Ch15 Entering Developed and Emerging Markets Exam Prep

Student name:__________

1) Compare and contrast folkways and mores.

2) Discuss the relationship between society and the nation-state.

3) What are the determinants of culture?

4) Explain the concept of social stratification.

5) Why is the role of education in a culture important to international companies?

6) What is the connection between religion and ethical systems? Do they have any implications for business?

7) Consider the importance of unspoken language. Why is it important to be familiar with the unspoken language of another culture?

8) Discuss why the stratification of a society is important to business.

9) Explain how the Koran views business.

10) Consider the influence of Confucian ethics on the economies of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

11) Describe the four dimensions of culture as identified by Geert Hofstede.

12) Discuss the limitations of Hofstede’s research.

13) What are the implications of cultural differences for international businesses?

14) Discuss the relationship between culture and national competitive advantage?

15) Culture is

A) static.
B) not static.
C) unchanging.
D) abstract.

16) The term _____ refers to a group of people sharing a common set of values and norms.

A) mores
B) society
C) culture
D) folkway

17) Cross-cultural literacy refers to

A) an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group.
B) the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures.
C) abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right, and desirable.
D) an understanding of how cultural differences can affect business.

18) _____ include such factors as indictments against theft, adultery, incest, and cannibalism.

A) Norms
B) Folkways
C) Mores
D) Values

19) _____ is/are best defined as shared assumptions about how things ought to be.

A) Norms
B) Values
C) Society
D) Culture

20) The system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living best defines

A) society.
B) value systems.
C) principles.
D) culture.

21) Social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations are best described as

A) norms.
B) values.
C) culture.
D) society.

22) People who share a common set of values and norms form a

A) culture.
B) society.
C) country.
D) caste.

23) Even if a _____ can be characterized as having a single homogeneous culture, often that national culture is a mosaic of subcultures.

A) culture
B) country
C) society
D) norm

24) _____ are the routine conventions of everyday life.

A) Folkways
B) Mores
C) Rites
D) Beliefs

25) When Jana visits her mother, she takes great pains to watch her language and use good manners because that is what her mother expects of her.This demonstrates the concept of

A) folkways.
B) mores.
C) rites.
D) beliefs.

26) The term _____ also means culture.

A) folkway
B) society
C) country
D) norm

27) _____ are social conventions concerning things such as the appropriate dress code in a particular situation, good social manners, eating with the correct utensils, neighborly behavior, and the like.

A) Values
B) Beliefs
C) Mores
D) Folkways

28) An act as simple as shaking hands when meeting new people is an example of

A) values.
B) symbolic behavior.
C) mores.
D) social stratification.

29) A Japanese executive’s ritual of presenting a business card to a foreign business executive is an example of

A) mores.
B) values.
C) attitudes.
D) folkways.

30) Mores are

A) the norms that are seen as central to the functioning of a society and its social life.
B) the routine conventions of everyday life.
C) abstract ideas about what a group believes to be right, good, and desirable.
D) the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations.

31) Brad has been in trouble his whole life. He stole from the local hardware store when he was 12, and as an adult he didn’t feel the need to be faithful to his wife. Brad is guilty of violating

A) mores.
B) folkways.
C) ethics.
D) values.

32) ________ are typically defined on the basis of characteristics such as family background, occupation, and income.

A) Social strata
B) Norms
C) Social structure
D) Groups

33) A major difference between Buddhism and Hinduism is that unlike Hinduism, Buddhism

A) does not support the caste system.
B) emphasizes wealth creation.
C) promotes blind loyalty to employers.
D) supports extreme ascetic behavior.

34) A _____ is an association of two or more individuals who have a shared sense of identity and who interact with each other in structured ways on the basis of a common set of expectations about each other’s behavior.

A) society
B) collective
C) social strata
D) group

35) The social organization of Western society tends to emphasize on

A) a group orientation.
B) collectivist values.
C) individual achievement.
D) work groups.

36) Which of the following refers to the extent to which individuals can move out of the strata into which they are born?

A) caste stratification
B) class system
C) social mobility
D) individual potential

37) Hindus believe

A) that there is but the one true omnipotent God.
B) in reincarnation, or rebirth into a different body, after death.
C) in the importance of individual religious freedom.
D) that a material quest is more important than a spiritual quest.

38) Which of the following is a closed system of stratification in which social position is determined by the family into which a person is born, and change in that position is usually not possible during an individual’s lifetime?

A) caste system
B) class system
C) social system
D) cultural system

39) A _____ is a less rigid form of social stratification in which social mobility is possible.

A) caste system
B) normative system
C) religious system
D) class system

40) Which of the following statements is true about a class system?

A) A class system is a more rigid form of social stratification, compared to a caste system.
B) A class system is a closed form of stratification.
C) Social mobility within a class system varies from society to society.
D) In a class system, social position is determined at birth and cannot be changed during an individual’s lifetime.

41) According to _____, suffering originates in people’s desires for pleasure.

A) Hinduism
B) Protestantism
C) Buddhism
D) Judaism

42) A caste system differs from a class system because

A) a caste system is an open system of stratification, while a class system is a closed system of stratification.
B) it is not possible for an individual to change his or her caste, while a class system allows people to change their class through individual achievement.
C) the social mobility in caste systems varies from society to society, while in a class system there is no social mobility.
D) a caste system is a less rigid form of social stratification, while a class system is a comparatively more rigid form of social stratification.

43) Ethical systems are

A) a set of moral principles, or values, that are used to guide and shape behavior.
B) shared beliefs and rituals that are concerned with the realm of the sacred.
C) routine conventions of everyday life.
D) social rules that govern people’s actions toward each other.

44) Religion may be defined as

A) routine conventions of everyday life.
B) social rules that govern people’s actions toward each other.
C) shared beliefs and rituals that are concerned with the realm of the sacred.
D) a set of moral principles, or values, that are used to guide and shape behavior.

45) Hinduism and Buddhism both stress the importance of

A) the caste system.
B) the afterlife.
C) Confucian ethics.
D) life on earth.

46) Max Weber theorized that there was a relationship between Protestantism and the emergence of modern capitalism because

A) Protestant ethics emphasize the importance of hard work and wealth creation and frugality.
B) Protestantism promotes the hierarchical domination of religious and social life.
C) Protestantism states that spiritual growth is more important than material wealth.
D) Protestantism promotes blind loyalty to employers.

47) The concept of mobility between castes within an individual’s lifetime

A) is an opportunity to adopt positions of responsibility and influence in society.
B) makes no sense to traditional Hindus.
C) shows a figurative “reincarnation” of a person.
D) is a sign of spiritual progression to traditional Hindus.

48) Max Weber was a German sociologist who, in 1904, made the connection between _____ and “the spirit of capitalism.”

A) Protestant ethics
B) ethnocentrism
C) cross-cultural literacy
D) collectivism

49) Which of the following statements about the use of spoken language is true?

A) The nature of a language has no effect on the way we perceive the world.
B) The language of a society does not direct the attention of its members to certain features of the world rather than others.
C) Countries with more than one language often only have one culture.
D) Most people prefer to converse in their own language rather than English.

50) A condition where people tend to perceive themselves in terms of their class background and this shapes their relationships with members of other classes is known as

A) class stratification.
B) social mobility.
C) class mobility.
D) class consciousness.

51) An upper-middle-class manager tends to have hostile relationships with the working-class employees in the firm because of his tendency to perceive himself as superior to them based on his class background. In this example, the manager exhibits

A) class consciousness.
B) cultural awareness.
C) social mobility.
D) group orientation.

52) There are three values central to the Confucian system of ethics that have very important economic implications. Which of the following is one of these values?

A) filial piety
B) rule-based law
C) humaneness
D) honesty in dealings with others

53) Which of the following sociologists made a connection between Protestant ethics and “the spirit of capitalism”?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) Amartya Sen
D) Adam Smith

54) According to Islam, those who hold property are regarded as

A) trustees.
B) owners.
C) tenants.
D) speculators.

55) Which of the following observations is correct?

A) The economic principles established in the Koran are against free enterprise.
B) The economic principles of Islam prohibit the payment or receipt of interest.
C) The Koran speaks disapprovingly of earning legitimate profit through trade and commerce.
D) Protection of the right to private property is not acceptable within Islam.

56) Under the mudarabah banking system, when an Islamic bank lends money to a business

A) it charges that business interest on the loan.
B) the business needs to pay back the loan with an additional markup.
C) it has to donate the interest received on the loan to a charitable trust.
D) it takes a share in the profits that are derived from the investment.

57) Which of the following statements is true about the murabaha contract?

A) Under the murabaha contract, when an Islamic bank lends money to a business it takes a share in the profits that are derived from the investment.
B) Under the murabaha contract, money deposited in a savings account is treated as an equity investment in whatever activity the bank uses the capital for.
C) The murabaha contract is widely used among the world’s Islamic banks because it is the easiest to implement.
D) The murabaha contract is a more efficient system than the Western banking system since it encourages both long-term savings and long-term investment.

58) In countries where the value of _____ identification is considered to be primary, managers and workers are discouraged from moving from company to company.

A) individual
B) group
C) cultural
D) primary

59) The _____ dimension of Hofstede’s study explores how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.

A) power distance
B) individualism versus collectivism
C) uncertainty avoidance
D) masculinity versus femininity

60) Martin worried a lot about his job, which he chose specifically because it was very structured with clear rules and regulations. He carefully planned his career to maximize job security and retirement benefits. Martin would rate high on which of Hofstede’s four dimensions?

A) power distance
B) individualism versus collectivism
C) uncertainty avoidance
D) masculinity versus femininity

61) The individualism versus collectivism dimension of Hofstede’s study explored

A) the extent to which different cultures socialized their members into accepting ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty.
B) the relationship between gender and work roles.
C) how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.
D) the relationship between the individual and his or her fellows.

62) Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance dimension considered

A) the extent to which different cultures socialized their members into accepting ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty.
B) the relationship between gender and work roles.
C) how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.
D) the relationship between the individual and his or her fellows.

63) The _____ is a research project spanning more than 100 countries that explores people’s values and norms, how they change over time, and what impact they have in society and business.

A) World Values Survey
B) Global Leadership and Organization Behavior Effectiveness Instrument
C) Indulgence Versus Restraints Survey
D) Chinese Value Survey

64) According to Geert Hofstede’s study, which of the following cultural dimensions would be characterized by a greater readiness to take risks and less emotional resistance to change?

A) high power distance cultures
B) low uncertainty avoidance
C) high collectivism
D) low power distance cultures

65) The _____ refers to the extent to which a culture programs its citizens to accept delayed gratification of their material, social, and emotional needs.

A) long-term versus short-term orientation dimension
B) indulgence versus restraint dimension
C) uncertainty avoidance
D) power distance dimension

66) _____ refers to a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun.

A) Persistence
B) Indulgence
C) Reciprocation
D) Restraint

67) Hofstede’s _____ dimension measured the extent to which different cultures socialized their members into accepting and tolerating ambiguity.

A) power distance
B) long-term versus short-term orientation
C) uncertainty avoidance
D) indulgence versus restraint

68) Hofstede’s results, as might be expected, showed that nations such as _____ scored low on long-term orientation.

A) the United States and Canada
B) Denmark and Sweden
C) Japan and Thailand
D) Great Britain and Mexico

69) Hofstede's masculinity versus femininity dimension looked at the relationship between gender and work roles and found that in

A) feminine cultures, sex roles were sharply differentiated, and traditional “feminine values” determined cultural ideals.
B) feminine cultures, sex roles were less sharply distinguished; however, there was a great deal of differentiation between men and women in the same job.
C) masculine cultures, sex roles were less sharply distinguished, and little differentiation was made between men and women in the same job.
D) masculine cultures, sex roles were sharply differentiated, and traditional “masculine values” determined cultural ideals.

70) Hofstede’s dimension of Confucian work dynamism

A) captures attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering by status, saving face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of gifts and favors.
B) focuses on how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.
C) explores the relationship between the individual and his or her fellows.
D) looks at the relationship between gender and the ability to accept ambiguous situations.

71) Which of the following is an example of ethnocentrism?

A) A manager in India looks down upon his subordinates because they are from a lower caste, compared to him.
B) An upper-middle-class woman talks rudely to a salesperson, because she looks down upon individuals belonging to the working class.
C) An American manager criticizes the cultural practices of Saudi Arabia, when he is sent there on business, because it differs from his own cultural norms.
D) A French business owner, who plans to expand his market to China, conducts a detailed cultural study of China to customize his marketing campaign.

72) What is ethnocentrism?

A) a belief in the superiority of one’s business or organization over another
B) a belief in the superiority of another group or culture over one’s own group or culture
C) a belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture
D) a belief in the superiority of one’s self over another person

73) Class-based conflict between workers and management in class-conscious societies can lead to

A) increased costs of doing business.
B) decreased costs of doing business.
C) companies going out of business.
D) workers looking for new jobs in other businesses.

74) Several studies have shown that economic advancement and _____ are important factors in societal change.

A) individualism
B) collectivism
C) culture
D) globalization and information

75) One reason for Japan’s shift in values away from collectivism and toward individualism may be that

A) richer societies exhibit less need for social and material support structures built on collectives.
B) individualism is a more important trait in a global society.
C) richer societies exhibit more need for social and material support structures built on collectives.
D) increased urbanization and improvements in the quality and availability of education are both a function of economic progress.

76) The connection between _____ and _____ has important implications for the choice of countries in which to locate production facilities and do business.

A) culture; competitive advantage
B) moral principles; values
C) class system; society
D) values; norms

77) In today's world of global communications, rapid transportation, and global markets, cultural differences have ceased to exist.

⊚ true
⊚ false

78) Norms are abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right, and desirable.

⊚ true
⊚ false

79) Folkways include rituals, traditions, and symbolic behavior.

⊚ true
⊚ false

80) Upon meeting a foreign business executive, a Japanese executive will hold his business card in both hands and bow while presenting the card to the foreigner. This is an example of ritual behavior.

⊚ true
⊚ false

81) The term social strata refers to the extent to which individuals can move out of the strata into which they were born.

⊚ true
⊚ false

82) Education plays an important role, from an international business perspective, as a determinant of national competitive advantage.

⊚ true
⊚ false

83) Both Hindus and Buddhists stress the afterlife and spiritual achievement rather than involvement in this world.

⊚ true
⊚ false

84) Islam is a polytheistic religion, like Christianity and Judaism.

⊚ true
⊚ false

85) A caste system is a closed system of stratification in which social position is determined by the family into which the person is born.

⊚ true
⊚ false

86) A class system is a rigid form of social stratification in which the position a person has by birth cannot be changed through his or her own achievements or luck.

⊚ true
⊚ false

87) An antagonistic relationship between management and labor classes may result in lower costs of production.

⊚ true
⊚ false

88) Max Weberbelieved that Protestantism encouraged capitalism’s development by emphasizing the importance of wealth creation and frugality.

⊚ true
⊚ false

89) In countries where the value of group identification is considered to be primary, managers and workers are discouraged from moving from company to company.

⊚ true
⊚ false

90) The mudarabah contract is the most widely used Islamic banking method, because it is the easiest to implement.

⊚ true
⊚ false

91) Max Weber believed that devout Hindus would be less likely to engage in entrepreneurial activity than devout Protestants.

⊚ true
⊚ false

92) Guanxi is an important mechanism for building long-term business relationships and getting business done in China.

⊚ true
⊚ false

93) Hofstede’s study found that in masculine cultures, sex roles were less sharply distinguished, and little differentiation was made between men and women in the same job.

⊚ true
⊚ false

94) Hofstede’s research has been criticized because it was culturally bound.

⊚ true
⊚ false

95) Hofstede’s concept of power distance focused on the extent to which different cultures socialized their members into tolerating uncertainty.

⊚ true
⊚ false

96) According to Hofstede, the concept of Confucian dynamism captures attitudes toward time, persistence, saving face, and respect for tradition.

⊚ true
⊚ false

97) The convergence hypothesis states that there is a slow but steady merging occurring across different cultures toward some universally accepted values and norms.

⊚ true
⊚ false

98) International businesses that are ill-informed about the practices of another culture are likely to fail.

⊚ true
⊚ false

99) The value systems and norms of a country are unrelated to the costs of doing business in that country.

⊚ true
⊚ false

100) Because of its individualistic mind-set, Japanese culture is more supportive of entrepreneurial activities than American culture.

⊚ true
⊚ false