a society that is crippled with the human nature that considers individualism as sin. The protagonist of the story Equality 7-2521 goes on to question the spirit of collectivism which seems to be liked by a majority in his society. He goes on to say that his individualism has driven him and those with like minds to thoughts that are forbidden (1.6). According to him, the individual can never succeed unless he works together with others. Even when faced with a society that is crippled with collectivism, Continue reading...

In this paperwork, I am going to discuss one of Thoreau’s main points in his essay- On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. It is important to note that Thoreau wrote the essay, on the Duty of Civil Disobedience, as a remonstration against an unfair, but fashionable war and the perpetual, but admired organization of slave possessing.
The work of Thoreau, according to my observation, is, more, based on political theory. In the essay, Thoreau depicts several hypothetical claims about the scenery of democracy and the connection between the inhabitant and the government. Thoreau argues that the government should Continue reading...

Business Ethics Assignment Ryanair

Introduction
In today’s competitive environment, every organization wants to earn as much profit as they can by entering and exploiting not only resources from the domestic country but also from country across the globe. Ryanair was established with a share capital of only £1 as well as the staff of 25 by the Ryan family (Ryanair, 2014). Ryanair is recognized as being the only ULCC (ultra-low cost carrier) within Europe, operating over 1,600 flights every day (more than 500,000 every year) from 57 bases, all through 1,600 low cost routes, linking 180 different destinations within Continue reading...

Introduction

The world today is experiencing a wide of trends in different areas. There continues to be transformations that have completely changed the sphere of life in a large extent from society to the world of technology (Houle, 2012). The trend is unique and particular to different institutions of the society. It is projected that in the coming few years, there would be increased mega trends that may turn the global platform around in an unprecedented manner. The trends therein discussed are Digitalization with respect to technology, democratization with respect to governments and individualism with respect to social and cultural Continue reading...

Culture defines how an individual in a society experiences and interprets events that happen around him or her. Social situations are some of the events that a member of a society experiences. In a collectivist culture, there is interdependence that allows social situations to be defined in terms of social relations and obligation. On the other hand, an individualistic society tends to strive for self-improvement and fulfillment (Nauert 1).
Western cultures are more interested in what an individual can achieve other than what the society can achieve. While most individuals in western cultures may be driven by the need Continue reading...

Summary of The Awakening and Other Stories

Summary
The Awakening stands as an enlightening story for women at the time it Kate Chopin wrote it. Women during the 19th century typically stayed within the confines of their socially constructed roles, limited to that of being a wife and mother. Yet, the protagonist of the book of Chopin, Edna Pontellier, bravely stood against said roles, imposing herself instead as an epitome of individualism. Throughout the story, Edna had to struggle in dealing with society, which typically defined her as just the wife of her husband Leonce and the mother of her son Raoul. Helpful in the gradual Continue reading...

The objective is to have an examination of the effect of Hofstede’s dimensions on culture on the ethical sensitivity of an individual towards the following stakeholders – customers, one’s company, competitors and also colleagues. The first major finding of this research was that the positive effect of uncertainty avoidance was higher than the negative effect of power distance. To add onto this, the nationality variable was non-significant in some degree. The other finding was that power distance and individualism had a negative effect on ESS. However, uncertainty avoidance and the nationality variable had a positive effect on ESS. Continue reading...

Deviation is about breaking rules, searching for the factors in individual’s personality and situations in life that accounts for infractions. Individuals are treated and labeled in many ways when they tend to believe in individualism. Self-identity and people’s behavior greatly influence how they will be treated by society members. Individualism is characterized by a self-fulfilling prophecy and they are many stereotypes that accompany deviance. The labeling theory explains how self-identity shapes the way that a person will be treated; it states that deviation is rejected and those who hold on are avoided by the society. Stigmatization therefore Continue reading...

Dead Poet Society is not simply a coming of age story; it is a story about the human condition. Conformity with no possibility of individualism will leave to feelings of discontent, even if conformity is desired by the individual. American culture represents a struggle between the the status quo and innovation towards self actualization. This is why this film is representative of that. The human condition is one which demands options. John Keating creates an atmosphere for creative and unorthodox thinking in such a way that even those craving conformity are draw to. I believe this shows the importance Continue reading...

Question 1

Etic and emic play a significant role in the negotiation process. For this case, French culture is selected. As such, in terms of emic, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and individualism are common in the French culture. These are things that an individual focusing on conducting a negotiation in this culture has to embrace and use them throughout the negotiation process. In contrast, the power distance, uncertainty, individualism and masculinity are very low in South Korea. An emic factor for the South Korea is the low individualism of an index of 18. Therefore, an individual from South Korea has to Continue reading...

The Black Veil

The Minister’s Black Veil, by Hawthornes is a short story about a minister who, all of a sudden, starts putting on a black veil. This sudden behavior turns away the people of the town. It has been argued that the minister wanted to show the origin of sin. At the end of the short story, the reader discovers that the veil was used to symbolize the obstacles that we face in the life on earth and eternity. Reverend Hooper wears a veil one Sunday morning. The parishioners and the congregation to ask themselves what Rev. Hooper intended in Continue reading...

‘The rewards of a solitary life’ and ‘Constantly risking absurdity’ speaks of a solitary life led by particular individuals. The article by Mary Sarton discuses benefits of solitary life by asserting the ideas of self reliance and independence. In a similar manner, the poem Constantly Risking Absurdity by Lawrence Ferlinghetti talks of a solitary tight rope walker and stresses on the significance of individualism. The poem narrates that the acrobat is performing to achieve beauty and truth. This shows that he is not performing for others but for himself and again stresses on the importance Continue reading...

Introduction

It is widely accepted in management circles especially in transnational organizations that countries have distinct and sometimes unique cultural traits. These cultural traits are extremely influential and to a large extent determine whether multinational corporations succeed or fail in the various countries of operation. This is the case because of the continued globalization and merger of world economies that has consequently resulted to the melt-down of not only international but also local geographic boundaries. To this effect, culture based studies are becoming a pre-requisite for doing business in the various parts of the world as the years Continue reading...

There are four qualities that one must consider when making an ideal society: biblical tradition, republican tradition, utilitarian individualism, and expressive individualism. Balancing these qualities and even sometimes outweighing one over the other is necessary in making the best possible society. In Habits of the Heart, these qualities are described and expressed with the specific purpose of determining how best a person or society should conduct their life. My interpretation of the ideal society would include forty percent biblical tradition, forty percent republican tradition, fifteen percent expressive individualism, and lastly five percent utilitarian individualism.

In an ideal society, biblical Continue reading...

Individualism versus Collectivism – Differences in Psychological Perspectives

Individualism versus Collectivism – Differences in Psychological Perspectives

Introduction

With the rise of globalization and increased intensity of global competition, it has become quite difficult for managers to manage every business activity. To serve more customer base for attainment of more competitive edge and market share, businesses are challenged to manage all of their resources effectively and efficiently. One of the most important resources which the management of every organization has to deal with concerns the human resource management. This is probably true in case of all those business entities which employ personnel from diverse cultures coming from different societal backgrounds.

Discussion

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What Does ‘Much Madness is Divinest Sense’ Say About Individualism?

Emily Dickinson’s poem, Much Madness is Divinest Sense addresses the idea of individualism by discussing how those who choose not to ‘fit in’ are classed as being mad whilst suggesting that those who don’t endeavour to be an individual are truly the mad ones: she states that as usual, it is the majority whose opinion prevails – “’Tis the majority – In this, as All, prevail” (Dickinson 4-5). Dickinson was a poet ahead of her time – she held much more modern views which did not conform Continue reading...

Impact of adverts on the Moral Behavior

There are several driving forces that shape the decision making process, especially when it comes to choosing what higher goods are. These forces shape our moral notions of the objects we encounter in the society since we rely on their principles to understand their relevance to our lives. Such moral sources in the society today include individualistc utilitarianism, expressive individualism, atomism, evolutionary sources such as status, power, wealth, beauty, and attractiveness amongst several others as will be discussed in this paper.
Ads are any form of marketing communications force or marketing tool that is mainly used to sell products, Continue reading...

The perception that women are weak is slowly changing as more women engage themselves in occupations and businesses that used to be dominated by men alone. Though in the past women have always been downgraded to do menial jobs, there are some areas in the world where sensitivity towards women and acceptance of their new role are being received positively. However, while there are societies that are more accepting of roles that women play now, there are still some cultures that ignore and restrain the changes happening in women. This could be brought about by the differences in cultural Continue reading...

Introduction

In present environment when the world has become global market place and companies consider business expansion in international market as main way to achieve desired revenue growth. It is one of major challenges in front of multinational organizations to exercise their business practices in other environment. Culture of the country impacts all stages of Human Resource cycle, starting from recruitment, training, performance evaluation, feedbacks, and exit interview. It is important for multinational organizations to understand local cultural values of country and integrate those values in Human Resource Management processes. This paper intends to discuss cultural challenges faced by Coca-Cola Continue reading...

The Joy Luck Club (1993) was based on Amy Tan’s 1989 novel and deals with issues of culture, assimilation and generation conflicts between a group of four Chinese mothers and their Americanized daughters. All four women in the club had emigrated from China to the U.S. after World War II, and met after church to play Chinese mahjong every week. In reality, they had little joy or luck, and no expectations, only the hope that their children would have better lives than theirs. By the Confucian standards which the mothers learned from childhood, there were very definite differences Continue reading...

Introduction. Values are the guiding principles that people use to give direction to their daily lives and behaviors. It varies from culture to culture as it is the distinguishing factor, which gives judgment and perspective to between what is good or bad, what is considered beautiful or not, and all other spectrums in life. Values, shaped by one’s culture is what influences varying personalities, and helps people to function in accordance with the unwritten principles of society. Issues that tend to be guided mostly by one’s values are relationships, both sexual and personal, gender identity, social class Continue reading...

According to Bellah, justice can be defined a total of three times. For starters, it is the meaning of education. Justice is educative in nature. Justice is responsible for the education of people for the common good of everybody. For example, when justice is ordained, people are educated on the benefits that it has altogether. Once these people are educated, then the education will then help in civilizing the entire world.
Bellah in his studies continues to state that, justice is also the formation of the common good. This means that it is responsible for forming something good. Whenever Continue reading...

The success of The Alchemist cannot be argued; in just ten years after it was publish it has sold more than 20 million copies and has been translated into over fifty-seven languages. This is a world record for number of translations by a living author. As the New York Times aptly puts it. “[This] Brazilian wizard makes books disappear from stores.” The author Pauho Coelho wrote a book that no only sold numerous copies, but sold them in numerous language and cultures. This success points to a massive of the appeal. The beautiful prose found within the novel can Continue reading...

PART 1

Society and institutions are key concepts in sociological studies. From as early as the 1980s, there have been attempts to revise the key sociological concepts of institutions giving rise to ‘New Institutionalism” or “Neoinstitutionalism.” At first, the ideas were based on organizational theory but the ideas quickly broadened to include micro sociology or individualism and global sociology. In sociological studies, institutional analysis is conducted for understanding how institutions affect and influence individual and collective human behavior. Conclusions can be made through empirical approaches or inferential analyses, which give various scientifically admissible conclusions on the subject. Past studies have shown Continue reading...

Executive summary

This report takes on a personal, critical incident to illustrate various approaches in understanding cross cultural communications. It aims to explore the communication problems which arise from cultural differences. By way of a narrative inquiry and analysis, the critical incident is related to general workplace miscommunications which happen when verbal and non verbal communications do not cross the same level of understanding between the sender and the receiver. This report applies three specific theories: theory of verbal communications by Mellor (1990), theory of non verbal communications by Ekman & Friesen (1969), and theory of individualism and Continue reading...

Introduction

Elwyn (2001, pp. 1-2) defines a work group as ‘a number of people who are in face-to-face contact, so that each of them can interact with all the others’ which is usually achieved through a cohesive and solid supervision. Additionally, a work group can be defined as ‘a planned endeavor to develop in a group the forces that lead to a smoothly running co-operative activity’. Work groups in most cases entails a group or an association of individuals who interact and move together regularly, have close Continue reading...

Introduction

In view of the comparative and contrastive analysis of literary elements, I have chosen the novel "The Fountainhead" for its elaborative analysis and interpretation. This novel was later transformed into a movie to add an escalated significance to its beauty and philosophy. This novel deals with the accountability of a person to remain conscious and disciplined to the fundamental needs of environment, human beings, and humanity. In my view, no one or nothing should be placed above the universal right of a person to live in a happy, healthy, progressive, noble, and ideal life, and lead a peaceful and Continue reading...

IHRM

Introduction
Firms that do not have the quality human resource face challenges in managing its operations globally and in attracting quality human resource (Farndale, Scullion, and Sparrow, 2010). Therefore it is critical for firms to manage their human resource. For this reason, the practices of human resource management are decisive in the success of the organization. As firms expand their operations to different countries, organizations have to consider a lot more factors than they have to when they are managing an organization that operates in only one country (Adler, 2002). Therefore, the role of international human resource management practices Continue reading...

In our contemporary, scientifically-influenced world, technology is seen as being essentially good. Nevertheless, as “The Travel Habits” by Joseph P. Schwieterman points out, this has led to an exacerbation of individualism, where everybody is set into a trance by their own personal portable devices. The fact these artifacts allow you to access whatever you want, entails a rupture of communication with the outside world, leaving individuals to face their own, self-made reality. Another important component in this process is the modern push for everyone to strive for their own goals, which are always set farther, and thus alienate them Continue reading...

Implicit in any writer’s work are the ideologies of the culture under which the writer was raised. American culture has values, which place emphasis on the individual. In an essay like Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” the self-sufficiency is the topic explored. In other essays, like Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Changes: Why The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” this individual autonomy from groups is an assumption that Gladwell assumes the audience would share with him when he analyzes the impact of social media on identity and it’s limitations in driving individuals to action. William F. Buckley Continue reading...

Norbert Elias and Weber Contribution to Economy

Abstract:
This paper argues that in their respective works, Norbert Elias and Max Weber came up with different arguments on a psychological and sociological plane for the explanation of society and the modern economy. Whilst Elias is more focused historically on the development of the individual, Weber argues that history is not necessarily a good case study for sociological development. However while both authors use an element of sociological Darwinism in their arguments, they are far apart on the schools of thought regarding economic and social development in the modern age.

Norbert Elias: The Society of Individuals

Norbert Elias’ famous work deals with the sociology Continue reading...

Introduction

With increasing globalization, there has evolved a keener interest in cross-cultural management. It is now common to have international managers who lead their businesses or organizations spanning various countries wand different cultures. As such it has become incumbent upon these business leaders to ensure that they are equipped with the right management skills so as to have an edge in the competitive environment. This phenomenon of globalization has led to the use of cross-cultural or multicultural teams so as to act as sources of experience and give their respective organizations a competitive edge. Nonetheless, cultural differences usually interfere with Continue reading...

Introduction

In property law a major area of contention is family property. Spouses may be left unprotected in the occurrence of break ups in marriage if the only rights they have is the evidence of acquired property while in marriage even with the contributions they have made in the family and the time and efforts put for the welfare of the family. Injustices may come up in cases where there is no family or financial contributions made by spouses as much as they have rights to each other’s property.
The approach of community property as a choice for the Continue reading...