Deck 17: International Management

Question 1

There is a number of orientations to international management that determine the degree to which the headquarters influences how the organisation operates. The orientation in which executives believe that successful home country practices should work elsewhere is called geocentric.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Trade controls such as tariffs and import quotas are usually considered to be part of the legal-political element of a country's general environment:

Answer 2

True

Question 3

As related to Geert Hofstede's large international study for IBM on the impact of cultural differences on individuals, we would expect the situation of high uncertainty avoidance when organisations in a country generally have fewer written rules and regulations and generalists rather than specialists are encouraged.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

While globalisation and the emergence of multinationals leads to a convergence of cultural values, John Ralston Saul (2004) suggests that a key backlash appears to be the emergence of political uncertainty and risk.

Question 5

Four appropriate strategy options for company international expansion are worldwide integration, national responsiveness, regional responsiveness and multifocal emphasis.

Question 6

One approach to staffing key managerial positions in overseas operations is the regional option, which emphasises filling key positions with host-country nationals.

Question 7

If you checked all of the subsidiaries of an MNC, which uses the national responsiveness strategy, you would expect to find the subsidiaries operating virtually as national firms.

Question 8

International management is:

A) planning, organising, leading and controlling in international businesses.
B) planning and coordinating international businesses.
C) leading international businesses.
D) planning, organising and controlling international businesses.

Question 9

In order to be classified as a multinational corporation (MNC), a company will be engaged in production or service activities through affiliates in other countries, maintain control over their policies and:

A) have a minimum of $200 million in sales.
B) manage from a global perspective.
C) maintain a polycentric orientation approach to staffing decisions.
D) refuse to hire expatriates.

Question 10

In 2007, the largest multinational manufacturing company in the world was:

A) Wal-Mart stores.
B) Royal Dutch/Shell Group.
C) Ford Motor.
D) Exxon.

Question 11

When executives believe that a host country should be staffed by local individuals, the orientation used is:

A) geocentric.
B) polycentric.
C) multifocal.
D) ethnocentric.

Question 12

A company is likely to have adopted a regiocentric orientation to international management when:

A) a global view is adopted by both headquarters and affiliates.
B) regional headquarters co-ordinate efforts among local subsidiaries in the region.
C) parts of the company located in a host country are staffed by locals.
D) none of the given answers.

Question 13

The set of environmental factors typically encountered in managing an international organisation relative to those encountered in managing a strictly domestic operation, is:

A) much more predictable.
B) more limited.
C) much broader.
D) indefinable.

Question 14

The level of economic development in various countries, the presence of adequate infrastructures and the countries' balance of payments refer to the _______________ factors that influence a company's ability to operate internationally.

A) legal-political
B) sociocultural
C) technological
D) economic

Question 15

Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea are among a group of countries that have become major exporters of manufactured goods. These countries are referred to as:

A) developed countries (DC).
B) less-developed countries (LDC).
C) newly industrialised countries (NIC).
D) new world countries (NWC).

Question 16

If an international organisation is concerned about a country's infrastructure, it is concerned about the country's:

A) balance of trade.
B) exchange rate.
C) political situation.
D) highways, airports, schools and water works.

Question 17

The account of goods and services, capital loans, gold and other items entering and leaving the country is referred to as the:

A) exchange rate.
B) balance of payments.
C) balance of trade.
D) infrastructure.

Question 18

Expropriation refers to:

A) the seizure of a host country's assets by a foreign company.
B) misappropriation of foreign assets.
C) the seizure of a foreign company's assets by a host-country's government.
D) the difference between a host-country's imports and exports.

Question 19

The most common form of trade barrier used by countries to protect their own domestically produced goods is:

A) an import quota.
B) a buy-national policy.
C) a tariff.
D) an administrative protection such as quarantines and complex custom regulations.

Question 20

Laws which require that citizens of a host country hold a majority interest in all firms operating within the country's borders are called:

A) native titles laws.
B) indigenisation laws.
C) administrative protection laws.
D) internationalisation laws.

Question 21

Geert Hofstede analysed societies along five cultural dimensions. Four cultural dimensions are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism-collectivism and:

A) cultural-religious orientation.
B) achievement-nurturing orientation.
C) long-term-median-term orientation.
D) internalism-externalism-domestic-international orientation.

Question 22

In a society where there is a nurturing orientation, one would expect to find greater emphasis on:

A) recognition and growth.
B) working conditions and security.
C) challenge and intuitive decision making.
D) assertiveness and cooperation.

Question 23

Porter defines the 'competitive advantage of nations' as:

A) the presence of a large base of natural resources within a country.
B) the degree of a country's receptiveness to technological transfer.
C) the concept that environmental elements within a country can foster innovation in certain industries.
D) all of the given answers

Question 24

Porter identifies four national attributes that alone and together set the diamond of national advantage. These are factor conditions, related and supporting industries, firm strategy, structure and rivalry and
_________________.

A) supply conditions
B) demand conditions
C) economic conditions
D) innovation and cost effectiveness

Question 25

A company has a variety of methods it might choose for entering into business competition in a foreign country. The text indicates that a relatively low-risk choice for a manufacturing company is:

A) establishing a joint venture.
B) exporting.
C) licensing.
D) operating wholly owned subsidiaries.

Question 26

When a company tries to deter competition by selling through foreign sales representatives who are locals, it is likely that the company is addressing one of the disadvantages associated with:

A) licensing
B) strategic alliances
C) exporting
D) subsidiaries

Question 27

Which of the following strategies for entering international markets results in two or more companies agreeing to work together, with each of the companies owning part of the new enterprise?

A) Integration strategy
B) Partially owned subsidiary
C) Joint venture
D) Export-import strategy

Question 28

Disadvantages associated with strategic alliance are:

A) keeping up with technology and/or disagreements among partners.
B) losses when the venture fails and/or expropriation.
C) higher risks for introducing new products and/or lack of local knowledge.
D) all of the given answers.

Question 29

Globalisation is based on the idea of products used around the globe with:

A) moderate specification change.
B) little specification change.
C) no specification change.
D) major specification change.

Question 30

Permitting subsidiaries to adapt product and services to suit their needs reflects the ______________
Approach to international business strategy:

A) globalisation
B) national responsiveness
C) rationalisation
D) multifocal emphasis

Question 31

The multifocal emphasis approach to international business strategy would best be described as:

A) having as many unique product lines as profitable in each of the countries in which the company operates.
B) emphasising efficiency in the distribution, transportation and warehousing aspects of the company's widely flung operations.
C) allowing each subsidiary to operate as an independent facility with its own set of strategies.
D) combining worldwide integration on the one hand with maintaining responsiveness to important
National needs on the other.

Question 32

Bartol indicates that MNCs using the _______________ approach to international strategy are usually considered difficult to manage.

A) worldwide integration
B) Porter diamond innovation
C) multifocal emphasis
D) national responsiveness

Question 33

A structure where top level executives have world-wide responsibility for such areas as marketing, manufacturing and finance is known as:

A) international divisions.
B) worldwide product divisions.
C) the global matrix.
D) worldwide functional divisions.

Question 34

One form of organisation structure for MNCs tends to put particular emphasis on the coordination of product-related decisions at the parent company level. This form of organisation structure is referred to as:

A) worldwide functional divisions.
B) worldwide product divisions.
C) international divisions.
D) geographic regions.

Question 35

The organisation structure which would be appropriate for an MNC whose products are technologically complex, highly diverse or subject to rapid change and whose international strategy is one of worldwide integration is:

A) the global matrix.
B) geographic divisions.
C) the Alpert pyramid.
D) worldwide product divisions.

Question 36

The organisation structure for international businesses which feature a separate division to which all foreign subsidiaries report is called:

A) the global matrix.
B) the international division.
C) worldwide product divisions.
D) the Gottried geographic parallel model.

Question 37

Robock & Simmonds (1998) discovered that the ___________________ is the most prevalent form of organisation structure among MNCs.

A) worldwide product division
B) worldwide functional division
C) international division
D) global matrix

Question 38

In an MNC, if your title is 'Vice President of Middle Eastern Division', most likely your company uses the ______________ form of organisation structure.

A) worldwide product division
B) global matrix
C) geographic regions
D) international division

Question 39

The rather complicated form of organisation structure sometimes used by MNCs which splits authority and responsibility between the geographic regions and either the product or the function (or sometimes both) is called the _______________ form of structure.

A) international division
B) geographic regions
C) global matrix
D) Porter pyramid

Question 40

One approach to managerial positions in overseas operations, the _______________, emphasises the need for each subsidiary to have a manager who is well-versed in the policies and procedures of the overall multinational company.

A) local option
B) parent company option
C) international personnel option
D) expatriate-block option

Question 41

Individuals who are not citizens of the country in which they work and reside are called:

A) expatriates.
B) repatriates.
C) immigrants.
D) global entrepreneurs.

Question 42

Bartol indicates that the rate of failure among expatriate managers is relatively high. To counter the difficulties these foreign managers face in working in different countries, Bartol suggests that companies look more closely at the _____________ of prospective candidates for these positions.

A) technical skills
B) organisational skills
C) relational skills
D) conceptual skills

Question 43

Generally, expatriates' foreign assignments are two to three years, however they now tend to be much shorter to minimise problems associated with relocation. Which of the following is not one of the major reasons for their return?

A) The end of the agreed-upon foreign assignment.
B) The desire for children's further education to be in home-country schools.
C) Difficulty in finding suitable accommodation.
D) Ineffectiveness in the foreign assignment.

Question 44

Cultural differences play important roles in determining which leadership styles might be more successful in a particular country. A highly participative democratic style of leadership, for example, would be more likely to succeed in a country with:

A) low power distance.
B) high power distance.
C) high individualism.
D) medium power distance.

Question 45

According to Skinner (1964), there are four intermeshing systems of the mega-environment which impinge upon managers at work. They are the technical, political, economic and________ systems.

A) religious
B) cultural
C) scientific
D) fiscal

Question 46

Increasingly there are more Maori management positions and it is inevitable that Maori traditional management practices and Western practices will clash. Victoria University of Wellington identified five areas of management as having the greatest potential for conflict. Which of the following is not one of them?

A) The attitudes of government.
B) The way in which managers from the differing cultures make decisions.
C) The use of specific communication channels.
D) The importance of meeting and greeting visitors and clients.

Question 47

What forces have made globalisation and international management irreversible?

Question 48

What is a multi-national corporation and four management orientations that might be relevant to it?

Question 49

What are the four main elements and issues for assessing the international environment?

Question 50

How is the concept of competitive advantage linked to innovation?

Question 51

How does an organisation gain entry into the international business arena?

Question 52

What are the four major strategies for multinational corporations and how can they be contrasted?

Question 53

What are the six major structure types used by managers in international business?

Question 54

How is a networked structure different from the other five structure types?

Question 55

What issues affect personnel working in a cross-cultural setting?

Question 56

What are the major social responsibility and ethics issues related to international management?