Deck 19: Global Human Resource Management

Question 1

An organization's norms and value systems are known as its corporate culture.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A geocentric staffing policy seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization,regardless of nationality.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

An ethnocentric approach is compatible with both global standardization and transnational strategies.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A firm with an ethnocentric staffing policy will fill all key management positions with parent-country nationals.

Question 5

In the case of an ethnocentric approach,it is possible that managers may make decisions that are ethically suspect because they do not understand the culture in which they are managing.

Question 6

A seminal study,R.L.Tung,revealed that for European firms,the top reason for expatriate failure was the inability of the manager to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.

Question 7

Many firms adopt a geocentric policy toward staffing because it is a relatively inexpensive staffing policy.

Question 8

The most attractive staffing policy is the ethnocentric approach.

Question 9

A firm that adopts a polycentric approach to staffing is likely to suffer from cultural myopia.

Question 10

An expatriate manager is a citizen of one country who is working abroad in one of the firm's subsidiaries.

Question 11

A citizen of Japan who moves to the United States to work at Microsoft would be classified as an inpatriate.

Question 12

HRM professionals have a critically important strategic role.

Question 13

Cultural myopia refers to a firm's failure to understand host-country cultural differences that require different approaches to marketing and management.

Question 14

The ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do is perceptual ability.

Question 15

A firm following a polycentric approach to staffing believes that the host country lacks qualified individuals to manage subsidiaries.

Question 16

An expatriate needs to have language fluency to show willingness to communicate.

Question 17

An executive who performs well in a domestic setting may not be able to adapt to managing in a different cultural setting.

Question 18

Firms may choose an ethnocentric approach to staffing as opposed to a polycentric approach because of the cost savings it promotes.

Question 19

Expatriate failure refers to a manager's failure to understand host-country cultural norms and values,leading to ineffective work.

Question 20

A geocentric approach tends to weaken local responsiveness.

Question 21

Firms pursuing a transnational strategy increasingly are using management development as a strategic tool.

Question 22

According to Mendenhall and Oddou,poorly-adjusted expatriates tend to be nonjudgmental and nonevaluative in interpreting the behavior of host-country nationals.

Question 23

Cultural toughness refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.

Question 24

A firm's performance appraisal systems are an important element of its control systems.

Question 25

Historically,most international businesses have been more concerned with training than with management development.

Question 26

Bringing managers together in one location for extended periods and rotating them through different jobs in several countries helps the firm build a formal management network.

Question 27

A manager might be sent on several foreign postings over a number of years to build his/her cross-cultural sensitivity and experience as part of a management development program.

Question 28

Where an expatriate community exists,firms often devote lesser effort to ensuring that the new expatriate family is quickly integrated into that group.

Question 29

If a firm is serious about building an international cadre,it may have to pay its international executives the same basic salary irrespective of their country of origin or assignment.

Question 30

English is considered the language of world business.

Question 31

Base pay in most firms is set with regard to global market conditions.

Question 32

Expatriate managers who have perceptual ability tend to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-country nationals.

Question 33

In ethnocentric firms,the lack of managers' mobility among national operations implies that pay can and should be kept country-specific.

Question 34

Most expatriates believe that more weight should be given to an on-site manager's appraisal than to an off-site manager's appraisal.

Question 35

An expatriate's base salary normally varies from the base salary for a similar position in the home country.

Question 36

From a strategic perspective,the key issue in international labor relations is the degree to which organized labor can limit the choices of an international business.

Question 37

Labor unions generally prefer it if an international business keeps highly skilled tasks in its home country and farms out only low-skilled tasks to foreign plants.

Question 38

Unintentional bias makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of expatriate managers objectively.

Question 39

When a reciprocal tax treaty is in force,the firm typically pays the expatriate's income tax in the host country.

Question 40

The international trade secretariats have had tremendous success.

Question 41

An ethnocentric approach to staffing is appropriate for firms that are pursuing a(n):

A) localization strategy.
B) international strategy.
C) global standardization strategy.
D) transnational strategy.

Question 42

A citizen of France who moves to the U.S.to work at Ford is a(n):

A) host-country national.
B) local.
C) inpatriate.
D) acquired citizen.

Question 43

Which of the following is a drawback of the polycentric approach to staffing?

A) Firms are likely to suffer from cultural myopia.
B) Host-country nationals are vulnerable to cultural misunderstandings.
C) This approach increases the cost of value creation.
D) Host-country nationals have limited opportunities for advancement beyond senior positions in their subsidiary.

Question 44

Cultural myopia refers to a firm's failure to:

A) adapt to certain ethnocentric cultures.
B) act confidently in host-countries.
C) understand host-country cultural differences.
D) prevent gender discrimination within the firm

Question 45

A polycentric approach may be effective for firms pursuing a(n):

A) international strategy.
B) localization strategy.
C) transnational strategy.
D) global standardization strategy.

Question 46

In a seminal study,R.L.Tung found that for Japanese multinationals,the biggest impediment to expatriate success was:

A) the inability of the spouse to adjust.
B) inadequate compensation.
C) the manager's inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.
D) the lack of adequate technical training.

Question 47

What is the most important advantage of using a geocentric staffing policy?

A) It enables the firm to build a cadre of international executives who feel at home working in a number of cultures.
B) It may be less expensive to implement than other policies,reducing the costs of value creation.
C) The higher pay managers on an international fast track enjoy is a source of inspiration within a firm.
D) It reduces the need for futile and time consuming documentation.

Question 48

In a seminal study,R.L.Tung found that for American multinationals,the biggest impediment to expatriate success was:

A) the inability of the spouse to adjust.
B) the manager's inability to adjust.
C) the manager's inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.
D) the lack of adequate technical training.

Question 49

Which dimension of Mendenhall and Oddou's study suggests that an expatriate with high self-esteem,self-confidence,and mental well-being is likely to succeed in a foreign job posing?

A) Self-orientation
B) Others-orientation
C) Cultural toughness
D) Perceptual ability

Question 50

A Japanese firm prefers expatriate Japanese managers to head its foreign operations because these managers have been socialized into the firm while employed in Japan.This indicates that the firm:

A) believes that such managers cannot progress beyond middle-manager positions in their parent company.
B) follows an ethnocentric staffing policy to maintain a unified corporate culture.
C) is trying to create value by transferring core competencies to a foreign operation.
D) requires host-country nationals to be recruited to manage subsidiaries.

Question 51

Expatriate failure refers to:

A) expatriates who follow host-country norms instead of their home-country norms.
B) the inability of expatriate managers to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-country nationals.
C) the premature return of an expatriate manager to his or her home-country.
D) the ethical drawbacks of the ethnocentric staffing approach.

Question 52

A(n)_____ seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization,regardless of nationality.

A) polycentric staffing policy
B) ethnocentric staffing policy
C) geocentric staffing policy
D) uniform staffing policy

Question 53

Which of the following is mainly concerned with the selection of employees for particular jobs?

A) Retention policy
B) Staffing policy
C) Incentive policy
D) Appraisal policy

Question 54

If a company recruits host-country nationals to manage subsidiaries while parent-country nationals occupy key positions at corporate headquarters,the firm is following a(n):

A) polycentric staffing policy
B) ethnocentric staffing policy
C) geocentric staffing policy
D) internal staffing policy

Question 55

Which of the following staffing approaches will be most effective for a firm that is pursuing a transnational strategy?

A) A polycentric staffing policy
B) An ethnocentric staffing policy
C) A geocentric staffing policy
D) An internal staffing policy

Question 56

An ethnocentric staffing policy is one in which:

A) all key management positions are filled by host-country nationals.
B) host-country nationals are recruited to manage subsidiaries.
C) all key management positions are filled by parent-country nationals.
D) the best people are recruited for key jobs throughout the organization,regardless of nationality.

Question 57

A geocentric staffing policy _____.

A) requires host-country nationals to be recruited to manage subsidiaries,while parent-country nationals occupy key positions at corporate headquarters
B) leads to ineffective use of human resources
C) requires extensive documentation
D) is compatible with both international and localization strategy.

Question 58

Mendenhall and Oddou's "others-orientation" dimension,in their study on what predicts success in foreign jobs postings,refers to:

A) the expatriate's self-esteem,self-confidence,and mental well-being.
B) the expatriate's ability to interact effectively with host-country nationals.
C) the expatriate's ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do.
D) the relationship between the country of the assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.

Question 59

What is the difference between an ethnocentric and a polycentric staffing approach?

A) An ethnocentric staffing approach alleviates cultural myopia,while a polycentric staffing approach can lead to cultural myopia.
B) An ethnocentric staffing approach is more expensive compared to a polycentric staffing approach.
C) An ethnocentric staffing approach seeks host-country nationals for all key positions,while a polycentric staffing approach seeks the best people for key jobs regardless of nationality.
D) An ethnocentric staffing approach is now used in most international businesses,while the polycentric staffing approach is on the wane.

Question 60

A firm using a polycentric staffing policy:

A) is less likely to suffer from cultural myopia.
B) seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization,regardless of nationality.
C) will most likely follow an ethnocentric strategy.
D) is likely to have improved communication between host-country managers and parent-country managers.

Question 61

A foreign service premium is:

A) paid when the expatriate is being sent to a difficult location.
B) the extra pay that an expatriate receives for working outside his or her country of origin.
C) normally given to ensure that the expatriate can afford the same quality of housing in the foreign country as at home.
D) paid to ensure that the expatriate enjoys the same standard of living in the foreign posting as at home.

Question 62

Which of the following is NOT an action taken by organized labor to respond to the increased bargaining power of multinational corporations?

A) Trying to establish international labor organizations
B) Increasing competition between national unions
C) Lobbying for national legislation to restrict multinationals
D) Trying to achieve international regulations on multinationals through such organizations as the United Nations

Question 63

_____ is the ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do.

A) Others-orientation
B) Cultural myopia
C) Perceptual ability
D) Cultural toughness

Question 64

What is the long-term goal of international trade secretariats (ITSs)?

A) To increase the competition between national unions
B) To be able to bargain transnationally with multinational firms
C) To accommodate wide variation in union structure
D) To be able to regulate multinationals with regard to labor policies

Question 65

What are the four strategies pursued by international companies,and what is the role of HRM in these?

Question 66

Which of the following issues was not addressed by Mendenhall and Oddou's study?

A) Expatriate failure due to a spouse's inability to adjust.
B) Expatriate failure due to a manager's lack of self-esteem.
C) Expatriate failure due to lack of relationship development.
D) Expatriate failure due to a manager's inability to empathize.

Question 67

_____ makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of expatriate managers objectively.

A) Cultural relativism
B) Internal documentation
C) Unintentional bias
D) Others-orientation

Question 68

The international trade secretariats (ITS)have had virtually no real success.Which of the following is NOT a cause of the ITS's ineffectiveness?

A) National unions compete with each other to attract investment from international businesses.
B) The structure and ideology of unions tend to vary significantly from country to country.
C) Organized labor has had only limited success in its efforts to get national and international bodies to regulate multinationals.
D) The codes of conduct developed by International Labor Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development prevented the ITSs from exercising absolute power.

Question 69

Which among the following should be done in order to reduce bias in the performance appraisal process for expatriates?

A) More weight should be given to an off-site manager's appraisal than to an on-site manager's appraisal.
B) The on-site manager should be of a different nationality as the expatriate manager.
C) Home-office managers should be consulted before an on-site manager completes a formal termination evaluation.
D) A former expatriate who served in the same location as a current expatriate should not be allowed to participate in the appraisal.

Question 70

What is human resource management? Why is HRM an important strategic component?

Question 71

Mendenhall and Oddou identified cultural toughness as one of the dimensions in their study on dimensions that predict success in foreign jobs postings.This dimension refers to the:

A) expatriate's self-esteem,self-confidence,and mental well-being.
B) expatriate's ability to interact effectively with host-country nationals.
C) expatriate's ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do.
D) relationship between the country of the assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.

Question 72

When evaluating expatriates,home-country managers usually rely on:

A) the manager's ability to develop cross-cultural awareness.
B) hard data such as market share.
C) the ability of the expatriate to work with local managers.
D) a set of subjective criteria such as interpersonal skills

Question 73

A hardship allowance is paid:

A) when the expatriate is being sent to a location where such basic amenities are grossly deficient by the standards of the expatriate's home country.
B) to ensure that an expatriate's children receive adequate schooling (by home-country standards).
C) to ensure that the expatriate will enjoy the same standard of living in the foreign posting as at home.
D) to ensure that the expatriate can afford the same quality of housing in the foreign country as at home.

Question 74

Which of the following is true regarding approaches to labor relations?

A) International businesses use mostly similar approaches to international labor relations.
B) The trend is toward greater decentralized control of international labor relations.
C) Historically,most international businesses have centralized the labor relations function.
D) Many firms are now using the threat to move production to another country in their negotiations with unions.

Question 75

Bringing managers together in one location for extended periods and rotating them through different jobs in several countries is a part of:

A) the ethnocentric approach.
B) the global standardization strategy.
C) cultural toughness programs.
D) management development programs.

Question 76

Which of the following statements is true regarding management development?

A) Historically,most international businesses have been more concerned with management development than with training.
B) Management development facilitates the creation of an informal network for sharing knowledge within the multinational enterprise.
C) Management development refers to specific training efforts to prepare home-country nationals for foreign postings.
D) Typically,management development programs use standard psychological tests to select managers for specific foreign postings.

Question 77

Practical training is:

A) provided to foster an appreciation for the host country's culture.
B) aimed at helping expatriates improve their communication skills.
C) aimed at helping expatriate managers to build relationships in the host-country.
D) aimed at helping the expatriate manager and family ease themselves into day-to-day life in the host country.

Question 78

Which of the following is a concern of organized labor regarding multinational firms?

A) A company can counter a union's bargaining power with the power to move production to another country.
B) An international business will keep low-skilled tasks in its home country and farm out only highly skilled tasks to foreign plants.
C) An international business can attempt to import employment practices and contractual agreements from its host-country.
D) A multinational company is more likely to receive government support in the case of hostile labor relations.

Question 79

Which of the following is the most common approach to expatriate pay?

A) Balance sheet approach
B) Net-to-net approach
C) Host-country approach
D) Cost-based approach

Question 80

Management development programs aims to:

A) facilitate an ethnocentric approach to staffing.
B) reduce job rotations of managers.
C) build a formal management network.
D) build a unifying corporate culture.