Ch.15 Full Test Bank Human resources management strategies

Chapter 16

Test Bank

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 01

1) Cultural imperialism is the replacement of one culture’s traditions, folk heroes, and artefacts with substitutes from another.

a. True

Feedback: This is a valid definition of cultural imperialism as the cultural values of one society displace those of another.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 02

2) Culture changes because individuals adapt to new ideas, information and new experiences over time.

a. True

Feedback: Cultures change over time as individuals are exposed to new ideas, new information, and new experiences. These changes reflect adaptation – over time beliefs change.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 03

3) Hybridization refers to maintaining cultural specific differences between two different countries

a. True

b. False

Feedback: Hybridization means that there is a certain degree of convergence and mutual influence between cultures.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 04

4) Ethnocentrism is the belief that there is a universal system of forms and conventions underlying the use of human language.

a. True

b. False

Feedback: The statement is false, this is not ethnocentrism, rather it describes universal grammar. In fact, ethnocentrism is the tendency to prefer the ideas of a culture other than one’s own.

A-head reference: 16.6 Effectively managing cultural diversity

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 05

5) Globalisation is a driver of cultural change

a. True

Feedback: A third driver of cultural change is growing acceptance of political democracy as the model for successful societies. As Chapter 6 illustrated, the world experienced strong growth in the number of democratic societies between 1950 and 1990. Coupled with this is the globalization of economic policy, packaged in various guises advocating the combination of political democracy with economic liberalism, deregulation, minimal government involvement, and reliance on markets to allocate resources.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 06

6) Cultural convergence is the idea that there is increasing similarity between national cultures and a growing homogeneity of attitudes, beliefs, and values.

a. True

Feedback: True. A widely observed manifestation of this trend is consumer behaviour and the exchange and adoption of cultural goods, including art, food, fashion, film and music. Chinese restaurants have boomed in the West as McDonald’s and other fast-food providers have entered China. Kebabs are no longer exclusive to the Middle East nor are sushi bars restricted to Japan.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 07

7) Cultural diffusion describes a process by which traits spread from one culture to another.

a. True

Feedback: The statement is true as it accurately describes the process of cultural diffusion as what are seen as desirable traits of one culture are adopted by members of another culture.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 08

8) Multiculturalism focuses on maintaining separate cultural traditions and customs rather than blending them.

a. True

Feedback: This statement is true as it is an accurate description of multiculturalism. Blending cultures is better described as hybrid or melting pot cultures.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 09

9) A global mind-set is a highly complex cognitive structure characterized by an openness to, and articulation of, multiple cultural and strategic realities on both global and local levels.

a. True

Feedback: This statement is true as it is an accurate description of what a global mind-set entails. It implies an ability to operate strategically across multiple different cultures.

A-head reference: 16.7 Global leadership

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 10

10) A key trait of a global manager is not necessarily someone intimately experienced with a particular market, but rather someone familiar with a sufficient range of markets to concede diversity and to know when to seek out local knowledge and experience.

a. True

Feedback: This statement is true as an effective global manager should possess a global mind-set and the ability to recognize and respond to differences between markets. Broad experience rather than in depth knowledge of one market is a better foundation for this.

A-head reference: 16.7 Global leadership

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 11

11) Cross-cultural analysis, as shown in cultural clusters for example, illustrates both the extent and nature of cultural differences.

a. True

b. False

Feedback: This statement is false as cultural clusters provide only an approximation of differences between national clusters, not the reasons for such differences. Analysis of the reasons for differences highlights the value of subsequent deeper analysis perhaps using the frameworks of Hofstede or GLOBE

A-head reference: 16.3 Cultural clusters

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 12

12) Global leadership is more complex in domestic firms than international firms because corporate headquarters is where major decisions are made.

a. True

b. False

Feedback: This statement is false as global leadership is more important in international organizations which face the additional challenges of operating across diverse cultures and in coordinating globally dispersed assets.

A-head reference: 16.7 Global leadership

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 13

13) Cultural differences are playing a more significant role in competitive strategy

a. True

Feedback: Organizations, in responding to these differences, are altering their composition to attract what they see as the most effective and appropriate employees.

A-head reference: 16.5 Culture and competitive advantage

b. False

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 16 Question 14

14) _______ is the belief within a culture that its values are superior to those of foreign cultures.

Feedback: Ethnocentricity is the belief that one's own culture is superior to other cultures.

A-head reference: 16.6 Effectively managing cultural diversity

a. Polycentricity

b. Geocentricity

c. Ethnocentricity

d. Egocentricity

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 16 Question 15

15) _______ is not among Hofstede’s 5 dimensions of culture.

Feedback: Hofstede considers power, but not as a time-based dimension, so d. is the correct answer.

A-head reference: 16.5 Culture and competitive advantage

a. Long/short term orientation

b. Masculinity/ femininity

c. High/ low uncertainty avoidance

d. Long/ short power direction

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 16 Question 16

16) In an international skills inventory, tolerance and sensitivity to others are termed _______

Feedback: These would be termed intercultural communication skills as they apply in an international (and inter-cultural) context.

A-head reference: 16.6 Effectively managing cultural diversity

a. intercultural communications skills.

b. work effectiveness skills.

c. coping skills.

d. adaptation skills.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 16 Question 17

17) MNEs are pushed to re-think employment strategies because of

Feedback: Multinational enterprises seeking to build competitive advantages around sources such as cultural diversity are rethinking their traditional employment strategies and the role of expatriates. On the one hand, the high costs of expatriate failure are a growing concern.

A-head reference: 16.7 Global leadership

a. ethnocentricity.

b. expatriate failure.

c. geocentricity.

d. cultural superiority.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 16 Question 18

18) Globalization has allowed numerous cultures to quickly attain levels of technology that may have taken much longer for them to achieve in isolation. Arriving at different stages of development, urbanization, and industrialization at different times is referred to as _______

Feedback: The correct answer is c, technological divergence. Divergence in technology is apparent when societies attain different levels or stages of technological development.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

a. Cultural attainment

b. cultural divergence.

c. technological divergence.

d. cultural significance.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 16 Question 19

19) Cultural change is being driven on a global basis by _______

Feedback: The correct answer is d), as all of the factors listed contribute to the rate of cultural change, whether convergence, divergence, or hybridization.

A-head reference: 16.2 Multiculturalism, cultural trends, and international business

a. new technologies, particularly communications technologies.

b. wider adoption of English language.

c. The growing acceptance of political democracy.

d. All of the above.

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 16 Question 20

20) More MNEs are moving from the position that cultural diversity is problematic, to one that sees such diversity as offering opportunities for creating sustainable competitive advantages.

a. True

Feedback: This statement is true for two main reasons. The first is the declining attractiveness of traditional sources of advantage such as cost or quality which are increasingly subject to competition. Second, the growth of diversity has increased understanding of the opportunities it offers.

A-head reference: 16.8 Multiculturalism and the global factory

b. False