Question 1

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, expatriate managers who tend to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-country nationals lack the dimension of:

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. Perceptual ability seems critical for managing host-country nationals. Expatriate managers who lack this ability tend to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-country nationals.

Question 2

Amanda, an American manager, is successfully adjusting in a country where the culture is extremely male-dominated. According to Mendenhall and Oddou, which of the following dimensions that predict success in foreign postings is involved in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. Cultural toughness refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting. Many cultures are extremely male-dominated and may be particularly difficult postings for female Western managers.

Question 3

In terms of training and management development, which of the following is aimed at helping the expatriate manager and family ease themselves into day-to-day life in the host country?

Accepted Answer

Practical training is aimed at helping the expatriate manager and family ease themselves into day-to-day life in the host country. The sooner a routine is established, the better are the prospects that the expatriate and his or her family will adapt successfully. One critical need is for a support network of friends for the expatriate.

Question 4

Which of the following is intended to build a manager's skills over his or her career with a firm?

Accepted Answer

Selection is just the first step in matching a manager with a job. The next step is training the manager to do the specific job. Management development is intended to develop the manager's skills over his or her career with the firm.

Question 5

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, which of the following provides an expatriate the ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do?

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. Perceptual ability is the ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do, that is, the ability to empathize.

Question 6

According to R. L. Tung's study, which of the following is the most important reason for expatriate failures for U.S. multinationals?

Accepted Answer

In a seminal study, R. L. Tung surveyed a number of U.S., European, and Japanese multinationals. She asked her sample of multinational managers to indicate reasons for expatriate failure. For U.S. multinationals, the reasons, in order of importance, were: (1) inability of spouse to adjust (2) manager's inability to adjust (3) other family problems (4) manager's personal or emotional maturity (5) inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.

Question 7

Which of the following strategies is pursued by international businesses that use management development for a strong unifying corporate culture and informal management networks to assist in coordination and control?

Accepted Answer

International businesses are increasingly using management development as a strategic tool. This is particularly true in firms pursuing a transnational strategy, as increasing numbers are. Such firms need a strong unifying corporate culture and informal management networks to assist in coordination and control.

Question 8

Poor health care and housing standards and inhospitable climate make it difficult for expatriates to adjust to a particular posting. According to Mendenhall and Oddou's four dimensions that predict success in a foreign posting, which of the following is required in this situation?

Accepted Answer

According to Medenhall and Oddou, cultural toughness refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting. Poor health care and housing standards, inhospitable climate, lack of Western entertainment, and language difficulties make expatriates low in cultural toughness.

Question 9

According to Mendenhall and Oddou's dimensions that predict success in a foreign posting, relationship development refers to:

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. Relationship development refers to the ability to develop long-lasting friendships with host-country nationals.

Question 10

Repatriation refers to:

Accepted Answer

A largely overlooked but critically important issue in the training and development of expatriate managers is to prepare them for reentry into their home-country organization. Repatriation should be seen as the final link in an integrated, circular process that connects good selection and cross-cultural training of expatriate managers with completion of their term abroad and reintegration into their national organization.

Question 11

According to the results of a seminal study by R. L. Tung, what was the major reason for expatriate failure among European expatriates?

Accepted Answer

In a seminal study, R. L. Tung surveyed a number of U.S., European, and Japanese multinationals. She asked her sample of multinational managers to indicate reasons for expatriate failure. Managers of European firms gave only one reason consistently to explain expatriate failure: the inability of the manager's spouse to adjust to a new environment.

Question 12

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, what is the major problem in the selection of appropriate candidates for overseas assignments in many firms?

Accepted Answer

One way to reduce expatriate failure rates is by improving selection procedures to screen out inappropriate candidates. In a review of the research on this issue, Mendenhall and Oddou state that a major problem in many firms is that HRM managers tend to equate domestic performance with overseas performance potential.

Question 13

Which of the following is an additional and difficult dimension to the long-standing problem of expatriate failure due to the inability of the spouse to adjust?

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou do not address the problem of expatriate failure due to a spouse's inability to adjust. The rise of dual-career families has added an additional and difficult dimension to this long-standing problem. Increasingly, spouses wonder why they should have to sacrifice their own career to further that of their partner.

Question 14

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, which of the following dimensions that predicts success in a foreign posting strengthens an expatriate's self-esteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being?

Accepted Answer

From their review of the research, Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. The attributes of self-orientation strengthen the expatriate's self-esteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being.

Question 15

During performance appraisals, two groups evaluate the performance of expatriate managers-host-nation managers and home-office managers. This is aimed at avoiding the problem of:

Accepted Answer

Unintentional bias makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of expatriate managers objectively. In many cases, two groups evaluate the performance of expatriate managers-host-nation managers and home-office managers-and both are subject to bias. The host-nation managers may be biased by their own cultural frame of reference and expectations.

Question 16

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, perceptual ability refers to:

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. Perceptual ability refers to the ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do, that is, the ability to empathize.

Question 17

According to the results of a seminal study by R. L. Tung, the top reason why Japanese expatriate managers fail is:

Accepted Answer

In a seminal study, R. L. Tung surveyed a number of U.S., European, and Japanese multinationals. She asked her sample of multinational managers to indicate reasons for expatriate failure. For Japanese firms, the reasons for failure were: (1) inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities (2) difficulties with new environment (3) personal or emotional problems (4) lack of technical competence (5) inability of spouse to adjust.

Question 18

According to Mendenhall and Oddou's dimensions that predict success in a foreign posting, which of the following is a result of the attribute of others-orientation?

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. The attributes of others-orientation enhance the expatriate's ability to interact effectively with host-country nationals. Willingness to communicate refers to the expatriate's willingness to use the host-country language.

Question 19

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, which of the following is a dimension that predicts success and allows expatriates to adapt their interests in food, sport, and music?

Accepted Answer

From their review of the research, Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. They concluded that individuals with self-orientation were able to adapt their interests in food, sport, and music; had interests outside of work that could be pursued (e.g., hobbies); and were technically competent.

Question 20

According to Mendenhall and Oddou, which of the following dimensions refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting?

Accepted Answer

Mendenhall and Oddou identified four dimensions that seem to predict success in a foreign posting: self-orientation, others-orientation, perceptual ability, and cultural toughness. Cultural toughness refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.

Quiz 17: Global Human Resource Management