Hofstede's Theory Of The Relationship Between Individual And Collectivism Vs Individualism

This dimension describes the relationship between the individual and the collectivism that prevails in a given society. Individualism means mostly caring of oneself and one’s immediate family. In contrast, collectivism relates to caring for both oneself and other groups.
Societies with a high individualism index rating show a competitive relationship amongst employees where promotions are based on an individual’s skills and where the poor performance of an individual is a cause for disciplinary action and ultimately dismissal. The commitment level in individualistic countries is higher and emphasis is on the individual training to increase competency. On the contrary, societies characterized by a low individualism index rating are based on

Javidan et al. (2006) point out that Hofstede used only one company – IBM – which can pose a serious bias to study outcomes.
Schwartz and Bilsky (1990) argue that in Hofstede’s model insufficient aspects of culture are taken into account and survey is not the best method to assess culture. Additionally, the model assumes that national culture stays within the boundaries of the country and does not tender the idea of cultural and ethnic variance within nations (Myers and Tan, 2003; Gerhart, 2009). Frequently, a culture transcends the official borders of a country as culture counts more years than an officially-formed nation.
Hofstede’s research present a static view of culture yet culture is dynamic. The model only offers a single cultural profile per country while country members and companies will often be subject to multiple, potentially conflicting, cultural currents. Despite these and other criticisms, Hofstede’s work, as stated, remains the dominant model for cross-cultural

Thus institutional influences induce a certain degree of resemblance in structures and practices across organizations. Opposite to that is the resource-based view, which emphasizes an individual company’s capability to capitalize on its own internal resources and know-hows to differentiate itself from competitors in the same environment and build competitive advantage (Barney, 1991; Carmeli & Tishler, 2004; Collis & Montgomery, 1998; Wernerfelt,