Beat the Clock Answer Key Chapters 1-3

Beat the Clock Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1. An international student that goes to work for an MNE in the country where she is studying is a a) PCN b) HCN c) TCN d) not enough information (d) If she is an Australian studying in the UK, and the MNE is Australian, she would be a PCN. If the MNE is UK-based, then she would be a TCN. 2. If a person goes to work for a foreign-based MNE in the country he was born, then he is a a) PCN b) HCN c) TCN d) not enough information (b) He is a HCN, a host country national, by definition of HCN. 3. What type of expatriate is a MNE most likely to have if it is starting to go international after many years of domestic market bliss? a) PCN b) HCN c) TCN d) not enough information (a) PCN, because a PCN carries less risk as far as already knowing the company culture and expectations. 4. New behaviors and customs can cause expatriates to become psychologically disoriented. They are experiencing a) Laurent’s first step to true IHRM b) culture shock c) global mindset d) negative host country feelings (b) This is a symptom of culture shock. They may or may not have negative feelings about the host country depending on how they deal with their psychological disorientation. 5. An MNE is this kind of industry when its competitive position in one country is significantly influenced by its position in other countries. a) international b) multidomestic c) global d) networked (c) This MNE is a global industry by definition. 6. The index of transnationality is an indication of an MNE’s a) reliance on home market b) foreign to total assets ratio c) foreign to total employment ratio d) all of the above (d) All of the above are true by definition of the index of transnationality. 7. Which of these do NOT moderate differences between domestic HRM and IHRM? a) inherent complexity of IHRM b) cultural context of IHRM c) transnationality index d) differences in employee productivity (d) (a), (b), and (c) are three of the five moderating variables for the differences between IHRM and domestic HRM, described in figure 1.3. (d) has to do with employee productivity, which is something both domestic and international HRM must do. See 8. “What you do, where you do it, and with who” is a nice way to remember a) Stahl-Björkman-Morris definition of IHRM b) Morgan’s 3-D definition of IHRM c) different IHRM approaches d) three IHRM employee types (b) What you do = HR activities Where you do it = host, parent, or other country With who you do it = HCNs, PCNs, and TCNs It could be argued that (d) is a way for understanding the difference between PCNs, HCNs and TCNs, except for the “what you do” parameter, which any employee type can do. 9. Which of the following is NOT a distinctively IHRM activity? a) international relocation b) international taxation c) recruitment and selection d) language translation (c) Domestic HRM does recruitment and selection as well. 10. “MNEs become more alike as they discover universal HRM best practices” is an example of a) the convergence hypothesis b) the divergence hypothesis c) a Laurent step to true IHRM d) None of these (a) 11. An international student goes to work for a Brazilian MNE in Brazil where he has been studying. He is a a) parent-country national (PCN) b) host-country national (HCN) c) third-country national (TCN) d) not enough information (c) 12. If an international student returns to her country of origin and works for an MNE whose headquarters is in the country where she studied, then she is a a) PCN b) HCN c) TCN d) not enough information (b) She is a host-country national (HCN), by definition of HCN. 13. If a person works on a ship for a cruise line headquartered in the country where he was born and resides, then he is a a) PCN b) HCN c) TCN d) not enough information (a) 14. An MNE is this kind of industry when competition in one country is essentially independent of competition in other countries. a) international b) multidomestic c) global d) networked (b) This MNE is a multidomestic industry by definition. 15. The convergence hypothesis is an example of a) a culture-specific approach to management principles on management research b) a culture-common approach to management principles in management research c) the study of macrolevel variables d) the study of microlevel variables (b) The convergence hypothesis is a well-known example of an imposed “etic” approach that assumes that there are principles of management that transcend national boundaries. 16. Which senior managers may assume a greater deal of transferability between domestic and international HRM practices? a) Senior managers of MNEs with large domestic markets b) Senior managers with little international experience c) Senior managers with successful careers built on domestic experience d) All of these (d) Senior managers with little international experience, large domestic markets, or successful careers built on domestic experience are all more susceptible to assuming that there is greater transferability between domestic and international HRM practices, because domestic management is more of what they know. 17. The psychological contract between an MNE and which type of employee tends to be with his or her entire family: a) PCN working abroad b) HCN c) TCN working abroad d) Both (1) and (3) (d) Both types of expatriates (parent country nationals and third country nationals working abroad) tend to take their immediate families with them to live and work abroad, so the pyschological contract with their MNE tends to be with their entire immediate families. 18. Laurent’s steps for a truly international conception of HRM involve each of the following EXCEPT: a) An MNE’s explicit recognition that its HRM reflects some assumptions and values of its home culture. b) An MNE’s explicit recognition that its ways are neither universally better or worse than others. c) A genuine believe that more effective ways of managing people can result from crosscultural learning. d) An MNE should focus more on behaviors over states of mind and mindsets. (d) The first three choices are three of Laurent’s five steps for a truly international conception of HRM. All five steps actually have more to do with states of mind and mindsets over particular behaviors, excactly the opposite of choice (d). 19. Macroenvironmental factors that may influence MNEs include each of the following EXCEPT: a) political factors b) enterprise factors c) sociological factors d) technological factors (b) The macroenvironmental factors can be remembered with the acronomyms PEST, or PESTLE which include economic, legal, and environment fators as well, but not enterprise. A key contrast between international and domestic human resource management is: a) complexity in operating in different countries b) complexity in employing different national categories of employees c) both (1) and (2) d) the major differerences between the HR activities performed. (c) Beat the Clock Chapter 2 THE CULTURAL CONTEXT OF IHRM 1. When a culture treats time as one thing after another a) time dimension b) monochrome time c) polychrome time d) time concept (b) 2. Which of these countries does NOT have a high context culture? a) Germany b) France c) Japan d) China (a) German culture is more direct, to the point. 3. Spatial orientation is a cultural measurement of ____ during speaking a) room awareness b) space needed for gestures c) where eyes look d) distance between people (d) 4. Which of these Trompenaar dimensions distinguishes between cultures that believe more in absolute or relative truths? a) specific vs. diffuse b) emotional vs. neutral c) individualism vs. communitarianism d) universalism vs. particularism (d) 5. Which of these GLOBE study dimensions explains why high-performance might not be rewarded much in certain cultures? a) gender egalitarianism b) assertiveness c) performance orientation d) humane orientation (c) It may be that a given culture values personal connections or formal studies more. 6. In-group collectivism is the degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their a) individual work b) organizations or families c) donations to charity d) none of the above (b) 7. Which of these is NOT a criticism of the Hofstede study? a) could not be replicated b) mixed practice with values c) sex and classes ignored d) interaction between variables ignored (a) The replications of the Hofstede study were actually quite impressive because the results were highly consistent. 8. In societies high on gender egalitarianism a) roles are highly gender-defined b) women and men advance equally c) women advance more d) men advance more (b) 9. In countries with this cultural context, employees tend to prefer fixed compensation packages. a) high uncertainty avoidance b) low uncertainty avoidance c) high collectivism d) high individualism (a) 10. Short term cultures are characterized by a) high savings rates b) persistence in pursuing goals c) ranking based on status d) expectations of quick profit (d) There are other characteristics, but expecting a quick profit is one of them. 11. Which researcher(s) labeled culture as ‘Software of the Mind’? a) Kluckhohn and Kroeber b) Hosftede c) Schein d) Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (b) 12. Which researcher(s) defined three levels of culture: artefacts, values, and underlying assumptions? a) Kluckhohn and Kroeber b) Hosftede c) Schein d) Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (c) 13. The goals of cross-cultural management studies include each of these EXCEPT: a) determining how to cause organizational behavior to become the same across countries and cultures b) description of organizational behavior within countries and cultures c) comparison of organizational behavior within countries and cultures d) explanation and improvement of employee, customer, suppliers, or business partner interactions in different countries and cultures (a) (a) is more of an example of the convergence hypothesis approach from chapter 1 that imposes the notion that the parent country’s ways are better. The key notion in cross-cultural management research is that crosscultural differences can lead to more creative and effective ways of doing things. 14. ________ is the degree to which members of a collective expect power to be distributed equally. a) Uncertainty Avoidance b) Power Distance c) Assertiveness d) Performance Orientation (b) 15. ________ is the degree to which a collective encourages and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence. a) Uncertainty Avoidance b) Power Distance c) Assertiveness d) Performance Orientation (d) 16. According to Gerhart, most of the variance in cross-cultural management studies results come from a) individual manager-specific differences b) organization-specific differences c) country-specific differences d) cultural differences (c) According to Gerhart, in the GLOBE study, 23% of the variance is from country-level differences and only 6% is actually due to cultural differences. 17. Publicly rewarding a specific employee’s performance might be seen poorly by the employee and others because of which cultural dimension? a) power distance b) uncertainty avoidance c) femininity vs. masculinity d) individualism vs. collectivism (d) 18. A long-term culture is characterized by each of the following EXCEPT: a) low savings rates b) respect for social and status obligations within certain limits c) high investment activity d) readiness to subordinate oneself to a purpose (a) 19. According to the Hofstede study, which of these countries did NOT exhibit a small power distance? a) New Zealand b) Phillipines c) Great Britain d) USA (b) Female managers are rare where which of these cultural dimensions is lowest? a) in-group collectivism b) uncertainty avoidance c) gender egalitarianism d) individualism (c) Beat the Clock Chapter 3 THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT 1. Which of these does NOT drive global standardization? a) firm size b) corporate culture c) cultural environment d) strategy and structure (c) 2. HRM should be locally responsive to respect local ____ regarding HRM and work practices. a) cultural values b) government policies c) education systems d) all of the above (d) 3. When institutions affect the shape of an MNE’s headquarters a) country-of-origin effect b) host-country effect c) home-country effect d) none of these (c) 4. Cultures where work is based on more integrated personal social relationships may value a) balance of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards b) more intrinsic rewards c) more extrinsic rewards d) less explicit rewards (a) 5. In which of these settings are employees more likely to resist wearing company-branded clothing? a) HCNs in a Japanese plant in the USA b) Chinese in a Japanese plant in Taiwan c) Chinese in a Japanese plant in Japan d) PCNs working for USA company abroad (b) 6. When the host country influences practices at headquarters a) reverse diffusion b) host-country effect c) home-country effect d) parent-country effect (a) 7. MNEs which are international from their inception are a) networked b) matrix c) heterarchy d) born global (d) 8. The top management’s role in a heterarchy is a) monitor and control b) resource allocator c) catalyst and architect d) cheerleader (c) 9. An MNE where resources and responsibilities are shared across national boundaries a) transnational b) heterarchy c) networked d) matrix (a) 10. MNE corporate control mechanism is based on network of personal relationships a) corporate culture b) social capital c) indirect control d) direct control (b) 11. Which of these is probably the most culture-bound resource of an MNE in an international context? a) money b) inventory c) know-how d) people (d) 12. As an enterprise starts to go international, what kind of employees tend to be the first to oversee the successful implementation of appropriate work practices? a) local staff b) PCNs c) HCNs d) TCNs (b) Parent-country national expatriates, because these are the ones that are more likely to have absorbed the corporate culture and for a longer time. 13. The aim of global standardization of HRM practices is to achieve _______ of a geographically dispersed workforce around common principals and objectives. a) consistency b) transparency c) alignment d) all of the above (d) 14. The exact balance of a firm’s HRM standardization-localization choice is based on a) strategy and structure b) firm size c) maturity d) all of the above (d) 15. Which of these does NOT drive the localization of HRM in MNEs? a) corporate culture b) institutional environment c) firm size d) firm maturity (a) 16. Based on their view of a MNE as a network, Gupta and Govindarajan give the highest importance to a) capital b) products c) services d) knowledge flows (d) 17. Subsidiaries characterized as ______ provide significant knowledge for other units and have gained importance as MNEs move towards the transnational model. a) local innovator b) global innovator c) implementer d) integrated player (b) 18. Subsidiaries with the _____ role engage in the creation of relevant country/ region-specific knowledge in all key functional areas because they have complete responsibility. a) local innovator b) global innovator c) implementer d) integrated player (d) 19. The opposite of the reverse diffusion institutional effect on a MNE is the a) home-country effect b) host-country effect c) country-of-origin effect d) local responsiveness effect (c) 20. An MNE that has adopted the _____ organization structure is characterized by an interdependence of resources and responsibilities across all business units regardless of national boundaries. a) matrix b) mixed structure c) heterarchy d) transnational (d)