International Marketing, 18e (Cateora)
Chapter 5 Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems
1) Adaptation requires business executives to forsake their ways and change to local customs.
2) Kyle recently transferred to Norway and is working with Britt on a marketing idea, but their
different approaches have created a quandary. If Kyle doesn’t understand Britt’s customs, he is
more likely to evaluate Britt’s behavior by relying on what is familiar to her.
3) Electives are business customs to which adaptation is helpful but not necessary.
4) In order to be successful, a business should recognize and accommodate any cultural
imperatives associated with a foreign entity.
5) The majority of business customs fit into the cultural elective category.
6) The “master of destiny” philosophy is based on the idea that individuals are not in control of
their own futures but are at the mercy of decisions made by business and government.
7) The acceptance of the independent enterprise as an instrument of social action is a
fundamental concept of U.S. corporations.
8) The notion that competition is crucial for efficiency, improvement, and regeneration is
fundamental to Western management practices.
9) High Power Distance Index countries are more egalitarian than low Power Distance Index
countries.
10) The three typical decision-making patterns are top-level management decisions,
decentralized decisions, and committee or group decisions.
11) Family-run businesses are more likely to follow the pattern of top-level management
decision making.
12) In the committee decision setup, every committee member must be convinced of the merits
of the proposition or product in question.
13) Workers in countries higher in individualism and lower in power distance show more
commitment to their companies than workers in countries with lower individualism and higher
power distance.
14) High-context cultures place great importance on the verbal aspects of communication.
15) Businesspeople in low-context cultures use e-mail more often than those in high-context
cultures.
16) Most North Americans operate on monochronic time.
17) Polychronic time is characterized by “a great involvement with people.”
18) Being direct and wanting to get to the point are characteristics of a business person who
operates in polychronic time.
19) Currently in most international businesses, women represent a small percentage of the
employees who are chosen for an international assignment.
20) The business community’s defense against payoffs was that they were a way of life
throughout the world.
21) The distinction between bribery and extortion depends on whether the activity resulted from
an offer or from a demand for payment.
22) Subornation payments accompany requests for a person to do a job more rapidly or more
efficiently.
23) The form of bribery known as lubrication is common in some countries and involves giving a
small sum of cash or a gift to a low-ranking public official.
24) Utilitarian ethics is the ethical principle that focuses on the optimization of the “common
good.”
25) When comparing performance of American, German, and Japanese firms, in less
individualistic cultures, labor and management generally do not get along.
26) A distinguishing characteristic of the type of capitalism common in Chinese culture is the
emphasis on guanxi as the coordinating principle among firms.
27) Chinese cultures are high on Power Distance Index and low on Individualism/Collective
Index.
28) High-context cultures score high on power distance and low on individualism.
29) The most managerially useful aspect of the synthesis of cultural differences is that it allows
us to make predictions about unfamiliar cultures.
30) Japan is considered a relationship-oriented culture because it achieves efficiency through
competition and is linguistically direct.
31) What is a criterion for adaptation when dealing with individuals, firms, or authorities in
foreign countries?
A) ability to resist varying tempos
B) zero tolerance
C) hypersensitivity
D) flexibility
E) lack of curiosity
32) Marilee understands that if she wants her U.S.-based company to flourish in Italy, she must
be tolerant of Italian customs and norms that might differ from what she deals with in the United
States and also be humble and not assume that her current way of doing business is the only way
to do business. What characteristic is Marilee demonstrating?
A) adaptation
B) dissonance
C) distancing
D) concession
E) empathy
33) What are the three categories of business customs?
A) rigid, flexible, and negotiables
B) internals, externals, and consensual customs
C) imperatives, electives, and exclusives
D) national, foreign, and international
E) unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral
34) Reggie owns a small stationery company in Tennessee and plans to enter the French market
to sell his line of fine linen papers. He realizes that there are many business customs he will need
to understand and conform to in order to succeed in France. What type of business custom is
Reggie concerned with?
A) cultural exclusives
B) business truism
C) global protocols
D) business axioms
E) cultural imperatives
35) Business customs that must be recognized and accommodated are called
A) imperatives.
B) electives.
C) exclusives.
D) exceptional.
E) constraints.
36) Jenna does not drink alcohol and when she meets clients for dinner she knows that while the
client might enjoy a glass of wine with the meal, she is not required to. What type of business
custom does this illustrate?
A) imperatives
B) electives
C) exclusives
D) individualistic axioms
E) standardized axioms
37) Business customs in which an outsider must not participate are called
A) imperatives.
B) electives.
C) exclusives.
D) absolutes.
E) statutes.
38) ________ would most likely be characterized as being an imperative business custom in
many cultures.
A) Establishing friendships
B) Knowing to speak and write the native language
C) Adhering to local food habits
D) Conforming to the native religions
E) Having knowledge of the local sport
39) Manuel Tores, a senior manager at Crawford Export Logistics, goes to France to negotiate a
deal with the company’s French partners. He dresses casually in a t-shirt and jeans. His French
counterparts call off the meeting and accuse him of taking a casual attitude toward negotiations.
In this scenario, dressing formally during business meetings is probably a cultural ________ for
the French.
A) imperative
B) elective
C) exclusive
D) oddity
E) rarity
40) Nina McRidder became an embarrassment to her company when she joked about the ruling
monarchy in England in front of a group of visiting English businesspeople. She should have
known that political ridicule by a foreigner is rarely accepted. Ms. McRidder has violated what is
known as a cultural
A) imperative.
B) elective.
C) exclusive.
D) intelligence.
E) standard.
41) While bowing to another person is a ritual among the Japanese, it is not expected for a
Westerner to bow or to understand this ritual. In other words, bowing would be considered a
cultural
A) elective.
B) stereotype.
C) imperative.
D) rest.
E) exclusive.
42) The management team selected Sarah to attend the meeting with the new foreign-based
company because she demonstrates tolerance, can easily adjust to changes in work tempos, and
always promotes justice and fairness. Sarah has the qualities necessary for
A) dissonance.
B) ethnocentrism.
C) dominance.
D) adaptation.
E) stereotyping.
43) Which philosophical view of U.S. management recognizes that people influence the future to
a large extent and that they control their own fates?
A) independent enterprise as the instrument of social action
B) wide sharing in decision making
C) “master of destiny” viewpoint
D) natural selection theory
E) competition producing efficiency
44) According to the “master of destiny” viewpoint, what is one thing that determines a person’s
destiny?
A) luck
B) society
C) hard work
D) family background
E) a higher order, such as God
45) Which of the following is consistent with the American view of the independent enterprise?
A) A corporation should fall under the control of the state government.
B) A corporation is an entity that has rules and continuity of existence.
C) The largest proportion of a corporation’s profits must go to the personal funds of the
stakeholders.
D) A corporation’s employees must be selected on the basis of seniority and not merit.
E) Personal relationships are more important in daily life than work and the company.
46) In many companies in the United States, people feel that individuals control their own
destinies and because of this companies should select and reward employees based on
A) merit.
B) efficiency.
C) payment.
D) nepotism.
E) family background.
47) Adam Smith in his The Wealth of Nations stated, “By pursuing his own interest he frequently
promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intended to promote it.” What
behavior does this notion attempt to justify?
A) collectivism
B) loyalty
C) welfare mentality
D) competitiveness
E) cooperation
48) The notion that ________ is crucial for efficiency, improvement, and regeneration is
fundamental to Western management practices.
A) insolvency
B) procrastination
C) liquidation
D) competition
E) complacency
49) The Jensen family has owned Jensen’s Country Furnishings since 1987 and Delores and
Frank Jensen, grandparents and founders, make all of the business decisions. What type of
decision-making pattern does this reflect?
A) committee
B) diffused management
C) decentralized management
D) nonhierarchical
E) top-level management
50) As businesses grow and professional management develops, there is a shift toward what
form of decision making?
A) authoritarian decision making
B) decentralized management decision making
C) hit-or-miss decision making
D) tentative decision making
E) experimental decision making