Deck 15: International Human Resources Management

Question 1

Cultural environments differ across the world. What does this imply for business firms?

A) Canadian corporations have an advantage over firms from other nations.
B) The culture must adapt to the goods and services offered by transnational corporations.
C) Their management styles must remain consistent.
D) Strategies, structures, and management styles that work in one area of the world may be inappropriate in another.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

While GH Motors is located in Canada, it has allowed management in all of international operations to make independent decisions on how they conduct business in their different environments. How would you classify GH Motors?

A) as a global corporation
B) as an international corporation
C) as a transnational corporation
D) as a multinational corporation

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is the source of overseas employees that provides the advantages of less cost and greater facility in the language?

A) home-country nationals
B) expatriates
C) third-country nationals
D) host-country nationals

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following organizations is pursuing a transnational strategy?

A) a car company developing a "world" car to gain scale economies
B) a brewery trying to achieve scale economies while simultaneously customizing its taste and marketing efforts for local markets
C) a company producing customized fashions for multiple regions of the world
D) a steel company trying to simultaneously gain scale economies and increase the quality of its products

Question 5

Anna works as a compensation manager for IDL Inc., a multinational firm located in British Columbia. She has been posted to Hong Kong on an assignment. What type of employee is Anna?

A) a host-country national
B) an expatriate
C) an international manager
D) a third-country national

Question 6

According to your text, which of the following is NOT a core skill that is critical for success abroad?

A) prudent decision-making skills
B) mental maturity
C) cultural sensitivity
D) strategic thinking

Question 7

When a Canadian multinational corporation hires an employee from Australia to work in its office in Sydney, this employee referred to as which of the following?

A) an expatriate
B) a host-country national
C) a third-country national
D) an international manager

Question 8

General Motors, headquartered in the United States, has operations in many parts of the world. Jimmy Lee, an IT manager from its Canadian operations, has been posted to India to oversee a start-up operation. What type of employee is Jimmy?

A) a host-country national
B) an Indian national
C) a third-country national
D) a home country national

Question 9

Many nannies come to Canada to work for a period of time. What is the name of the document issued by the government granting authority to these nannies to seek employment in Canada?

A) a work permit
B) a passport
C) an allowance permit
D) a birth certificate

Question 10

Which of the following is the major reason for failure among expatriates?

A) inability to cope with larger responsibilities
B) a manager's personality
C) a spouse's inability to adapt
D) distaste for travel

Question 11

MAGNA is a Canadian firm located in Ontario. In this instance, what does Canada represent?

A) the adaptive country
B) the host country
C) the resource country
D) the receptive country

Question 12

Deccan Hardware Company, a Canadian firm, is now establishing a subsidiary in Mexico. As with many organizations at the early stages of international expansion, what type of employees would Deccan most likely use?

A) third-country nationals
B) host-country nationals
C) home-country nationals
D) expatriates

Question 13

Rand Computers is a mid-sized firm located in Toronto. As a result of personal connections, Rand Computers has started a division in Buffalo, New York. What type of corporation is Rand Computers?

A) a multinational corporation
B) a global corporation
C) an international corporation
D) a transnational corporation

Question 14

ABM is an international firm with headquarters in the United States. Its operations in other parts of the world are fully autonomous. What type of firm is ABM?

A) a multinational corporation
B) an international corporation
C) a transnational corporation
D) a global enterprise

Question 15

Which of the following is an attribute of an effective global HR information system?

A) It can be adapted for cultural training.
B) It must meet challenges of administrative and cultural issues.
C) It should be established according to home country standards.
D) It should reproduce labour agreements for each country in which the company operates.

Question 16

Which of the following is the main purpose of free trade agreements, such as NAFTA?

A) to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people across borders
B) to help fight terrorism
C) to help the United Nations with its work
D) to increase tourism

Question 17

Cultural environment includes all of the following components EXCEPT which one?

A) education/human capital
B) religious beliefs
C) corporate structure
D) values and ideologies

Question 18

Some Japanese firms, such as Matsushita and NEC, tend to operate as domestic firms but see the whole world domestically-that is, as their market. What type of firms are these?

A) transnational firms
B) multinational firms
C) global firms
D) international firms

Question 19

Think about a spider's web with the spider in the middle. In this scenario, the spider controls the web from the centre. What type of corporation does this web resemble the most?

A) an international corporation
B) a multinational corporation
C) a global corporation
D) a transnational corporation

Question 20

If Canadian company Bombardier transferred Karl Hammer, a native German, away from his assignment in Bonn, Germany, to a new assignment in Paris, France, Karl would then be considered which of the following?

A) a host-country national
B) a home-host-country national
C) a third-country national
D) a home-country national

Question 21

Which of the following is most likely to happen when companies fail to use the knowledge, skills, and understanding that expatriate managers acquire in international assignments?

A) Language training is viewed as unnecessary.
B) The expatriates often take lower-level jobs upon return or leave the company.
C) Repatriation is no longer recommended.
D) Home-country nationals are used more often in favour of expatriates.

Question 22

If you were concerned about maximizing your career benefits with a foreign assignment, which of the following questions would be the most important to ask?

A) Will the assignment afford me the opportunity to learn a new language?
B) How long will the assignment last?
C) How much will the assignment increase my salary?
D) How many executives within my organization have a foreign-service assignment in their background?

Question 23

When comparing European countries such as Norway and Denmark with North America, which of the following trends is evident in terms of compensation systems?

A) There are higher wages but lower benefits in North America.
B) There are lower wages and better benefits in North America.
C) There are higher wages and benefits in Europe.
D) There are higher wages and benefits in North America.

Question 24

IAM Inc. has operations in many countries. Recently, it used staff from four of these countries to work on a project. What type of team would this be?

A) a transnational team
B) a global team
C) an integrated team
D) a borderless team

Question 25

In some countries, such as India, profit sharing is mandated by law. Thus, companies have to distribute some of their profits to the employees. Which of the following is the key reason for this requirement?

A) These countries are corrupt, and thus they require foreign firms to bribe the workers.
B) This is a requirement for all new foreign investments, as mandated by the United Nations.
C) It is done to punish these companies for colonialism.
D) It allows for a redistribution of wealth at the firm level.

Question 26

Which of the following is the key purpose of repatriation?

A) to train expatriates prior to their first international assignment
B) to help employees make the transition back home
C) to adapt leadership and decision-making styles to the host country
D) to reduce communication errors in foreign assignments

Question 27

Compared to North American managers, European managers-especially those in France, Germany, and Italy-tend use which of the following decision-making styles?

A) a more autocratic style
B) about the same style
C) a more participatory style
D) a solitary style

Question 28

In collectivist societies such as Japan and Taiwan, which of the following is a key focus of the pay system?

A) internal equity and personal needs
B) nonfinancial incentives
C) weekly or monthly salary guarantees
D) individual performance

Question 29

Compared to Canadian managers, Japanese managers tend to use which of the following decision-making styles in the workplace?

A) a more autocratic style
B) a more participatory style
C) a more decentralized style
D) about the same style

Question 30

According to cross-cultural studies, nations tend to cluster according to similarities in all of the following cultural dimensions EXCEPT which one?

A) work goals
B) values
C) laws
D) job attitudes

Question 31

Which of the following is associated with cultural conditioning?

A) It does not include the formal education or training a person receives.
B) It influences the attitudes, behaviours, and reactions of both workers and their managers.
C) It has little impact on international HRM.
D) It helps people react positively to tastes and behaviours similar to their own.

Question 32

Heineken recently organized a group of individuals with specialized skills representing each major region within Europe. This group an example of which of the following?

A) a transfunctional team
B) a multinational team
C) a multicultural team
D) a transnational team

Question 33

If you were developing a performance appraisal system for individuals on international assignments, it would be best to base individuals' appraisals on information from which of the following?

A) home-country evaluations
B) peer evaluations
C) both home- and host-country evaluations
D) host-country evaluations

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT one of the attributes of successful global managers that Levi Strauss identified?

A) ability to seize strategic opportunities
B) sensitivity to issues of diversity
C) interpersonal competency
D) capability to manage a highly centralized organization

Question 35

In designing compensation systems, what does the philosophy of "thinking globally and acting locally" mean?

A) Expatriates should be rewarded primarily for their local actions.
B) Pay plans should be originated at the local level but global organizational issues should be considered in pay plan development.
C) Expatriates should be rewarded for their local actions as well as their performance that impacts the entire organization.
D) Pay plans should be designed to support the overall strategic intent of the organization and also provide enough flexibility to customize certain policies to meet the needs of employees in specific locations.

Question 36

Which of the following is a recent trend in expatriate assignments?

A) shorter, project-based assignments
B) more long-term assignments
C) increased heading of operations in foreign countries
D) permanent, full-time placements

Question 37

Individuals working internationally need to know as much as possible about all of the following host-country characteristics EXCEPT which one?

A) social and business etiquette
B) political structure
C) cultural values and priorities
D) popular fashion trends

Question 38

Which of the following is one of the most common problems that occur with performance appraisals of international assignees?

A) criterion estimation
B) criterion deficiency
C) criterion contamination
D) lack of validity

Question 39

Which of the following factors is NOT a reason why firms may want to use host-country nationals?

A) They are mobile.
B) They are preferred by host-country governments.
C) They are less costly.
D) They have knowledge of the culture.

Question 40

Which of the following best describes transnational teams?

A) They tend to be focused on projects that span multiple countries.
B) They tend to be homogenous.
C) They are usually comprised of members with generalized skills.
D) They are usually comprised of members from the same region.

Question 41

A multinational corporation is essentially a domestic firm that builds on its existing capabilities to penetrate overseas markets.

Question 42

International HRM is virtually identical to domestic HRM.

Question 43

A very high level of worker participation in management is found in Germany, where national law requires that labour be part of the boards of directors of companies. What is this participative arrangement called?

A) codetermination
B) worker councils
C) German unionization
D) the shop steward movement

Question 44

The European Union (EU) was established to facilitate free trade with North America.

Question 45

In using the balance-sheet approach to compensating expatriate managers, the term "incentive premiums" refers to which of the following concepts?

A) compensating the managers for separation from family and friends
B) offsetting the higher costs of overseas goods and services
C) paying essentially the same as home-country counterparts are paid in similar jobs
D) covering moving, storage, and educational expenses

Question 46

Which of the following best describes the difference between labour relations in Canada and those in Europe?

A) In some European countries, government intervenes in all aspects of collective bargaining.
B) Salaried employees, including managerial employees, have a greater tendency to be unionized in Europe.
C) Unions in Canada have more political power than in most European countries.
D) European unions typically negotiate the agreement at the national rather than the local level.

Question 47

In the future, companies will probably employ more internal consultants to coordinate international HR activities.

Question 48

The host country is the country in which an international business operates.

Question 49

The International Labour Organization has set itself a new agenda-called the "Decent Work Agenda." Which of the following is the main purpose behind this move?

A) to illustrate the decency embedded in international organizations
B) to stop itself from becoming irrelevant
C) to chart laws for international firms
D) to highlight the ethical dimension of work

Question 50

Canadian companies have been conducting business on an international basis longer than anyone else.

Question 51

Subsidiaries of multinational corporations are usually run as independent companies.

Question 52

A Canadian firm with fully autonomous operating units in Korea, Spain, and Sweden would be classified as a multinational corporation.

Question 53

Production manager Jim McIntyre has been successful in his Canadian assignment using a participative management style. If he uses this same style in some other countries, he may be regarded as an incompetent manager.

Question 54

A global corporation has fully autonomous units operating in multiple countries.

Question 55

NAFTA has spurred job growth in all three member countries.

Question 56

Which of the following is the key purpose of the balance-sheet approach to compensating expatriate managers?

A) to enhance the skills of the expatriate
B) to ensure that the expatriate does not lose financially in his or her international assignment
C) to balance the social costs of the assignment
D) to ensure that there is work-life balance

Question 57

Which of the following is a current trend among multinational corporations when setting compensation levels for host-country managers?

A) paying the host-country managers considerably more than the expatriate managers
B) widening the salary gap between the host-country and the expatriate managers
C) paying only according to the local salary levels
D) narrowing the salary gap between the host-country and the expatriate managers

Question 58

There are several ways in which expatriates can be compensated for their services. At one end, their pay can be based on their earnings in the home country. Which of the following is at the other end of expatriate pay?

A) host-based pay
B) skill-based pay
C) balance-sheet pay
D) third-country-based pay

Question 59

Different cultural environments require different organizational behaviours.

Question 60

The internationalization of HRM has grown at a faster pace than the internationalization of Canadian corporations.

Question 61

English is almost universally accepted as the language for international business.

Question 62

In general, it is typically better to hire host-country nationals when operating abroad because it is less expensive, it pleases the local government, and it eliminates the problem of employees adjusting to the culture.

Question 63

The first step in selecting expatriates should be self-selection, where employees who volunteer to go abroad are given the chance to do so.

Question 64

Expressions such as "tabling a subject" and "it is inconvenient" may have meanings in other cultures that are very different from their North American meanings.

Question 65

One of the biggest causes of expatriate failure is a spouse's inability to adjust to his or her new surroundings.

Question 66

At early stages of international expansion, many organizations prefer to use host-country nationals.

Question 67

Learning how people think and act in their relations with others is a part of cultural training that prepares employees for working internationally.

Question 68

A work permit or work certificate allows a foreign individual to seek employment in another country.

Question 69

Women expatriates are thought to succeed in part because they are visible and distinctive.

Question 70

The failure of expatriate assignments is usually due to technical or managerial concerns.

Question 71

Global managers must be capable of managing highly decentralized organizations.

Question 72

One reason to employ host-country nationals is that local governments want good jobs for their citizens.

Question 73

Transnational teams are composed of members from multiple nationalities working on projects that span multiple countries.

Question 74

Some of the advantages of using home-country nationals for overseas managerial assignments are that the talent is already available within the organization and that the organization can have greater control.

Question 75

The employment of guest workers may result in indirect costs that may be substantial.

Question 76

Multinational corporations tend to use different kinds of external recruitment sources than are used in their home countries.

Question 77

If an organization wanted to decrease the failure rate of its expatriates, one good strategy would be to give more women international assignments.

Question 78

The source of overseas employees that provides the advantages of less cost and greater facility in the language is host-country nationals.

Question 79

An advantage of home country nationals is that they have intimate knowledge of the environment and culture.

Question 80

A global HR information system facilitates coordination between world units; however, there are many important factors to ensure effective implementation.