Deck 3: Emphasizing Informal Institutions: Cultures, Ethics, and Norms

Question 1

The Ronen and Shenkar cluster divides the world into eight civilizations.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The United States has a low-context culture in business.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Informal institutions are constructed on the regulatory pillars of a society.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Addressing bosses with honorary titles would be an instance of low power distance in a firm.

Question 5

The United States is often classified as a collectivist society.

Question 6

Social structure is the outcome of a society's formal and informal rules of the game.

Question 7

Dividing individuals of a society into hierarchical classes is an example of social stratification.

Question 8

A boss regularly taking his employees out for casual lunches would indicate a low power distance within the firm.

Question 9

The GLOBE project identifies a total of five clusters.

Question 10

Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

Question 11

Informal institutions are closely related to ethnocentrism.

Question 12

Social mobility refers to the degree to which people can move from one area to another area in a country.

Question 13

In individualistic societies,ties between individuals are relatively close.

Question 14

The cultural norms of a country is an example of an informal institution.

Question 15

Informal institutions are based on the rules and legal systems of an economy.

Question 16

In socially mobile societies,education functions as a means to maintain social stratification.

Question 17

English-speaking countries contribute the largest share of global business output.

Question 18

A country with low masculinity has very subtle differentiation between gender roles in society.

Question 19

According to the institution-based view,informal institutions must be sought when formal institutions fail.

Question 20

In high-context cultures,communication is usually taken at face value without much reliance on unspoken context.

Question 21

Collectivists are more collaborative when dealing with in-group members.

Question 22

The hierarchical arrangement of individuals into categories such as classes,castes,or divisions within a society is referred to as _____.

A) social dumping
B) social stratification
C) social facilitation
D) social loafing

Question 23

Confucianism has been a leading philosophy in East Asian business ethics.

Question 24

Managers in high power distance countries are more inclined toward centralized authority.

Question 25

"Respect for institutional context" is one of the guiding principles proposed by business ethicist Thomas Donaldson.

Question 26

Cultural intelligence emphasizes the understanding of informal institutions.

Question 27

The average length of contracts is longer in low-context countries than in high-context countries.

Question 28

Which of the following aspects of a culture would be categorized as an informal institution?

A) Ethics
B) Politics
C) Economics
D) Laws

Question 29

According to Max Weber,Protestant work ethics led to the rise of capitalism in Europe.

Question 30

Ethical imperialism suggests that all ethical standards are relative.

Question 31

In acquiring cultural intelligence,awareness refers to the ability to identify the symbols,rituals,and taboos in other cultures.

Question 32

Which of the following is a factor for English being accepted as the global business language?

A) English speakers have traditionally been more mobile than non-English speakers.
B) English is far easier to translate to and from, than any other language.
C) English-speaking countries contribute the largest share of global business output.
D) English is the largest language in terms of the number of native speakers.

Question 33

Members of short-term orientation societies emphasize perseverance and savings for future betterment.

Question 34

High uncertainty avoidance cultures are characterized by a greater willingness to take risk with change.

Question 35

A proactive firm would anticipate responsibility and do more than required when facing ethical challenges.

Question 36

_____ refers to the quality of a society that perceives its own culture,ethics,and norms as natural,rational,and morally right.

A) Polycentrism
B) Ethnocentrism
C) Anthropocentrism
D) Social mobility

Question 37

Individualists make more distinction between in-group and out-group members than collectivists.

Question 38

Managers in low uncertainty avoidance countries tend to rely more on rules than experience.

Question 39

Cultures of low uncertainty avoidance tend to resist change.

Question 40

Which of the following languages is considered the lingua franca of global business?

A) English
B) Chinese
C) Spanish
D) French

Question 41

A _____ is the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have.

A) clan
B) chiefdom
C) civilization
D) tribe

Question 42

A(n)____ is a set of guidelines for helping a firm make ethical decisions.

A) operating agreement
B) certificate of incorporation
C) mission statement
D) code of conduct

Question 43

An American firm operating in the Middle East struggles with enforcing rules opposing sexual discrimination against Muslim women working in its management.Which of the following describes the American firm's stand against enforcing local norms?

A) Ethical relativism
B) Cultural relativism
C) Ethical imperialism
D) Xenocentrism

Question 44

Which of the following is true of the reactive strategy to ethical challenges in business?

A) It admits responsibility and does less than what is required.
B) It accepts responsibility and does more than what is required.
C) It anticipates institutional changes and does more than what is required.
D) It denies responsibility and takes a passive approach.

Question 45

In ____ cultures,the unspoken context is as important as the words used during communication.

A) high-context
B) low-context
C) individualistic
D) collectivist

Question 46

The _____ enacted in 1977 bans U.S.firms from bribing non-U.S.officials.

A) Trust Against Bribery and Distortion Act
B) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
C) Statute of Limitation on Foreign Direct Investment Act
D) Bribery of Foreign Public Officials Act

Question 47

Which of the following is one of the three "middle-of-the-road" guiding principles proposed by business ethicist Thomas Donaldson?

A) Firms should try to export its home-country ethics to the global market.
B) Firms should not base their ethics on local institutions.
C) Firms should be culturally sensitive when conducting business abroad.
D) Firms should follow a universal ethical business code regardless of geography.

Question 48

Which of the following methods of understanding cultural differences characterizes sex role differentiation in cultures?

A) Humanistic Approach
B) Cluster Approach
C) Context Approach
D) Dimensional Approach

Question 49

Which of the following is true of the GLOBE clusters?

A) It divides all the nations of the world into western and eastern cultures.
B) It divides the nations of the world into ten clusters.
C) It divides the nations of the world based on civilizations.
D) It divides the nations of the world based on their religious affinity.

Question 50

Which of the following perspectives describes ethical imperialism?

A) It is a perspective that each firm should cultivate its own ethics.
B) It is a perspective that there is only one set of ethics.
C) It is a perspective that ethical standards are relative.
D) It is a perspective that ethical standards can never be codified.

Question 51

A firm that has adopted an accommodative strategy for ethical challenges in business _____.

A) accepts responsibility and does all that is required
B) denies responsibility and does less than required
C) admits responsibility but does the least that is required
D) anticipates institutional changes and does more than is required

Question 52

Which of the following is one of the five dimensions outlined in the Dimensions Approach?

A) Language
B) Work ethics
C) Religion
D) Uncertainty avoidance

Question 53

In a collectivist society,_____.

A) family units are highly valued
B) individual identity is considered separate from his or her group
C) ties between individuals are relatively loose
D) individual achievement and freedom are highly valued

Question 54

_____ refers to the extent to which members in a culture tolerate ambiguous situations.

A) Uncertainty avoidance
B) Lingua franca
C) Ethnocentrism
D) Long-term orientation

Question 55

Which of the following statements is true about low-context cultures?

A) Communication relies a lot on the underlying unspoken context.
B) Communication depends equally between the unspoken and spoken contexts.
C) Communication primarily depends on body language.
D) Communication is usually taken at face value.

Question 56

In an individualistic society,_____.

A) an individual's identity is fundamentally tied to the identity of his or her group
B) ties between individuals are very strong
C) an individual's identity is fundamentally his or her own
D) collective accomplishments are more important than individual accomplishments

Question 57

Which of the following is a characteristic of high masculinity societies?

A) Women are more likely to become politicians and soldiers.
B) Men frequently assume the role of nurses, teachers, and househusbands.
C) There is a sharp role differentiation along gender lines.
D) Managers are less visible, intuitive rather than decisive, and accustomed to seeking consensus.

Question 58

According to sociologist Max Weber,what is the ideological foundation that led to the rise of Western economic development?

A) The Industrial Revolution
B) Protestant work ethics
C) Catholicism
D) Colonialism

Question 59

Which of the following cultural clusters contains the group "Hindu"?

A) The GLOBE clusters
B) The Huntington civilizations
C) The Ronen and Shenkar clusters
D) The Kogut-Singh cultural index

Question 60

Social mobility refers to the degree to which _____.

A) members from a collectivist society move to an individualist society
B) members from a lower social category move to a higher social category
C) people from emerging economies move to developed economies
D) people from developed economies move to emerging economies

Question 61

Explain the dimensional approach of power distance in cultures.

Question 62

Describe the different strategic responses to ethical challenges.

Question 63

Members of a group or collective consider each other as _____.

A) in-group members
B) out-group members
C) individualistic members
D) cross-cultural members

Question 64

_____ refers to the coexistence of both cultural divergence and cultural convergence.

A) Cultural concurrence
B) Covariance
C) Limited divergence
D) Crossvergence

Question 65

Which of the following cultural intelligence profiles would match an individual with a collectivist ideology?

A) The Local
B) The Chameleon
C) The Mimic
D) The Natural

Question 66

Describe the context approach to understanding cultural differences.

Question 67

Describe the characteristics of the different profiles of cultural intelligence.

Question 68

In profiles of cultural intelligence,a person who creates a comfort zone for people from different cultural backgrounds by adopting their general posture and communication style,without resorting to mockery,is characterized as the _____.

A) local
B) natural
C) mimic
D) chameleon

Question 69

Sociologist Max Weber criticized _____ as a leading cause of Asian backwardness.

A) atheism
B) Buddhism
C) Confucianism
D) Deism

Question 70

Define cultural intelligence.Describe the process of acquisition of cultural intelligence.

Question 71

Which of the following is/are the final phase of acquiring cultural intelligence?

A) Skills
B) Awareness
C) Knowledge
D) Divergence

Question 72

Define culture.Describe the four major components of culture.

Question 73

Which of the following is true of individualists and collectivists?

A) Individualists are more collaborative when dealing with in-group members.
B) Collectivists are more opportunistic when dealing with out-group members.
C) Individualists discriminate more harshly against out-group members.
D) Collectivists are opportunistic when dealing with in-group members.

Question 74

Which of the following profiles characterizes a person who relies on intuition rather than on a systematic learning style when interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds?

A) The Mimic
B) The Local
C) The Chameleon
D) The Natural

Question 75

Individualists differ from collectivists in that individualists are _____.

A) less collaborative with in-group members
B) more collaborative with out-group members
C) more opportunistic when dealing with in-group members
D) less opportunistic with out-group members

Question 76

A common stereotype is that players from collectivist societies are more collaborative and trustworthy,and that those from individualist societies are more competitive and opportunistic.What do you think the relation between collectivism/individualism and opportunistic behavior is? How does the understanding of collectivism/individualism help managers?

Question 77

Explain how the "middle-of-the-road" strategies bridge the disparity between ethical relativism and ethical imperialism.

Question 78

Which of the following profiles characterizes a person who may be mistaken for a native in a foreign country and is able to profitably balance insider skills with an outsider's perspective?

A) The Mimic
B) The Chameleon
C) The Analyst
D) The Natural