Question 1

Marcie Conroy of Feel-Better Pharmaceuticals works in the human resource department and is responsible for developing criteria for matching prospective employees to available jobs. What is Marcie responsible for?

Accepted Answer

Marcie is responsible for staffing policy, which involves developing criteria for matching prospective employees to available jobs.

Question 2

Red Brands, a Singapore-based agricultural commodities company, continuously expands into Africa to source and process commodities. The company finds that many of these countries lack advanced higher education institutions, and thus decides to pursue an ethnocentric senior staffing policy in Africa. This is most likely because the management of Red Brands

Accepted Answer

Red Brands likely believes that host countries lack qualified individuals for senior management positions, which is why they pursue an ethnocentric staffing policy.

Question 3

Ryan, a U.S. citizen, is the operations manager at the Middle East office of KB Constructions Inc., an American firm. In this situation, Ryan is a(n) ________ manager.

Accepted Answer

Ryan is an expatriate manager because he is a U.S. citizen working in a foreign country (Middle East) for an American company.

Question 4

Flor-Restore, a U.S. dental products company, follows a polycentric staffing approach, and key positions at the company's U.S. headquarters are staffed by U.S. nationals while foreign subsidiaries are managed by locals. While the company's international business has grown exponentially in the past five years, greater competition in the United States has caused this office to see a decline in sales and many top U.S. managers are leaving the company. What drawback to a polycentric approach might explain this?

Accepted Answer

A polycentric approach can limit advancement opportunities for managers from the headquarters, as key positions in foreign subsidiaries are filled by locals, potentially leading to dissatisfaction and turnover among headquarters staff.

Question 5

In the Swiss watch firm PrimeTime Inc., all the top management positions in its international operations are held by Swiss nationals. What is the staffing policy followed by PrimeTime Inc.?

Accepted Answer

PrimeTime Inc. follows an ethnocentric staffing policy, where key management positions are filled by individuals from the parent country, in this case, Swiss nationals.

Question 6

Takahashi Talent, a Japanese commercial advertising agency, has a policy of appointing the best person for the job in its various locations regardless of the candidate's nationality. Which staffing policy best describes Takahashi Talent's approach?

Accepted Answer

Takahashi Talent's approach is geocentric because it focuses on hiring the best person for the job regardless of nationality, emphasizing a global perspective in staffing.

Question 7

At a job fair, a recruiter explained to Matt that his company not only looks for employees who have college degrees and work experience, but also those who have the same beliefs and value systems as the company. What aspect of the company is the recruiter referring to?

Accepted Answer

The recruiter is referring to "corporate culture," which encompasses the beliefs, values, and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle business transactions.

Question 8

An expatriate manager refers to

Accepted Answer

An expatriate manager is typically a citizen of one country who is working in a foreign country, often in one of their firm's subsidiaries.

Question 9

What staffing policy is concerned with filling all key management positions by parent-country nationals?

Accepted Answer

The ethnocentric staffing policy focuses on filling key management positions with employees from the parent country.

Question 10

Kanga-Kicks, Inc. is an Australian multinational company with operations in 15 countries around the world. It is the company's policy to staff all the key positions in foreign operations with Australian managers. What type of staffing policy does the company use?

Accepted Answer

Kanga-Kicks, Inc. uses an ethnocentric staffing policy, which involves filling key positions in foreign operations with managers from the company's home country, in this case, Australia.

Question 11

Borsh Lawn Products, a German manufacturer, did not succeed in its international ventures because it used its domestic marketing mix "as-is" in foreign markets. This failure to understand host-country cultural differences that require different approaches to marketing and management is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Cultural myopia refers to the failure to recognize and adapt to cultural differences in international markets, leading to ineffective marketing and management strategies.

Question 12

The expatriate managers of Je Parle, a French leader in specialty perfumes, followed the same domestic marketing and management practices in foreign markets as their colleagues did in France. As a result, Je Parle's international expansion failed because the company suffers from

Accepted Answer

Cultural myopia refers to the failure to recognize and adapt to cultural differences in foreign markets, which is what Je Parle experienced by applying domestic practices internationally without considering local cultural nuances.

Question 13

Thermal-Core, a United States-based company, is clear-cut in its human resources policy with regard to international expansion. While U.S. nationals staff key positions at its Tampa, Florida, headquarters, it recruits locals to manage subsidiaries in each country that it goes into. Thermal-Core's staffing policy is

Accepted Answer

Thermal-Core's staffing policy is polycentric because it involves hiring local nationals to manage subsidiaries in each country, while key positions at the headquarters are staffed by U.S. nationals.

Question 14

What is an advantage of a polycentric staffing approach?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is an advantage of a polycentric...

Question 15

What is a characteristic of an ethnocentric staffing policy?

Accepted Answer

An ethnocentric staffing policy involves placing parent-country nationals in key management positions in foreign subsidiaries, reflecting the belief that the home country's practices and personnel are superior.

Question 16

A U.S.-based company set up operations in Indonesia and determined that there wasn't a qualified applicant pool in Jakarta to fill its senior management positions. What staffing policy will the company most likely follow?

Accepted Answer

The company will likely follow an ethnocentric staffing policy, where it fills key management positions with employees from the home country due to the lack of qualified local candidates.

Question 17

Which aspect of organizational architecture is considered the linchpin that brings together all of the other components?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which aspect of organizational architecture is considered...

Question 18

Col-For, an Italian beverage company, prides itself on its corporate culture that it has developed over a twenty-year period and believes it is a key to its competitive advantage. What staffing policy will the company likely follow if it expands to Germany?

Accepted Answer

An ethnocentric staffing policy is likely because the company values its established corporate culture and may prefer to transfer its home-country managers to maintain that culture in the new location.

Question 19

Haruto Kawa, a Japanese citizen who works for Shin-Ro Corp. in Japan, has been asked to head the company's sales office in the United States. Upon taking the assignment, Haruto will be a(n) ________ manager.

Accepted Answer

An expatriate is an employee who is sent to work in a foreign country. Since Haruto is moving from Japan to the United States for his job, he will be considered an expatriate manager.

Question 20

A(n) ________ approach to staffing limits career mobility and isolates headquarters from foreign subsidiaries.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A(n) ________ approach to staffing limits career...

Quiz 17: Global Human Resource Management