Exam 4: Managing in a Global Environment

Understanding Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions (Scenario) Sasha has lived in Toronto her entire life and works at the head office of a large multinational corporation. She has recently become aware of several job openings for management in a number of the company's foreign subsidiaries. As she ponders the prospect of an overseas assignment, she reviews the research of Geert Hofstede to try to understand the cultural differences she would be faced with in each of the foreign subsidiaries. -There is also a job opening in Greece,where people show a great deal of respect for those in authority and feel threatened by differing opinions and ambiguous situations.Greece is considered high on which of the following two dimensions?

Transnational organizations are also known as ________.

IBM is the world's largest information technology company with more than 300,000 employees in 170 countries.It once had a country-based structure but reorganized into industry groups to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.IBM is best described as a ________ organization.

According to the GLOBE rankings presented in our textbook,Sweden,New Zealand,and Switzerland all rank low on which cultural dimension?

________ is a national culture attribute describing the extent to which societal values are characterized by assertiveness and materialism.

A Speech on Trade Alliances (Scenario) As manager of the international department for your company, you have been asked by the local Chamber of Commerce to deliver a speech on global trade. The presentation should include an overview of the world's major trade alliances and mechanisms that promote global trade. The Chamber president has also asked you to comment on a recent quote by a local politician, who stated: "NAFTA has been a bad deal for Canada and it continues to weaken our economy." As you review your notes, you wonder how you will fit all the information into the allotted half-hour presentation time! -To help explain the main advantages of regional trade alliances,you will point out that EU member countries now have ________.

Parochialism is the tendency to view the world narrowly through one's own perspective.

A potential advantage of the geocentric attitude is ________.

Multidomestic corporations ________.

The WTO is a global organization that evolved from ________.

The cultural dimension of ________ measures the degree to which a society relies on social norms and procedures to alleviate the unpredictability of future events.

Which of the following is a multilateral trading system formed in 1995?

International Entrepreneurs (Scenario) Jennifer and James have formed an entrepreneurial venture to develop software for banks and other financial institutions. Their company is growing, but in looking for opportunities in the future, they decide to explore international operations. -Jennifer and James feel that people in foreign countries will not have the skills,expertise,knowledge,or experience to write,sell,or install the software.They have a(n)________ attitude.

The European Expansion (Scenario) As a manager at a growing Canadian company, Samantha has been asked to develop a strategy to expand the company's operations into the European market. Although the company president has provided some basic guidelines about acceptable levels of risk and investment, there are still many factors in the legal-political, economic, and cultural environments that Samantha must take into consideration in her proposal. -Samantha will also recommend forming a strategic alliance with a Swiss-based company that promises to market her company's products in several EU countries in exchange for access to her company's distribution network in Canada and the U.S.This strategy will require less investment than ________.

The term multinational corporation refers to any and all types of international companies that maintain operations in multiple countries.

McDonald's Canada,GM Canada,and IBM Canada are all examples of U.S.________ operating in Canada.

Attributes that global leaders need to be effective in cross-cultural environments is called a ________.

In a short essay,describe the different approaches that a company may use when it decides to go international.Provide specific examples for each.

Which of the following definitions best describes a transnational organization?

A potential advantage of the ethnocentric attitude is ________.