Deck 6: Global Staffing

Question 1

What HR activity involves considering both internal and external sources to produce viable candidates to apply to fill a given work demand?

A)Employment Regulations
B)Termination
C)Recruitment
D)Hiring Practices

Answer 1

Recruitment

Question 2

The special staffing activity involving transfer of an employee upon the completion of a foreign assignment back to his or her own country is called:

A)Repatriation
B)Expatriation
C)Assimilation
D)Reculturation

Answer 2

Repatriation

Question 3

Staffing that is consistent with an ethnocentric approach is typically characterized by all or most key positions at a foreign operation being filled by:

A)Permanent Employees
B)Contingent Workers
C)Foreign Nationals
D)Parent Country Nationals

Answer 3

Parent Country Nationals

Question 4

A major disadvantage of a __________ staffing policy may be the lack of effective flow of information and productive interaction between MNC headquarters and the foreign subsidiary due to language and cultural differences as well as the growth of unfavorable "us versus them" stereotypes caused by a lack of local meaningful interaction and common experience between PCNs and HCNs.

A)Ethnocentric
B)Polycentric
C)Culturally Sensitive
D)Transnational

Question 5

Under this strategic staffing approach we often see a predominance of HCN staffing at the local subsidiary, and with senior HCN managers heading up operations in other countries in the same general location in the world, such as an Italian HCN heading up a Spanish operation in Barcelona.

A)Individualistic
B)Polycentric
C)Regiocentric
D)Ethnocentric

Question 6

MNC staffing policy driven by a(an) __________ approach considers and selects the best talent for important jobs throughout the world operations of the MNC, regardless of nationality.

A)Polycentric
B)Geocentric
C)Ethnocentric
D)Individualistic

Question 7

Governments and __________ might place demands or lobby for staffing requirements for MNCs that are making foreign direct investment, especially in developing countries, such as specifying that certain numbers of HCNs be hired and at particular levels.

A)shareholders outside of the host country
B)non-government organizations
C)third-country nationals
D)subsidiary companies

Question 8

Despite national laws and policies that might prevail at company headquarters prohibiting discrimination against women in the workplace, cultural norms and expectations widely held in other counties, such as Islamic and Asian societies and in some areas of __________, might need to be considered when making staffing-assignment decisions about women in those countries, especially involving work and supervisory interactions with men.

A)Latin America
B)North America
C)Western Europe
D)Middle East

Question 9

One particularly persistent bias against women in international business concerns women in the United States and other Western MNCs serving as __________.

A)host country nationals (HCNs)
B)repatriates
C)expatriates
D)inpatriates

Question 10

This approach investigates candidate competencies and ability to adjust to the demands of the foreign assignment in addition to other factors affecting success beyond the expatriate, including the adaptability of the accompanying partner, dual-career difficulties, the nature of supporting structure in the foreign assignment, cultural distance and technical difficulty of the assignment, and accountabilities and responsibilities.

A)Ascription Risk Assessment Approach
B)International Risk Assessment Approach
C)Internal Risk Assessment Approach
D)Clinical Risk Assessment Approach

Question 11

This general approach using personality tests argues that there are identifiable competencies associated with foreign assignment success and that the accurate measurement of these competencies can be used to identify and predict effective performers in international assignments.

A)Clinical Risk Assessment Approach
B)Psychometric Approach
C)International Approach
D)Ascription Approach

Question 12

The primary criterion for selecting employees for a foreign assignment traditionally has been __________, based on the notion that past behavior is a strong predictor of future performance.

A)demonstrated technical competence
B)demonstrated technological competence
C)ability to adapt to foreign cultures
D)aemonstrated cultural flexibility

Question 13

Differential effects of culture are particularly problematic in the use of:

A)Personality Tests
B)Hiring Practices
C)Risk Assessments
D)Company Surveys

Question 14

In many Asian cultures which of the following forms of nonverbal behavior would likely convey the most positive impression for a prospective candidate in a job interview?

A)Weak handshake and minimal eye contact
B)Firm handshake and considerable eye contact
C)Firm handshake and minimal eye contact
D)Weak handshake and considerable eye contact

Question 15

This term refers to using multiple methods in the employee selection process.

A)Multiple Perspectives Assessment
B)Target Assimilation
C)Trait-Treatment Interaction
D)Triangulation

Question 16

A fairly new and developing segment of the professional recruitment services industry is often called:

A)Permanent Employees
B)Temp-to-hire Employees
C)Undocumented Employees
D)Contract Employees

Question 17

Internet usage for recruiting purposes __________.

A)is increasing
B)is decreasing
C)has changed very little since the introduction of this innovation.
D)is increasing for senior positions but decreasing for lower positions.

Question 18

Many companies have found the employee-referral approach to be very useful in attracting competent and committed employees-especially __________ operations that might not have the demand or budget to justify professional recruitment agencies.

A)developing country
B)small- to medium-sized
C)large
D)very large

Question 19

__________ advertising to the external public can reach a large number of potential applicants in a number of ways, from a simple "Help Wanted" sign in a shop window to a transnational search involving multiple forms of media.

A)Domestic
B)International
C)Indirect
D)Direct

Question 20

__________ candidates are frequently easier to persuade into taking an assignment abroad.

A)Internal
B)External
C)Domestic
D)Poly-chronic

Question 21

In weak economic times the importance of global employee staffing for gaining competitive advantage is much less than in strong economic times.

Question 22

From a broader perspective, staffing encompasses the many activities related to moving employees into, throughout, and out of an organization in the pursuit of satisfying work demand and meeting organizational objectives.

Question 23

Recruitment involves gathering appropriate information and deciding from among the candidates who to choose to fill the work demand.

Question 24

Expatriation involves the special staffing activity involving transfer of an employee upon the completion of a foreign assignment back to his or her own country.

Question 25

As an additional potential disadvantage, an ethnocentric staffing approach limits the promotional and developmental opportunities of HCNs, which might lead to their increased dissatisfaction and related costs of lower productivity and increased turnover.

Question 26

A Geocentric staffing policy works well especially within industries whose products or services involve minimal cultural differentiation such as in the electronics or automotive industry.

Question 27

Although there has been an increase in the number of women being sent to foreign assignments, women still lag significantly behind their male MNC expatriate counterparts.

Question 28

A major reason given by managers for selecting men over women for foreign expatriate assignments falls into the category of business necessity-to avoid costly failure and to promote and optimize the competitive viability of business operations abroad.

Question 29

One major reason why there are significantly fewer women than men that are sent by MNCs in expatriate assignments is that women simply tend to have less interest in being expatriates.

Question 30

Staffing needs often influence an MNC's selection decision for the location of foreign direct investment, where there increasingly is a preference, due to greater dependence upon advanced technologies in operations, for countries that can offer labor with relatively higher levels of literacy, skills, and discipline rather than merely the lowest wages.

Question 31

The geographic scope of sources considered for locating qualified potential job candidates might be worldwide when the company is following a geocentric approach and is searching for top talent regardless of nationality.

Question 32

Company newsletters, bulletins, and computerized intranet in-house communication systems can carry announcements of job openings for a foreign assignment or can be used in a foreign operation to support a local "promotion-from-within" policy.

Question 33

Many organizations have developed useful skills inventories on both local and global levels that facilitate an external labor market search for employees with interest and requisite skills to fill an international assignment.

Question 34

Organizations rarely use informal communications as a means to "spread the word" and identify possible internal candidates for promotion or for a transfer assignment.

Question 35

Due to the informal, non-professional nature of the employee referral method, the number of companies around the world that use it in external recruitment has dramatically decreased.

Question 36

Under an employee-referral approach employees typically are provided a financial reward and/or gift for referring a candidate who is eventually hired.

Question 37

The practice of hiring family members, sometimes referred to as nepotism, often is banned and associated with corrupt business practices.

Question 38

Triangulation literally means to measure something from three different angles to achieve an accurate assessment.

Question 39

The employment interview is generally the most frequently used method for employee selection, yet in the hands of untrained managers and supervisors it often has one of the lowest validity rates in predicting the future company success of a job candidate.

Question 40

The least important criterion for selecting employees for a foreign assignment traditionally has been "demonstrated technical competence."

Question 41

The psychometric approach using personality tests argues that there are identifiable competencies associated with foreign assignment success and that the accurate measurement of these competencies can be used to identify and predict effective performers in international assignments.

Question 42

During a familiarization trip, the candidate and her/his spouse and even children may be invited to visit the actual area of the proposed foreign assignment to experience it firsthand.

Question 43

Describe typical trends in staffing according to each of these major strategic approaches: ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric, geocentric. For each strategic approach, briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of its typical international staffing practices.

Question 44

Discuss important staffing considerations in planning and successfully implementing international joint ventures.

Question 45

Besides MNC strategy, describe other major factors that may influence staffing decisions and practices.

Question 46

What are major forms of internal and external recruitment methods? Describe relative advantages of internal versus external sources for recruiting candidates to fill job openings.

Question 47

Discuss general principles and practices of effective employee selection as they apply in international business operations.

Question 48

What are important considerations in selecting expatriate employees for international assignments? Describe three major categories of approaches for selecting expatriates.