...Anthem 1. Risks of collectivism The author of Anthem wrote the book about twenty years after the Russian revolution had taken place. The mistakes of Josef Stalin leading his government made an impact on Rand’s (author) interpretation of collectiveness. The idea that communism would help many people collectivize their aspects of life was initiated by Russia. This belief assumed that everyone would benefit if they served each other by their ability. This was not the case since the rise of communists had been so bad. People had different ways of seeing this issue while others assumed that soviet communism was restrictive due to leaders decline. The author made an opinion that collectivism had many faults and decided to show them in Anthem. During the great rebirth, many business men were defeated due to collectivism this has made it for combination of society into a hard state system. The schools began to introduce the children into doctrines of philosophy...
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...5 observations on each spectrum Research has grouped the social and administrative organizations of different cultures as being collective or individualist. Collectivism and individualism are proposed as the possible underlying variables for countries from the West and the East (Triandis, 1995). Collectivism is described as the theory and actions that makes some sort of people rather than the individual the essential unit of social, political, and economic concern. Individualism on the other hand holds that a person should think and make decisions independently, with respect to nothing more than the dominion of his or her mind; thus, it is closely connected with the theory of autonomy. In this case the countries in consideration are the individualistic USA and the collectivistic Korea. The first observation made is that in the individualist culture of USA tends to be economically rich while the one of Korea is poor due to collectivism. This goes to the personal level where one culture has got its members as individualists which enhances personal competition while the other has its members being collectivists which enhances cooperation among them. In Korea parents treat children as equals while in USA parents teach children obedience (Daun, 1991). Hierarchy in Korean organizations is established from practical lessons while in USA organizations show existence of inequality between the different levels. Power distance is the scope of equality, or inequality, among people...
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...Index Power Distance.....................................................................................................................................3 Collectivism vs. Individualism ..............................................................................................................4 Masculinity vs. Femininity....................................................................................................................5 Uncertainty Avoidance.........................................................................................................................6 Long-term Orientation..........................................................................................................................7 Indulgence vs. Restraint........................................................................................................................8 Do's & Don’ts in Italy............................................................................................................................9 Bibliography........................................................................................................................................10 2 Power Distance The PDI (Power Distance Index) deals with the inequalities amongst individuals. It is defined as „the extent to which the less powerful members (…) within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally“ (Hofstede, 2013a). Therefore, a high PDI implies that hierarchy is important...
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...An organization is a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals. The organizations operate according to overall values, or priorities in the nature of how they carry out their activities. These values are the personality, or culture, of the organization. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between the different activities and the members, and subdivides and assigns roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out different tasks. Organizations are open systems - they affect and are affected by their environment. The organisations (culture) can be looked from two different dimensions namely collectivistic dimension and individualistic dimension. The collectivistic dimension attributes highest importance to one’s workgroup and cultures advocating a collectivistic dimension expect individuals to sacrifice their own interest for the good of all. And, the individualistic dimension reflects the belief of a philosophy that encourages independence by rewarding individuals for performance and by making individuals accountable for their actions. Thus, individuals with the hierarchical cultural orientation are more likely to perceive HRD/HRM practices endorsing empowerment unfavourably unlike individuals with individualistic orientation who prefer autonomy over hierarchical authority. Additionally, individuals with a collectivistic orientation might perceive team based performance management...
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...With isolation comes reflection. An individual’s thoughts spark new innovations that will advance and cause development in the world. Ignorance of new ideas can cause a society to remain stagnant. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, demonstrates that denial of originality can result in a lack of change. A collectivist society will never evolve and progress. When a society lacks originality and thoughts by the individual, there will be no room to advance. If officials forbid working alone, the only ideas they will come about will be those of their own. They choose to only accept the ideas of the group, but all people thinking the same thing is impossible. Rand demonstrates the weakness the scholars show by sharing a statement about their rules. “‘What is not done collectively cannot be good’ said International 1-5537” (Rand 73). Although Equality wants to work and develop ideas as an individual, he isn’t allowed to in his collectivist society. When feeling a strong urge to work as an individual, Equality reminds himself that the society is one as a whole. There's only one and their name is “We”. Equality has invented a new way for men to see besides the candle. The light makes the room brighter than the candle would. By working together to “harness” the power of the light, the society can live with more and better quality light, but their society forbids any action like this. They feel that everything must be done as a group, and for this reason they will never progress. Ignoring original ideas...
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...In the novella, Anthem, the protagonist discovers that he is a man alone and is unique from his brothers. He could express his thought in his own mind and that he doesn’t feel trapped because he feels pleasure finding that he can feel freedom. The text states, “ My hands… My spirit… My sky… My forest… This earth of mine” (Rand, 94). This demonstrates how Equality 7-2521 finally got to experience his utmost self value for himself and not as a whole, involving his brothers. With that being his “answer”, he shows how self discovering is important to reveal one’s true potential and not being limited to just because it is law. This self discovery is important because not only it is the main theme in the book but also for this character it holds a symbol of hope. This is so since the protagonist is unalike from his fellow human herd, he tries to forget his “sin” and takes his curiosity to another level. He invents the lightbulb which is described as a “new light to men” (Rand, 71) displays the promising restoration of knowledge and illuminates a new faith for this dull civilization. His discoveries affect his views on the purpose of life because, he found a new meaning to what one is capable of. In his world, the people had lost all traces of having wisdom and seeing different standpoints of life. However, it was one man who changed all that, he realized that life is valuable and that it is human nature to learn, live and love. In a world filled with 7 billion people, destiny and...
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...Power distance This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us.Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.At a score of 54, Japan is a mildly hierarchical society. Yes, Japanese are always conscious of their hierarchical position in any social setting and act accordingly. However, it is not as hierarchical as most of the other Asian cultures. Some foreigners experience Japan as extremely hierarchical because of their business experience of painstakingly slow decision making process: all the decisions must be confirmed by each hierarchical layer and finally by the top management in Tokyo. Paradoxically, the exact example of their slow decision making process shows that in Japanese society there is no one top guy who can take decision like in more hierarchical societies. Another example of not so high power distance is that Japan has always been a meritocratic society. There is a strong notion in the Japanese education system that everybody is born equal and anyone can get ahead and become anything if he (yes, it is still he) works hard enough. Individualism The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.It has to do with whether people´s self-image is...
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...Socialization is an interesting topic, especially the way it influences our behavior. People who come from different societies have differences in their conduct. Let’s take a look at a collectivistic society like Vietnam and an individualistic society like Great Britain or the United States to understand it better. According to psychology wiki (2012): Collectivism and individualism are two categories of cultures. Individualist cultures, such as those of the United States and Western Europe, emphasize personal achievement at the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition. Collectivist cultures, such as those of China, Korea and Vietnam, emphasize family and work group goals above individual needs or desires (n.p). Indeed, people in individualistic society are encouraged to do things on their own, not depending on others. On the contrary, people in collectivistic society are encouraged to do what is best for the whole society rather than themselves and everyone supports, depends on each other while doing things. Another difference is that individualist rules attempt to ensure self-importance and individualism while collectivist rules promote unity, brotherhood, and selflessness ( psychology wiki, 2012, n.p). How children are socialized into a culture will give us a general picture about these things. In Vietnam, when guests visit a family, children can sit with them and family members, learn how to interact with other people by observing and participating...
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...The Big Idea I picked was Equality. I picked this because Equality is a major issue in the book anthem in our society now. In Anthem being different is frowned upon or considered Inhuman. It is a transgression and a evil sin. In our present society not being equal is a good thing. Being different is unique and makes your life special. It is common and a part of our everyday life. Since Anthem is based on a Dystopian society there are many things that are different or unusual to what we are used to. Anthem was also made in the future so there are key points and ideas that we would normally tend not to believe. I chose these following pictures because I think they describe the idea of equality very well. The picture of the skeletons describe how everyone is the same on the very inside and not on the outside. This means that being what people consider different is more than fine because at the end we are all human. This relates to anthem because in Equality 7-2521’s society it is the complete opposite. He has to conform physically and mentally to be exactly like his brothers. The statue of Liberty shows freedom. Freedom and Equality are tied together. If you have one and not the other it doesn’t really work. Two halves make a whole. In this case if you have equality and freedom it would make a prodigious society. In Anthem Equality 7-2521, his friends and brothers have none of both. I think this is where the society went wrong. Since the society didn’t give their citizens equality...
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...Claim: The message I believe the author is communicating about the relationship between government, economics and society is to emphasize individuality. Government: In the book Anthem, the government that is established in the society, controls every aspect of an individual’s life. Equality 7-2521 finds himself in a collectivist state where this type of government is based on the premise that all people live and work for the benefit and good of everyone else. Everyone has a place or part of the government because no decisions are made without complete consensus of the populace. The leaders, also known as the World Council, are the group that makes these decisions for the larger lower class as separated by intelligence or any other valuable trait. These decisions include individual’s names, their occupations, restricting their vocabulary and their education. The establishment of this government resulted in giving up personal rights and the sense of self. The narration of the book is in first person plural, since Equality 7-2521 never learned how to say “I”, because the word was forbidden, it is one of the many personal rights that were given up. In this collectivist state, people are going to tell you what to do, think and act and basically take away your free will. They get to choose and decide what they want and when they want it. A big part of individualism is being able to question anything or anyone, such as the government. In this collective state, fear is one of the themes...
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...The use of the plural rather than the singular self-reference, goes to the heart of the book's meaning, that the individual is more important rather than the society. Although Equality 7-2521 follows the rules of society, he questions if what he is doing is right. Equality 7-2521 is a lot smarter and more curious than his brothers yet when he meets the girl on the fields, he soon realizes he's not alone with his thoughts. In Anthem by Ann Rand, the society is more important than the indiviual. According to the society, the individual is not important, but the whole society together is. “What brought it to pass? What disaster took their reason away from men? What woo lashed them to their knees in shame and submission? The worship of the word...
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...Unlike during the Unmentionable Times, when men created “towers [that] rose to the sky,” it is an affliction to be born with powerful intellectual capacity and ambition in Ayn Rand’s apocalyptic, nameless society in Anthem. Collectivism is ostensibly the moral guidepost for humanity, and any perceived threat to the inflexible, authoritarian regime is met with severe punishment. The attack on mankind’s free will and reason is most evident in the cold marble engraving in the Palace of the World Council: “We are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, indivisible and forever” (6). Societal norms force homogeneity and sacrifice among all people. Laws and rules are crafted to prevent advancement and preserve relentless...
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...As I read the book Anthem, I recognized many social differences and similarities. The book is set around a time period after the supposed “Unmentionable times”, were a new society was born and was based on collectivism rather than individualism. Yet, in the times of this lifestyle, there were some similarities that do relate to our way of life. In our life we believe in individualism because everyone is free, not like in the novella Anthem were people are controlled in a collectivism society. First of all, Individualism can be described as, “a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control”. When people are following individualism, like our society, people go their own way and act like they want to. They are not controlled by one person. People who are individualist, don’t always act the same as others they act the way they think is right. In the book, towards the end, Prometheus and Gaea had settled in a house form the forgotten times and gave themselves names...
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...1. What is the difference in between individualistic culture and collectivist culture? In a principally individualistic culture, people place the individual before the community. more frequent use of the "i" form. decisions are made on the spot by representatives. People ideally achieve alone and assume personal responsibility. vacations are taken in pairs , even alone. In a principally communitarian culture, people place the community before the individual. more frequent use of the "we" form. decisions are referred back by delegate to the organization. people ideally achieve in groups, which assume joint responsibility. Vacations are taken in organized groups or with thee extended family. 2. How do the translators differ from individualistic to collectivistic culture? In Anglo-Saxon negotiations the translator is supposed to be neutral, like a black box through which words in one language enter and words in another language exit. the translator in more communitarian cultures will usually serve the national group, engaging members in lengthy asides and attempting to mediate misunderstandings arising from culture as well as language. 3. How is decision making influenced in individualistic and collectivist culture? Communitarian decision making typically takes much longer and involves sustained efforts to win over everyone to achieve consensus. Voting down the dissenters is no acceptable because the vote will not show respect to the individuals who are against the...
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...IDENTIFICATION According to our analysis, Toyota is lacking corporate identity in its host country. Toyota is experiencing difficulty bridging the gap between its Japanese collectivist culture and the individualist culture of the United States in regards to its marketing strategy. ANALYSIS Toyota’s key challenge is the fact that it is lacking an overall image in the minds of its consumers. Their consumers see them as a product rather than a company. For instance, the CEO has concluded, “no one knows who Toyota is, that it is a faceless organization and doesn’t have a human element in the eyes of the consumer.” This shows that its corporate identity is not currently designed to reflect the company’s leading position in terms of technology and image. Toyota’s second obstacle involves developing this corporate identity without diverting from its Japanese collectivist culture. This culture encourages conformity and group cohesion, while it discourages individually standing out; rather they are more uniform and homogeneous in nature. As such, defining your authentic self and broadcasting it tends to put the Japanese at risk of being separate from, rather than part of the group, which is where the challenge lies. The CEO wants its entire company, the “heroes,” to represent the “face” of the company, not just one single person serving as a representative, as the American individualist culture would. However, the consumers Toyota wants to target in its host country...
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