Collectivism, Individualism, and Economic Individualism - Essay Example

COLLECTIVISM TO INDIVIDUALISM Introduction Stephen Grabill and Gregory M. A. Gronbacher define “Collectivism” as the theory and practice that makes some group rather than the individual the fundamental unit of political, social, and economic concern. In theory, collectivists insist that the claims of groups, associations, or the state must normally over-ride the claims of an individual. On the other hand, as per Nathaniel Branden “Individualism” is at once an ethical-psychological concept and an ethical-political one. As an ethical-psychological concept, individualism holds that a human being should think and judge independently, respecting nothing more than the sovereignty of his or her mind; thus, it is closely connected with the concept of autonomy. As an ethical-political concept, individualism ensures the dominance of individual freedom. Collectivism and Individualism "Collectivism” entails subjugation of the views and stakes of citizens over the authority of the state or group. In other words, unlike individualism, collectivism considers the group first. On the other hand the foundation of individualism lies in one's fundamental and moral right to pursue one's own will and happiness. This pursuit requires free space, for independence, initiative, and self-responsibility. Individualism also entails mutual cooperation with each other through trade. This helps and facilitates the pursuit of each other’s happiness, and which is entwined not just at the level of exchange of goods but also at the level of knowledge and friendship. Such a business practice enables growth of life; it provides one with goods and values that one needs to sustain and fulfillment of happiness. Evolving and atmosphere and an environment where trade prospers are of utmost importance for the individualist. In the twentieth century ‘Russian Communism’, a form of collectivism collapsed because of its policy of unrestrained intervention.  It tried to fix what was 'wrong' with spontaneous reaction of the phenomenon called capitalism.  In fact like a natural process it cannot be 'fixed.' ... Socialism remains an ideology whereas; Capitalism being a natural phenomenon remains undaunted. The American President, Herbert Hoover closed his campaign for the presidency in 1928 with this speech—that during one hundred and fifty years of America existence we have built up a form of self-government and a social system, which is unique, and it differs from other systems in the world.  It is based upon the premise that only through liberty, freedom and equal opportunity to the individual will his initiative and enterprise move on the march of progress.  He further espoused that during World War I, the government had to take on collective responsibilities on behalf of the countrymen to solve its then existing economic problems.  The war and its aftermath had absorbed all the energy of the people. In a war ravaged world there seemed no other way.  In order to preserve the state, the Government had to become a centralized despotism, which undertook unprecedented actions; it assumed autocratic powers, and had to take over the business of its citizens.  To a large extent, the people were controlled through regimentation and dictation.  After the war the most vital of issues both in the USA and around the world was whether collective ownership and operation of production and distribution should continue.  Acceptance of these ideas would have meant the destruction of self-government through centralization, and the undermining of the individual initiative and enterprise. Economic Individualism The philosophy of economic individualism postulates that each individual should be allowed autonomy in making his own economic decisions as opposed to decisions being made by the state, or the community. Moreover, it expounds the theory of private ownership of property as opposed to state or collective arrangements.   Case Study (IBM) As per Gerstner, former chairman and CEO of the Big Blue-IBM, transformation of an enterprise begins with a sense of crisis or urgency. He maintained that no institution would like to go through fundamental change unless it believes it is in deep trouble and needs to do something different drastic to survive. If a company is "a bag of bones," according to Gerstner, then undertaking a massive overhaul should be no big deal. Any company in such dire straits thus, has nothing left to lose. However if the company happens to be IBM, a former pace setter in world market, was in early nineties slowly fading into history, then drastic measures could be excruciating. A drastic transformation was a must and much needed as by early 1990s, IBM had started losing billions of dollars. Work Integration There was a need to take stern transformation measures. As a team one needed to integrate inside the company so that one could integrate for the customers on their premises. Therefore the work force was able to mould themselves as individuals as a strong and determined team with organization interest paramount in mind. Culture Integration Culture is king and work ethics revolves around this parameter. Therefore IBM stepped up its cultural transformation that one was and still is proud of. It is both a bonding and identifying factor. According to Gerstner, he in his first three months hardly put in any thought about culture transformation. However it is now felt that IBM’s subsequent transformation was primarily due to a cultural turn about where each employee had a say and right to put forth his or her point of view without gender bias or hierarchical standing. IBM culture then was of crisp white shirts, the culture of hordes of administrative assistants, and the culture, most debilitating, of the individual with a capital "I," of me-first for every employee. Though this kind of individualism and decentralization had worked well for the Big Blue for many years, but this was no longer tenable. Thus the company needed to come together, integrate culturally in order to survive. Technical Integration Technical integration meant that one would have to share technical plans, move towards common technical standards and plans, one would not have individual transfer pricing between every product so that everybody could get their little piece of the customers' money. Strategy Integration and Customer Satisfaction Most managers feel that strategy is a way of envisioning company transformation, but Gesrtner felt that strategy work by itself, though "terribly important," is not enough to save a dying company. Sound strategies do not necessarily produce winners. Company strategies are today omnipresent and competitors can easily emulate them. There is no way to create a unique strategy. You can have a good one, but you can expect that your competitors are going to emulate it every day. Therefore, at the end of it all, customer satisfaction is most important. IBM’s new strategy was to use processes and culture to regain advantage. Transformation from proprietary standards to open standards, for instance, was important to IBM's new strategy and the ramifications for processes and culture though were enormous. Using technological discreetness and finesse in making solutions for customers rather than just creating fancy marvels was also a key result area for its new strategy. Customers today need solutions and did not want to venture into the know-how of their equipment. Thus, IBM was able to define a strategic path that made sense, and now a united culture gave IBM's strategy the speed and effectiveness that was missing before. Internet by then had certainly become a force multiplier, too. The company had spent already spent around $800 million per year for the last nine years on process transformation and it is now transforming the process systems once again to make them all network-enabled. Conclusion Underneath all the sophisticated processes, it may be concluded that there is always the company's sense of values and identity. Identifying areas needed to be out sourced and spending time, money and wisdom on more important transformation processes has brought about a sea change in IBM’s work culture and employee---employer ethos. The realities when addressed with a sense purpose can produce enormous results. The company today has once again reached the pinnacle it has achieved post nineties. References: 1. Peter Waring: The Rise of Individualism in Australian Industrial Relations 2. Gerstner: Changing Culture at IBM-Lectures at Harvard 3. www.bto.com 4. Ayn Rand Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal 5. Lukes, Steven (1973). Individualism. New York: Harper & Row 6. “Individualism", Encyclopædia Britannica, 2005. Read More