Deck 16: Organizational Behavior Across Cultures

Question 1

Handling the social factors of operating a plant is easier than managing the technical factors of building it in the first place.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Culture consists of the unwritten social rules that shape individual thought and behavior.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Many organizations try to hasten adjustment to a host nation by encouraging employees to learn the local language.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The lending of skilled people to a nation for training their local replacements may provide a lasting benefit to its development.

Question 5

Inflation encourages workers to spend their income quickly,before their money loses its value.

Question 6

In some nations,employee layoffs are restricted by law.

Question 7

Inflation is a common economic condition that occurs only in developed countries.

Question 8

A Canadian employee assigned to Australia is likely to adjust more slowly than a Spanish employee in the same assignment.

Question 9

Ethnocentrism means that people are predisposed to believe that their race is inferior to others.

Question 10

Cultural intelligence includes having an intuitive sense of what is happening and why it is occurring.

Question 11

Transcultural employees are frequently fluent in more than one language.

Question 12

A small amount of cultural distance has no effect on people's responses to business-related issues.

Question 13

Cultural shock is virtually universal.

Question 14

Power distance is frequently observed in Asian and South American countries.

Question 15

Cross-cultural reentry can be more difficult if a number of changes have occurred since departure.

Question 16

Expatriate employees need to develop ethnocentrism in order to integrate imported and local social systems.

Question 17

Employees who are low in ethnocentrism and other possibly troublesome characteristics can be given priority for selection for international assignments.

Question 18

The penalties for major offenses may vary dramatically from culture to culture,but minor offenses are treated similarly.

Question 19

People from low-context cultures use situational cues to develop a complete portrait of a visitor.

Question 20

Adjustment to new surroundings is easier if employees are sent to nations that are similar to their own.

Question 21

Feminine cultures treasure all of the following EXCEPT:

A) relationships among people.
B) balance between family and work life.
C) acquisition of wealth.
D) caring for others.

Question 22

Which of the following statements is true of cultural distance?

A) It affects the response of all people to business-related issues.
B) Expatriates are free from the problems associated to cultural distance.
C) It is the feeling of confusion, insecurity, and anxiety caused by a strange new environment.
D) It takes into account only the major differences between the social systems of different countries.

Question 23

_____,when demonstrated consistently,will result in geocentric organizations that largely ignore a person's nationality while accenting employee ability in selection,assignment,and promotional decisions.

A) Cultural contingency
B) Ethnocentrism
C) Parochialism
D) Cultural empathy

Question 24

Samuel,an HR manager working in Florida,had been sent to a foreign country for a project.During his stay there,he kept insisting to his host country colleagues that American companies had the best employees and HR practices.Which of the following culture barriers is being exemplified in this scenario?

A) Ethnocentrism
B) Xenophobia
C) Collectivism
D) Reverse culture shock

Question 25

A(n)_____ integrates the interests of the various cultures involved and seeks to ignore a person's nationality while accenting employee ability in selection,assignment,and promotional decisions.

A) polycentric organization
B) ethnocentric organization
C) geocentric organization
D) all of the above

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of cultures that emphasize individualism?

A) Very loosely knit social networks
B) High importance for face-saving
C) Considerable importance toward self-respect
D) Strong emphasis on personal rewards

Question 27

Which of the following social factors affect multinational operations?

A) Inability of an organization to employ local labor productively
B) Restrictions on employee layoffs
C) Subordination of employers to an authoritarian state
D) Rapid inflation

Question 28

Which of the following statements holds true for the community role of expatriate managers?

A) They should avoid establishing an image that they are callous to local culture or have desires to change it.
B) They face minimal risk of misinterpreting the community's value structure.
C) They need to realize that host nation's traditional practices are to be used exclusively.
D) All of the above.

Question 29

A major issue affecting multinational corporations has been how to deal with contrasting:

A) local mores.
B) local customs.
C) ethical behaviors.
D) all of the above.

Question 30

Cultures may vary along the dimensions of _____.

A) language
B) social structure
C) morals
D) all of the above

Question 31

_____ occurs when the employees in two or more cultures interact with each other on a regular basis.

A) Multiculturalism
B) Ethnocentrism
C) Bypassing
D) Stereotyping

Question 32

Different countries have different conditions of work because of differences in:

A) attitudes.
B) values.
C) expectations from participants.
D) all of the above.

Question 33

Which of the following concepts states that expatriate managers must learn to operate effectively in a new environment and must be flexible enough to respond to local conditions?

A) Ethnocentrism
B) Social loafing
C) Cultural contingency
D) Parochialism

Question 34

Face-saving is highly important in _____cultures.

A) collectivistic
B) individualistic
C) feminine
D) low power distance

Question 35

Masculine societies tend to:

A) have broader viewpoints on gender roles.
B) value achievement and the acquisition of wealth.
C) treasure relationships among people.
D) look for a greater balance between family and work life.

Question 36

Employees with high uncertainty avoidance characteristics:

A) prefer structure, stability, rules, and clarity.
B) define gender roles in more traditional and stereotypical ways.
C) give high importance to wealth acquisition.
D) all of the above.

Question 37

_____ refers to the belief that strong and legitimate decision-making rights separate managers and employees.

A) Power distance
B) Uncertainty avoidance
C) Parochialism
D) Ethnocentrism

Question 38

_____ occurs when people are predisposed to believe their homeland conditions are the best,and this thought interferes with their understanding of human behavior in other cultures and obtaining productivity from local employees.

A) Ethnocentrism
B) Parochialism
C) Cultural shock
D) Cultural distance

Question 39

_____ means people see the situation around them from their own perspective and fail to recognize key differences between their own and others' cultures.

A) Ethnocentrism
B) Parochialism
C) Cultural shock
D) Cultural distance

Question 40

Cultures that value the past and accent the present,with a rich respect for tradition and the need to fulfill historical social obligations are said to possess _____.

A) low power distance
B) low uncertainty avoidance
C) long-term orientation
D) short-term orientation

Question 41

Which of the following is the first phase of the reactions experienced by employees when they enter another nation?

A) Excitement and stimulation
B) Disillusionment
C) Insecurity and disorientation
D) Adaptation

Question 42

What is parochialism and how does it impact how the person views a new culture?

Question 43

Which of the following leadership styles is most universally acceptable and desired for adapting to a country's cultural values?

A) Transactional leadership
B) Participative leadership
C) Transformational leadership
D) Autocratic leadership

Question 44

_____ causes a manager to discount or reject an expatriate's international experiences.

A) Agoraphobia
B) Acrophobia
C) Monophobia
D) Xenophobia

Question 45

What is the definition of cultural distance?

Question 46

Describe the concept of uncertainty avoidance.

Question 47

How does inflation impact workers' lives?

Question 48

When an employee enters another nation,he/she experiences the most critical change in the _____ phase,which is caused by encountering all parts of a different culture.

A) excitement and stimulation
B) disillusionment
C) insecurity and disorientation
D) Adaptation

Question 49

Transcultural employees are:

A) typically required in companies operating in similar cultures.
B) highly susceptible to cultural shock.
C) low in ethnocentrism.
D) fluent in a single language.

Question 50

How are American workers protected from discrimination while working in a foreign US company?

Question 51

Cultural shock may result from encountering:

A) a loss of responsibility.
B) different management philosophies.
C) similar language and lifestyle patterns in the other organization
D) changes in one's level of status in the organization.

Question 52

Explain briefly the reactions experienced by employees entering another country.

Question 53

Why are transcultural employees needed?

Question 54

Write a brief note on high and low context cultures.

Question 55

Cognitive strategies related to cultural intelligence include gaining knowledge at the surface about _____.

A) food
B) attitudes
C) beliefs
D) values

Question 56

How does fluency in the host language contribute to cultural adaptation?

Question 57

Why is the community role of an expatriate manager important?

Question 58

Which of the following is an outcome of reverse cultural shock?

A) Difficulty in adjusting to new foods, styles of dress, and so on
B) Diminished responsibility after reentry
C) Increased decision-making authority
D) Difficulty in adjusting to an unfamiliar language

Question 59

In the context of the reactions experienced by employees when they enter another nation,in the _____ phase,employees respond constructively to their new surroundings at work and at home.

A) excitement and stimulation
B) disillusionment
C) insecurity and disorientation
D) adaptation

Question 60

High-context cultures place a high value on all of the following EXCEPT:

A) prioritizing business.
B) personal relations.
C) trust.
D) nonverbal cues.