Understanding the Role of Culture Answer Key Part 3

63) Which of the following factors primarily determines how the Internet is used in different countries? A) local connection speeds B) availability of personal computer parlors C) local attitude to information privacy D) extent of intercultural communication systems Answer: C 64) The European view of information privacy most likely stems from its ________. A) foreign business practices B) global nature of information technology C) culture and history D) competitive origins Answer: C 65) Based on the study conducted by Harris and Moran, which of the following is NOT a workplace behavior of most Americans? A) following a formal culture B) being highly organized and institutionally minded C) having a strong work ethic D) being competitive and aggressive Answer: A 66) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Arab culture? A) emphasis on hospitality B) imposition of deadlines C) five times a day prayer pattern D) indirect communication style Answer: B 67) Which of the following is NOT a typical characteristic of the Arab culture? A) open admission of mistakes B) indirect communication style C) emphasis on hospitality D) five times a day prayer pattern Answer: A 68) Which of the following is likely to cause offense in Saudi Arabia? A) introducing business subjects too soon B) intolerance toward employees and coworkers C) failure to make decisions with a long-term perspective D) discrimination based on gender Answer: A 69) With regard to small family businesses in China, a "guanxi" can be best described as a ________. A) family hierarchy that determines who receives profits B) competitive management style based on Confucian values C) network of relationships centered on mutual obligations and favors D) combination of modern and traditional methods for managing employees Answer: C 70) Which of the following is a predominant characteristic of the Chinese management style? A) paternalism B) individualism C) nepotism D) religious affinity Answer: A 71) Cultural intelligence is also known as cultural quotient. Answer: TRUE 72) Cultural sensitivity requires the willingness to put oneself in another's shoes. Answer: TRUE 73) Creolization is the process where immigrants completely disregard all aspects of the local culture. Answer: FALSE 74) Organizational culture tends to be stronger than societal culture. Answer: FALSE 75) Contingency management requires managers to adapt to the local environment and people, and to manage accordingly. Answer: TRUE 76) Values are a society's ideas about what is good or bad. Answer: TRUE 77) According to the GLOBE project team, highly assertive societies emphasize loyalty and solidarity. Answer: FALSE 78) Future-oriented societies tend to place more emphasis on instant gratification. Answer: FALSE 79) Performance-oriented societies tend to take initiative and have the confidence to get things done. Answer: TRUE 80) Humane orientation measures the extent to which a society takes part in self-enhancement. Answer: FALSE 81) Paternalism and patronage are important in humane-oriented societies. Answer: TRUE 82) High power distance usually results in a centralized structure and autocratic leadership. Answer: TRUE 83) Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which people in a society feel threatened by ambiguous situations. Answer: TRUE 84) Achievement and personal capabilities are valued in collectivistic societies. Answer: FALSE 85) Social loafing is common in a collectivistic society. Answer: FALSE 86) Assertiveness and materialism are values of a masculine society. Answer: TRUE 87) In specific-oriented cultures, work spills over into personal relationships and vice versa. Answer: FALSE 88) In an ascription-oriented society, the source of status and influence is based on how well one performs the job and what level of education and experience one has to offer. Answer: FALSE 89) Arabs avoid open admission of error at all costs because weakness is a failure to be manly. Answer: TRUE 90) Chinese management style focuses on human-centeredness, family-centeredness, centralization of power, and small size. Answer: TRUE 91) What is convergence? Answer: Convergence describes the phenomenon of the shifting of individual management styles to become more similar to one another. The convergence argument is based on the belief that the demands of industrialization, worldwide coordination, and competition tend to factor out differences in organizational-level processes, such as choice of technology and structure. 92) What is the difference between parochialism and ethnocentrism? Answer: Parochialism occurs when a Frenchman, for example, expects those from or in another country to automatically fall into patterns of behavior common in France. Ethnocentrism describes the attitude of those who operate from the assumption that their ways of doing things are best—no matter where or under what conditions they are applied. 93) In reference to the GLOBE cultural dimensions, what does the performance orientation dimension measure? Which countries score high and low in performance orientation? Answer: The performance orientation dimension measures the importance of performance improvement and excellence in society, and refers to whether or not people are encouraged to strive for continued improvement. Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States score high on this dimension; typically, this means that people tend to take initiative and have a sense of urgency, and have the confidence to get things done. Countries like Russia and Italy have low scores on this dimension; they hold other priorities ahead of performance, such as tradition, loyalty, family, and background; and they associate competition with defeat. 94) According to Hofstede, what is the relationship between individualism and national economic performance? Answer: Hofstede's research indicates strongly that individualistic cultures tend to have both a higher gross national product and a freer political system than those countries scoring low on individualism. There is a strong relationship among individualism, wealth, and a political system with balanced power. 95) What is the Confucian work dynamism? What does it reveal about Asian managers? Answer: Hofstede developed a fifth cultural dimension called the Confucian work dynamism, which he labeled a long-term/short-term dimension. He defined long-term orientation as "the extent to which a culture programs its members to accept delayed gratification of their material, social, and emotional needs." In other words, since managers in most Asian countries are more future-oriented, they stride toward long-term goals; they value investment in the future and are prepared to sacrifice short-term profits. 96) Differentiate between the characteristics of a universalist culture and a particularist culture? Answer: A universalist culture applies rules and systems objectively without consideration for individual circumstances. In contrast, a particularist culture gives more weight to relationships and is more subjective. 97) Differentiate between managers in specific-oriented cultures (such as the United States) and managers in diffuse-oriented cultures (such as China). Answer: Managers in specific-oriented cultures separate work and personal lives. They compartmentalize their work and private lives, and are more open and direct. In diffuse-oriented cultures, the manager's work spills over into personal relationships and vice versa. 98) What are the four culturally based variables that may cause frequent problems for Americans in international management? Answer: The four common, culturally based variables that may cause frequent problems for American managers are time, change, material factors, and individualism. 99) What types of behavior by international managers would most likely be offensive in Saudi Arabia? Answer: • Using disparaging or swear words and off-color or obscene attempts at humor. • Engaging in conversations on religion, politics, or Israel. • Bringing gifts of alcohol or using alcohol, which is prohibited in Saudi Arabia. • Requesting favors from those in authority or esteem, for it is considered impolite for Arabs to say no. • Introducing business subjects too soon. • Pointing your finger at someone or showing the soles of your feet when seated. 100) Discuss the impact of the Internet on various cultures. How do cultural differences complicate international management in regard to the use of technology? Provide specific examples in your answer. Answer: The Internet has affected many social variables, such as associations, education, and the economy. At the same time that the Internet is affecting culture, culture is also affecting how the Internet is used. One of the pervasive ways that culture is determining how the Internet may be used in various countries is through the local attitude to information privacy. Generally in Europe, each person must be informed and given the chance to object, if the information about that person is going to be used for direct marketing purposes or released to another party. That data cannot be used for secondary purposes, if the consumer objects. In the U.S., personal data is collected and sold without government oversight. Differing cultures means that international managers will often need to "localize" their use of IT to different value sets about its use. This advice applies in particular to the many e-commerce companies doing business overseas. With 75 percent of the world's Internet market living outside the United States, multinational ebusinesses are learning the hard way that their Web sites must reflect local markets, customs, languages, and currencies to be successful in foreign markets. Different legal systems, financial structures, tastes, and experiences necessitate attention to every detail to achieve global appeal. In other words, e-businesses must localize to globalize, which means much more than translating online content into local languages.