Deck 12: Evaluating and Rewarding Employees Worldwide

Question 1

What are the challenges for evaluating foreign-born employees? What are some of the suggested steps for providing performance feedback to foreign-born employees?

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Which of the following statements is not true concerning global attitudes toward vacation?

A) European, Middle Eastern, and African countries are the most generous with vacation time.
B) Like Europe, U.S., companies are legally mandated to give a minimum number of days off.
C) European firms often must follow legally mandated minimums.
D) The French and Spanish, on the other hand, each averaged 30 days of paid and took all 30 days.
E) The South Korean government has had to actually pressure South Koreans to take their vacations.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

All of the following are benefits from having home country professionals evaluate its expatriates except for:

A) Typically has a better understanding of overall corporate goals & objectives.
B) Has more background on expatriate's work history.
C) In the best position to observe expatriate's behavior and performance over a long period of time.
D) Often shares expatriate's values, & language, easier to give performance feedback .
E) all of these are benefits.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The balance sheet expatriate compensation approach takes ___________ into consideration.

A) taxes.
B) housing.
C) purchasing power.
D) living expenses.
E) all of these.

Question 5

The balance sheet approach attempts to maintain

A) purchasing power.
B) currency equality.
C) the value of pay in US dollars.
D) the same pay as local employees.
E) all of these.

Question 6

Which of the following compensation approaches is the most popular?

A) global.
B) national.
C) ad hoc approach.
D) localization method.
E) balance sheet.

Question 7

The compensation approach that strives to ""keep the employee whole? Is the

A) localization method.
B) equity method.
C) ad hoc approach.
D) balance sheet method.
E) differentials approach.

Question 8

Which of the following would not be an example of a direct payment or reimbursement to an expatriate employee?

A) temporary living allowance.
B) furnishing allowance.
C) emergency leave.
D) extension bonus.
E) tax reduction/equalization.

Question 9

Which country typically pays an additional month's salary before the summer vaction period and again before the December holidays?

A) France.
B) Germany.
C) Japan.
D) Canada.
E) the US.

Question 10

Which of the following is not true regarding compensation?

A) American executives are the highest paid in the world.
B) it is important to understand the legal as well as cultural framework of a location in order to understand the total cost of compensation.
C) France and Sweden have some of the highest average vacation time benefits.
D) in some countries, compensation is offered in non-salary form in order to reduce individual tax liabilities.
E) the UK and the US have fewer vacation days than some countries, but law mandates a minimum of 7 days.

Question 11

The meaning of the word compensation in _____________ implies achievement.

A) English.
B) Japanese.
C) French.
D) German.
E) Hindi.

Question 12

Which of the following characteristics of the performance evaluation systems do the US and Saudi Arabia have in common?

A) the emphasis of face-saving.
B) the amount of feedback.
C) detminant of positive appraisal.
D) type of feedback.
E) level of formality.

Question 13

Which of the following statements is not true about the characteristics of the performance evaluation system in Saudi Arabia?

A) the amount of feedback is low.
B) criticism is indirect.
C) it is informal and typically not written.
D) it is typically an individual delivery method.
E) the amount of feedback is high.

Question 14

Multinationals tend to set compensation of local-country nationals based on ________________ standards.

A) home-country.
B) regional.
C) prevailing country.
D) competitor.
E) government.

Question 15

Which of the following is a suggestion for giving performance feedback to foreign-born employees?

A) give feedback through a third party.
B) communicate to the whole group.
C) change the form of feedback.
D) simplify the feedback.
E) all of the above.

Question 16

What are the context variables that impact evaluations of expatriates? How do they affect the evaluation process?

Question 17

Why is it increasingly more difficult to get employees to accept a foreign assignment? How are some MNCs coping with this challenge?

Question 18

What change in skills have managers reported having with an overseas assignment? Why are they difficult to assess?

Question 19

Name and define three methods of compensating expatriates. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?

Question 20

List three examples of direct payments/reimbursements associated with expatriation. List three examples of costs associated with support for expatriate adjustment.

Question 21

What is the basis of the balance sheet approach? How does a company calculate compensation using this method?

Question 22

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of an expatriate being evaluated by a host-country manager, by a home-country manager, and by a mix.

Question 23

The degree to which people differ in their ability to handle the difficulty and ambiguity inherent in a foreign assignment is called

A) cultural variables.
B) personality characteristics.
C) task variables.
D) environmental variables.
E) location variables.

Question 24

It is important for a production manager to be adept in cultural awareness. This is an example of

A) personality characteristics.
B) task variables.
C) cultural variables.
D) environmental variables.
E) location variables.

Question 25

Feedback for ________ workers is largely subjective and informal.

A) Arab.
B) American.
C) British.
D) German.
E) all of the above.

Question 26

Why might a company not realize the skills acquired by an expatriate manager?

A) few of the skills are assessed in domestic performances.
B) many of the dimensions considered are hard to evaluate.
C) open-mindedness must be seen to be believed.
D) people from different cultures give and take appraisal feedback in different ways.
E) all of the above.

Question 27

A method by which an expatriate will negotiate with his or her firm for covering costs inherent in a foreign assignment is called

A) localization method.
B) nationalization method.
C) ad hoc method.
D) balance sheet method.
E) relocation method.

Question 28

Which of the following statements is true about the characteristics of the performance evaluation system in Korea?

A) there is a low emphasis on face-saving.
B) it is a formal system with written documentation.
C) the level of employee involvement if high.
D) the amount of feedback is high.
E) the general emphasis is on coaching.

Question 29

A general guideline for evaluating expatriates is

A) to seek input only from the overseas manager if it is his or her responsibility.
B) to seek input from the manager who is responsible for the evaluation.
C) to seek input from both the overseas manager and the home office regardless of who has responsibility.
D) to place more weight on the evaluations performed by host-country managers.
E) to do all of these.

Question 30

An expatriate manager in Mexico should not be given a negative evaluation if the productivity of his employees is only half the average productivity of an American plant due to the cultural differences of Mexican workers.

Question 31

Sometimes multinationals pay expatriates in both the home and local currency to even out currency fluctuations between the two countries.

Question 32

Performance evaluation systems in Middle Eastern countries are usually more informal, with less use of forms, evaluation metrics, and documentation.

Question 33

Research suggests that there is increasing similarity in compensation practices among countries with similar cultures.

Question 34

The ad hoc approach, in which individual employees negotiate with their firm for covering the costs inherent in a foreign assignment, is the fairest way to allocate compensation.

Question 35

You are working in France and receive the same compensation package as your French counterpart. The company uses the localization approach to compensation.

Question 36

American CEOs are the highest paid executives in the world.

Question 37

Compensation is the level of salary or pay an employee makes.

Question 38

Compensation in Germany implies achievement, while in the US it implies the exchange of effort for wages and benefits.

Question 39

Performance evaluations tend to be formal and well documented regardless of the location.

Question 40

An expatriate in Zambia should not be expected to meet the same performance level as a counterpart with the same position in the US.

Question 41

Financial information is the best measure of expatriate performance.

Question 42

US firms are more likely to operate on the equity principle than firms in any other country.

Question 43

A host-country manager will probably assess the expatriate's performance from the manager's own cultural perspective.

Question 44

One way to make up for differences in expatriate evaluations is to

A) score or weight the assignment based on the level of difficulty.
B) use the same system for everyone.
C) conduct them more often than for employees working domestically.
D) do all of these.
E) none of these.

Question 45

It is difficult to determine what to measure when conducting an expatriate's performance review because

A) the managers are from different cultures.
B) he or she is not part of the corporate culture.
C) the employee's personality may impact performance.
D) the assignment may be a short one.
E) the data (i.e., sales, revenues) may not be easily converted or translated.

Question 46

What should be considered when determining what should be evaluated during an expatriate evaluation?

A) the environment in which the job is done.
B) the task or tasks themselves.
C) the personality of the expatriate.
D) all of these.
E) none of these.

Question 47

Which of the following is a task variable that managers should consider when evaluating the expatriate?

A) the culture of the home country manager.
B) the location of the assignment.
C) the level and amount of cross-cultural interaction required to be effective.
D) the personality of the expatriate.
E) all of these.

Question 48

____________________ often determine(s) the level of difficulty of working in a particular location.

A) managers.
B) environmental variables.
C) co-workers.
D) the climate.
E) governmental regulations.

Question 49

Expatriates should be evaluated

A) based on the "right" time for the particular assignment.
B) once per year.
C) daily by the host-country manager.
D) every six months.
E) in all of these ways.

Question 50

Which of the following is not a true statement about home-country evaluations?

A) the manager will probably be familiar with your work.
B) the manager speaks the same language.
C) the manager shares many of the same cultural values.
D) the manager typically receives a good deal of feedback about the employee.
E) the manager can communicate feedback easier.

Question 51

Performance appraisals conducted by the host-country manager can

A) often evaluate the expatriate from the cultural perspective in which she or he needs to be effective.
B) be based on daily interactions.
C) be problematic due to cultural and language barriers.
D) involve all of these.
E) involve none of these.

Question 52

Evaluation of expatriates can be conducted by

A) the host-country manager.
B) the home office manager.
C) customers.
D) peers and subordinates.
E) all of these.

Question 53

Research shows that managers reported which of the following changes in their skills as a result of an international assignment?

A) a more established idea of problem-solving methods.
B) an increased ability to manage cultural differences.
C) a more standard approach to human resource functions.
D) all of these.
E) none of these.

Question 54

Evaluating expatriates can be particularly challenging because

A) a manager may not be in the same location with the employee or have a good understanding of her or his environment.
B) a manager needs to sum pluses and minuses throughout the year.
C) the distribution of resources is difficult.
D) both sides typically dislike the process.
E) the job may not have measurable performance outcomes.

Question 55

What seems to be more popular among multinationals is to believe that anyone taking a foreign assignment deserves a special premium.

Question 56

The frequency and time of evaluating expatriate assignments should be based on a specific situation and assignment.