Question 1

The business community's defense against payoffs was that they were a way of life throughout the world.

Accepted Answer

The issue took on proportions greater than that of nondisclosure because it focused national attention on the basic question of ethics. The business community's defense was that payoffs were a way of life throughout the world: If you didn't pay bribes, you didn't do business.

Question 2

High-context cultures place great importance on the verbal aspects of communication.

Accepted Answer

Communication in a high-context culture depends heavily on the contextual (who says it, when it is said, how it is said) or nonverbal aspects of communication, whereas the low-context culture depends more on explicit, verbally expressed communications.

Question 3

Cultural imperatives are business customs that need not be recognized and accommodated.

Accepted Answer

Imperatives are business customs that must be recognized and accommodated. Apart from imperatives, business customs can be grouped into electives, customs to which adaptation is helpful but not necessary; and exclusives, customs in which an outsider must not participate.

Question 4

High Power Distance Index countries are more egalitarian than low Power Distance Index countries.

Accepted Answer

In high Power Distance Index (PDI) countries such as Mexico and Malaysia, understanding the rank and status of clients and business partners is much more important than in more egalitarian (low PDI) societies such as Denmark and Israel.

Question 5

Workers in countries higher in individualism show more commitment than workers in countries with lower individualism and higher power distance.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that commitment of workers to their companies tended to be higher in countries higher in individualism (IDV) and lower in power distance.

Question 6

Businesspeople in low-context cultures use e-mail more often than those in high-context cultures.

Accepted Answer

E-mail use and usage rates by managers are also affected by culture. That is, businesspeople in high-context cultures do not use the medium to the same extent as those in low-context cultures.

Question 7

In the committee decision setup, every committee member must be convinced of the merits of the proposition or product in question.

Accepted Answer

Committee decision making is by group or consensus. In the committee decision setup, every committee member must be convinced of the merits of the proposition or product in question.

Question 8

As businesses grow and professional management develops, there is a shift toward centralized management decision making.

Accepted Answer

As businesses grow and professional management develops, there is a shift toward decentralized management decision making.

Question 9

Electives are business customs to which adaptation is helpful but not necessary.

Accepted Answer

Business customs can be grouped into imperatives, customs that must be recognized and accommodated; electives, customs to which adaptation is helpful but not necessary; and exclusives, customs in which an outsider must not participate.

Question 10

The strength of a firm's backing is the key to success for both women and men in international business.

Accepted Answer

A key to success for both men and women in international business often hinges on the strength of a firm's backing. When a female manager receives training and the strong backing of her firm, she usually receives the respect commensurate with the position she holds and the firm she represents.

Question 11

The three typical decision-making patterns are top-level management decisions, decentralized decisions, and committee or group decisions.

Accepted Answer

Although the international businessperson is confronted with a variety of authority patterns that can complicate decision making in the global environment, most are a variation of three typical patterns: top-level management decisions, decentralized decisions, and committee or group decisions.

Question 12

For most U.S. managers, judgment and intuition are the only basis for making decisions.

Accepted Answer

Although judgment and intuition are important tools for making decisions, most U.S. managers believe decisions must be supported and based on accurate and relevant information.

Question 13

Polychronic time is characterized by "a great involvement with people."

Accepted Answer

P-time, or polychronic time, is more dominant in high-context cultures, where the completion of a human transaction is emphasized more than holding to schedules. P-time is characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of many things and by "a great involvement with people." P-time allows for relationships to build and context to be absorbed as parts of high-context cultures.

Question 14

The majority of business customs fit into the cultural elective category.

Accepted Answer

Cultural electives relate to areas of behavior or to customs that cultural aliens may wish to conform to or participate in but that are not required. The majority of customs fit into this category.

Question 15

The treatment local women receive in their own cultures is a clear indicator of how a foreign businesswoman will be treated.

Accepted Answer

Despite the substantial prejudices toward women in foreign countries, evidence suggests that prejudice toward foreign women executives may be exaggerated and that the treatment local women receive in their own cultures is not necessarily an indicator of how a foreign businesswoman is treated.

Question 16

We are less likely to evaluate a person's behavior in terms of what is familiar to us because we use our self-reference criterion (SRC).

Accepted Answer

The self-reference criterion (SRC) is especially operative in business customs. If we do not understand our foreign counterpart's customs, we are more likely to evaluate that person's behavior in terms of what is familiar to us.

Question 17

The notion that competition is crucial for efficiency, improvement, and regeneration is fundamental to Western management practices.

Accepted Answer

Perhaps most fundamental to Western management practices is the notion that competition is crucial for efficiency, improvement, and regeneration.

Question 18

The idea of wide sharing in decision making is consistent with the views that one controls one's own destiny and that business advancement is based on merit.

Accepted Answer

Compatible with the views that one controls one's own destiny and that advancement is based on merit is the prevailing idea of wide sharing in decision making.

Question 19

Adaptation requires business executives to forsake their ways and change to local customs.

Accepted Answer

Adaptation does not require business executives to forsake their ways and change to local customs; rather, executives must be aware of local customs and be willing to accommodate those differences that can cause misunderstandings.

Question 20

Most high-context cultures operate on monochronic time.

Accepted Answer

M-time, or monochronic time, typifies most North Americans, Swiss, Germans, and Scandinavians. Most low-context cultures operate on M-time.

Quiz 5: Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems