Deck 17: Global Human Resource Management

Question 1

According to Mendenhall and Oddou,expatriates with perceptual ability tend to be judgmental and evaluative in interpreting the behavior of host-country nationals.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In international businesses,a disadvantage of an ethnocentric staffing policy is that it produces resentment in host-country nationals.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In terms of expatriate pay,the income statement approach equalizes purchasing power across countries so employees can enjoy the same living standard in their foreign posting that they enjoyed at home.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

According to a study by R.L.Tung,the most important reason for expatriate failure among U.S.multinationals was difficulty coping with a new environment.

Question 5

Citizens of a foreign country working in the home country of their multinational employer are known as repatriates.

Question 6

The human resource management function can help a firm achieve its primary strategic goals of reducing the costs of value creation and adding value by better serving customer needs.

Question 7

The major drawback with a polycentric staffing policy is the gap that can form between host-country managers and parent-country managers due to language barriers.

Question 8

An expatriate manager is a citizen of one country who is working abroad in one of the firm's subsidiaries.

Question 9

International firms that have a broad geographic scope are the most likely to have a geocentric mindset.

Question 10

Organizational architecture refers to an organization's norms and value systems.

Question 11

It is important that the spouse of an expatriate manager,and perhaps the whole family,be included in cultural training programs.

Question 12

An international firm that adopts a polycentric staffing policy is more likely to suffer from cultural myopia.

Question 13

Transnational firm managers need not be able to detect pressures for local responsiveness because it is not part of their skill set.

Question 14

Bringing managers together in one location for extended periods and rotating them through different jobs in several countries help a firm build an informal management network.

Question 15

For international firms,an ethnocentric staffing approach is compatible with a localization strategy.

Question 16

In international businesses,firms pursue a polycentric staffing policy because they see it as the best way to maintain a unified corporate culture.

Question 17

From a strategic perspective,a compensation system must reward managers for taking actions that are consistent with the strategy of the enterprise.

Question 18

Unintentional bias makes it easy to evaluate the performance of expatriate managers objectively.

Question 19

Expatriate managers who lack others-orientation tend to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-country nationals.

Question 20

Historically,most international businesses have been more concerned with management development than with training.

Question 21

Kagemusha,Inc.,is a Japanese multi-national with operations in 23 countries around the world.It is Kagemusha's policy to staff all the key positions in the company's foreign operations with Japanese managers.What is Kagemusha's staffing policy?

A)ethnocentric
B)global
C)polycentric
D)geocentric
E)transnational

Question 22

Which of the following staffing policies is concerned with filling all key management positions by parent-country nationals?

A)ethnocentric
B)global
C)polycentric
D)geocentric
E)transnational

Question 23

An expatriate's base salary is normally lower than the base salary for a similar position in the home country.

Question 24

Which of the following is a disadvantage of an ethnocentric staffing policy?

A)It leads to resentment in the host country.
B)It isolates the headquarters from foreign subsidiaries.
C)It does not allow transfer of core competencies.
D)It leads to a dearth of qualified managers in the host nation.
E)It diversifies corporate culture.

Question 25

Imogene Davis of Benedict Pharmaceuticals' Human Resources department is responsible for developing the criteria for selecting people for particular jobs.Which of the following strategies is Imogene Davis involved in?

A)compensation policy
B)staffing policy
C)performance appraisal policy
D)training policy
E)management development policy

Question 26

A concern of organized labor is that an international business keeps highly-skilled tasks in its home country and farms out low-skilled tasks to foreign plants.

Question 27

Ichiro Kawasaki,a Japanese citizen,is sent by his company,Kagemusha Corporation,a Japanese company,to head the company's sales office in the United States.In this situation,Ichiro is an example of a(n)

A)immigrant manager.
B)host-country manager.
C)inpatriate manager.
D)expatriate manager.
E)virtual manager.

Question 28

A(n)expatriate manager refers to

A)a citizen of one country who is working abroad in one of the firm's subsidiaries.
B)a parent-country national who works in the parent country.
C)a host-country national who works in the host country.
D)any person who lives in a foreign country.
E)a person willing to work in different departments of a foreign firm.

Question 29

Megan,a U.S.citizen,is the operations manager at the Middle East office of HS Constructions Inc.,an American firm.In this situation,she is an example of a(n)

A)immigrant manager.
B)host-country manager.
C)inpatriate manager.
D)expatriate manager.
E)virtual manager.

Question 30

An impediment to cooperation between national unions is the wide variation in union structure.

Question 31

Dalian Pharma,a Chinese company,prides itself on its corporate culture that it has developed over a twenty-year period.Dalian believes that its corporate culture is a key to its competitive advantage.What is the staffing policy likely to be followed by Dalian Pharma if it expands to Germany?

A)eurocentric
B)ethnocentric
C)polycentric
D)geocentric
E)transnational

Question 32

Occidental Pharmaceuticals believes in risk taking and encourages its employees to do so.The company also holds its employees accountable for results.The norms and value systems of Occidental Pharmaceuticals constitute its

A)corporate social responsibility.
B)cultural toughness.
C)cultural sensitivity.
D)corporate culture.
E)perceptual ability.

Question 33

In the Swiss firm Terabithia Systems AG,all the important positions in its international operations are held by Swiss nationals.What is the staffing policy followed by Terabithia?

A)eurocentric
B)ethnocentric
C)polycentric
D)geocentric
E)transnational

Question 34

Taviscon International,a Singapore-based agricultural commodities player continuously expands into various African countries to source and process commodities.Taviscon finds that many of these countries lack good higher education institutions and also a lack of major companies that operate there.Taviscon International is likely to pursue an ethnocentric staffing policy in Africa because it

A)believes in providing growth opportunities to host-country nationals.
B)wants to avoid cultural myopia.
C)believes the host country lacks qualified individuals for senior management positions.
D)wants to keep all core competencies within the home country.
E)wants to build strong cultural and informal management networks in all its subsidiaries.

Question 35

Which of the following is a characteristic of an ethnocentric staffing policy?

A)It requires host-country nationals to be recruited to manage subsidiaries.
B)It is used when a firm places a low value on its corporate culture.
C)It increases advancement opportunities for host-country nationals.
D)It seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization,regardless of nationality.
E)It places parent-country nationals in key management positions.

Question 36

OptiCare is a firm that specializes in eye care products such as contact lenses and sun glasses.OptiCare believes that market needs for eye care products are the same worldwide.In keeping with this perspective,OptiCare emphasizes global standardization.Firms such as OptiCare that emphasize global standardization try to create value by

A)retaining products and competencies within the parent country.
B)realizing experience curve and location economies.
C)focusing on local responsiveness.
D)emphasizing localization.
E)adopting an ethnocentric staffing approach.

Question 37

Historically,most international businesses have centralized international labor relations activities.

Question 38

Unless a host country has a reciprocal tax treaty with the expatriate's home country,an expatriate must pay income tax to both the home- and host-country governments.

Question 39

When the Chinese company,Dalian Pharma set up operations in Cambodia,the top management team of Dalian determined that Cambodia lacked qualified individuals to fill senior management positions.What is the staffing policy likely to be followed by Dalian Pharma?

A)eurocentric
B)ethnocentric
C)polycentric
D)geocentric
E)transnational

Question 40

Dalian Pharma,a Chinese company,has a core competence in expedited innovative drug discovery.It has used this core competence,which is based on the collective knowledge of hundreds of scientists and project managers,to grow and become a dominant player in the industry.What is the staffing policy likely to be followed by Dalian Pharma when it expands to India?

A)eurocentric
B)ethnocentric
C)polycentric
D)geocentric
E)transnational

Question 41

Geodyne follows a polycentric staffing approach in that key positions at the company's U.S.headquarters are staffed by U.S.nationals while foreign subsidiaries are managed by locals.In recent years,Geodyne's international business has grown substantially while its U.S.business has dwindled due to competition.Which of the following is a drawback of Geodyne adopting a polycentric staffing approach?

A)It is expensive to implement.
B)It leads host-country managers to make mistakes due to cultural misunderstandings.
C)It limits advancement opportunities for host-country nationals.
D)It invariably makes a firm suffer from cultural myopia.
E)It bridges the gap between the headquarters of a firm and its foreign subsidiaries.

Question 42

Which of the following is a disadvantage of adopting a geocentric staffing approach?

A)Cultural myopia negatively influences effective management control.
B)Training and relocation costs increase when transferring managers from country to country.
C)Host-country nationals cannot progress beyond senior positions in their own subsidiary.
D)A gap forms between host-country managers and parent-country managers.
E)The lack of management transfers leads to a lack of integration between corporate headquarters and foreign subsidiaries.

Question 43

Geodyne,a United States-based player in the energy business is clear-cut in its human resources policy with regard to international expansion.While U.S.nationals staff key positions at its Orlando,Florida headquarters,it recruits locals to manage subsidiaries in each country that it goes into.As a result of this,in 2016,Geodyne found that of the company's total staff of 1240,nearly 72% were newly-hired managers to work in the company's foreign subsidiaries,forming a gap between host-country managers and parent-country managers.What is Geodyne's staffing policy?

A)global
B)geocentric
C)polycentric
D)ethnocentric
E)transnational

Question 44

Which of the following staffing approaches is compatible with an international strategy?

A)ethnocentric
B)geocentric
C)polycentric
D)transnational
E)ethical

Question 45

Yamaguchi Media,a Japanese advertising agency,has a policy in its global business of appointing what it believes is the best person for the job in its various locations regardless of the candidate's nationality.Which of the following staffing policies best describes Yamaguchi Media's approach?

A)global
B)ethnocentric
C)geocentric
D)polycentric
E)transnational

Question 46

Rhone-Rohrer Chemicals,a French leader in specialty chemicals used an ethnocentric policy to approach international markets.It followed the same domestic marketing and management practices in foreign markets.Rhone-Rohrer Chemicals' international expansion failed miserably because Rhone-Rohrer Chemicals suffered from

A)cultural parity.
B)cultural myopia.
C)power distance.
D)cultural toughness.
E)cultural polarization.

Question 47

There are vast differences in local market needs in the consumer food business across the world.Yamaguchi Media,a Japanese multinational advertising agency,specializes in the food industry.Toward this,Yamaguchi Media uses a geocentric staffing approach.Which of the following is an advantage of adopting a geocentric staffing approach for Yamaguchi Media?

A)It tends to reduce cultural myopia and enhance local responsiveness.
B)It is inexpensive to implement.
C)It reduces the costs of value creation.
D)It allows all key management positions of a firm and its subsidiaries to be filled by parent-country nationals.
E)It requires minimal documentation for hiring foreign nationals.

Question 48

Which of the following staffing approaches limits career mobility and isolates headquarters from foreign subsidiaries?

A)polycentric
B)transnational
C)geocentric
D)ethnocentric
E)global

Question 49

Gunther Home Products,Gmbh,a German manufacturer did not succeed in its international ventures because it used its domestic marketing mix "as-is" in foreign markets in addition to using the same domestic-centric approach to managing its foreign operations.Gunther Home Products' failure to understand host-country cultural differences that require different approaches to marketing and management is referred to as

A)cultural parity.
B)cultural myopia.
C)power distance.
D)cultural toughness.
E)cultural polarization.

Question 50

Yuriko,a citizen of Japan,was working as a manager in the Japanese branch of an American firm.Due to her efficiency,she was assigned a temporary posting at the headquarters of the firm in America.In this situation,she is known as a(n)

A)repatriate.
B)inpatriate.
C)third-country national.
D)beneficiary.
E)parent-country national.

Question 51

Which of the staffing policies requires all the expatriates to be home-country nationals who are transferred abroad?

A)geocentric
B)ethnocentric
C)polycentric
D)international
E)domestic

Question 52

How is a geocentric staffing policy beneficial to a firm?

A)It requires the firm to provide little or no documentation to hire a foreign national.
B)It is inexpensive to implement.
C)It helps the firm follow a localization strategy.
D)It allows all key management positions to be filled by parent-country nationals.
E)It enables the firm to make the best use of its human resources.

Question 53

Geodyne,a United States-based player in the energy business is clear-cut in its human resources policy with regard to international expansion.While U.S.nationals staff key positions at its Orlando,Florida headquarters,it recruits locals to manage subsidiaries in each country that it goes into.Which of the following is an advantage of Geodyne's polycentric staffing approach?

A)It is less expensive to implement as compared to other staffing approaches.
B)It gives host-country nationals unlimited opportunities to gain experience outside their own country.
C)It increases career mobility.
D)It increases interaction between the headquarters of a firm and its foreign subsidiaries.
E)It bridges the gap between host-country managers and parent-country managers.

Question 54

Countries such as the United States and China require extensive documentation if companies wish to hire a foreign national instead of a local national.This is an important consideration for Santa Ana Wines,a Brazilian wine maker,as it decides on its staffing policy for international expansion.Which of the following staffing approaches is most likely to be affected by this?

A)polycentric
B)geocentric
C)transnational
D)ethnocentric
E)local

Question 55

What is the advantage of a geocentric staffing policy?

A)It requires firms to provide little or no documentation to hire a foreign national.
B)It enables firms to build a cadre of international executives who feel at home working in a number of cultures.
C)It is inexpensive to implement the policy in a firm.
D)It allows all key management positions of the firms and their subsidiaries to be filled by parent-country nationals.
E)It helps firms to follow a localization strategy.

Question 56

Which of the following strategies is compatible with a geocentric staffing policy?

A)global standardization strategy
B)localization strategy
C)international strategy
D)ethical strategy
E)global strategy

Question 57

A firm that adopts a polycentric staffing policy is less likely to

A)isolate foreign subsidiaries from corporate headquarters.
B)implement an expensive staffing policy.
C)be controlled by corporate headquarters.
D)suffer from cultural myopia.
E)provide growth opportunities.

Question 58

Over 90 percent of Damian Auto Products',a U.S.-based tier 1 auto supplier that has operations in 26 countries,senior managers are U.S.nationals.Which of the following staffing policies relies extensively on the use of expatriate managers?

A)global
B)polycentric
C)transnational
D)ethnocentric
E)localized

Question 59

Geodyne,a United States-based player in the energy business is clear-cut in its human resources policy with regard to international expansion.While U.S.nationals staff key positions at its Orlando,Florida headquarters,it recruits locals to manage subsidiaries in each country that it goes into.Geodyne's staffing policy is called

A)geocentric.
B)polycentric.
C)ethnocentric.
D)global.
E)transnational.

Question 60

_____ refers to a subset of expatriates who are citizens of a foreign country working in the home country of their multinational employer.

A)Virtual expatriates
B)Inpatriates
C)Third-country nationals
D)Host-country nationals
E)Parent-country nationals

Question 61

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?

A)The expatriate has high self-esteem.
B)The expatriate empathizes with the host-country nationals.
C)The expatriate speaks to the host-country nationals in the local language.
D)The expatriate adjusts to the inhospitable climate of the host country.
E)The expatriate is comfortable working in a male-dominated environment.

Question 62

Born and raised in Portland,Michigan,John had never traveled overseas.After finishing his engineering program,John went to work for Cymatics,a Lansing,Michigan-based construction firm.In his fifteen-year career at Cymatics,John's work did not require any travel at all.John has excelled at his work and his superiors have always rated him very highly.An important opening has come up in Cymatics' Dubai operations and the company is considering who to send.According to Mendenhall and Oddou,what is the major problem in the selection of appropriate candidates for overseas assignments in many firms?

A)lack of technical abilities
B)equating domestic performance with overseas performance potential
C)lack of communication between line managers and HRM managers
D)geocentric staffing policy
E)polycentric staffing policy

Question 63

Repatriation refers to

A)sending expatriate managers to a new host country.
B)training expatriate managers to adjust to the new environment of the host country.
C)reentry of expatriate managers into their home-country organization.
D)helping expatriate managers build rapport with local employees.
E)increasing expatriate managers' effectiveness in dealing with host-country nationals.

Question 64

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

A)personal or emotional problems
B)inability to cope with overseas responsibilities
C)poor pay
D)inability of spouse to adjust to a new environment
E)lack of technical competence

Question 65

According to Mendenhall and Oddou,_____ is a dimension that predicts success and allows expatriates to adapt their interests in food,sport,and music.

A)perceptual ability
B)self-orientation
C)others-orientation
D)cultural toughness
E)empathy

Question 66

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?

A)perceptual ability
B)others-orientation
C)cultural toughness
D)self-orientation
E)empathy

Question 67

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

A)inability of spouse to adjust
B)difficulties with new environment
C)insufficient pay
D)personal or emotional problems
E)lack of technical competence

Question 68

When John,an expatriate manager for Kinetics USA went to work in the company's Thailand operations,he was often frustrated when his staff showed up thirty minutes late for meetings and did not have an explanation for their tardiness.He remarked to Lisa,his wife,"back home in the Canton,Ohio office,meetings started on the dot and everyone better be there.Why can't my Thai staff do the same?" According to Mendenhall and Oddou,an expatriate manager like John who tends to treat Thai nationals as if they were home-country nationals lacks the dimension of

A)cultural toughness.
B)self-orientation.
C)power distance.
D)perceptual ability.
E)willingness to communicate.

Question 69

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

A)an expatriate's willingness to use the host-country language.
B)the ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do.
C)the ability to empathize with foreign nationals.
D)the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.
E)the ability to develop long-lasting friendships with host-country nationals.

Question 70

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?

A)localization
B)international
C)transnational
D)global standardization
E)ethnocentric

Question 71

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

A)the inability of their spouses to adjust.
B)the lack of technical competence.
C)their personal or emotional problems.
D)the inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.
E)their inability to deal with difficulties in the new environment.

Question 72

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

A)cultural toughness
B)perceptual ability
C)self-orientation
D)others-orientation
E)willingness to communicate

Question 73

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?

A)cultural toughness
B)others-orientation
C)perceptual ability
D)self-orientation
E)empathy

Question 74

Soo Park,a Korean expatriate did very well in managing the local staff when sent to work in Daigoo's China operations.This came as a welcome relief to the company,because Soo Park's predecessor,Billy Bob Johnson,an American,had failed miserably in the same assignment.According to Mendenhall and Oddou,which of the following dimensions refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate such as Soo Park adjusts to a particular posting?

A)self-orientation
B)perceptual ability
C)cultural toughness
D)others-orientation
E)willingness to communicate

Question 75

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?

A)perceptual ability
B)cultural toughness
C)self-orientation
D)Others-orientation
E)Self-confidence

Question 76

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

A)cultural conflict.
B)unintentional bias.
C)operational errors.
D)central tendency.
E)culture shock.

Question 77

_____ is/are an additional and difficult dimension to the long-standing problem of expatriate failure due to the inability of the spouse to adjust.

A)Formal training
B)Dual-career families
C)Cultural diversity
D)Single parenting
E)Cultural toughness

Question 78

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

A)ethnocentrism
B)cultural toughness
C)total quality management
D)management development
E)learning effects

Question 79

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

A)cognitive
B)practical
C)house
D)cultural
E)perceptual ability

Question 80

According to Mendenhall and Oddou,perceptual ability refers to

A)an expatriate's willingness to use the host-country language.
B)an expatriate's ability to strengthen his or her self-esteem.
C)an expatriate's ability to empathize.
D)the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.
E)the ability to develop long-lasting friendships with host-country nationals.