Version 1 1
Student name:__________
1) What is human resource management? Why is HRM an important strategic component?
2) What are the three types of staffing policies in international business? Briefly describe
each one. Which is the most attractive approach and why?
3) Why should a firm pursue an ethnocentric approach to staffing? What are the
disadvantages of this approach?
4) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a polycentric approach to staffing.
Version 1 2
5) How can the polycentric approach to staffing result in the creation of a “federation”
within the firm? Why is this a disadvantage for the firm?
6) Discuss the reasons expatriate managers fail to complete their foreign assignment.
7) Discuss Mendenhall and Oddou’s assertion that an executive who performs well in a
domestic setting may not adapt to a different cultural setting.
8) Discuss why the repatriation process is so difficult for so many expatriates.
Version 1 3
9) Describe the notion of management development programs as a tool for increasing the
overall skill levels of managers. What is the goal of this type of program?
10) How can firms reduce the bias in performance appraisals of expatriate managers?
11) Should a firm pay executives in different countries according to the prevailing standards
in each country, or should it equalize pay on a global basis? Defend your answer.
12) What is the most common approach to expatriate pay? Explain this form of
compensation. What is the advantage of this approach?
Version 1 4
13) Discuss the concerns of organized labor.
14) What are the three actions taken by organized labor to respond to the increased
bargaining power of multinationals? How successful have these efforts been?
15) Explain how the wide variation in union structure around the world has been an
impediment to cooperation between international companies and various unions.
16) A strong _____, the organization’s norms and value systems, can help a firm to
implement its strategy.
Version 1 5
A) corporate culture
B) human resources division
C) mission statement
D) beliefs systems
17) What is an advantage of the geocentric staffing policy?
A) It enables the firm to grow its human resources department.
B) It enables the firm to build a cadre of international executives who feel at home
working in a number of cultures.
C) It enables the firm to build a cadre of home-country executives.
D) Firms may be better able to create value despite adverse experience curves and poor
location economies.
18) Which policy is mainly concerned with the selection of employees for particular jobs?
A) retention policy
B) staffing policy
C) incentive policy
D) appraisal policy
19) A Japanese firm prefers expatriate Japanese managers to head its foreign operations
because these managers have been socialized into the firm while employed in Japan. This
indicates that the firm
Version 1 6
A) believes that such managers cannot progress beyond middle-manager positions in
their parent company.
B) follows an ethnocentric staffing policy to maintain a unified corporate culture.
C) is trying to create value by transferring core competencies to a foreign operation.
D) requires host-country nationals to be recruited to manage subsidiaries.
20) In an ethnocentric staffing policy,
A) all key management positions are filled by host-country nationals.
B) host-country nationals are recruited to manage subsidiaries.
C) all key management positions are filled by parent-country nationals.
D) the best people are recruited for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of
nationality.
21) Cultural myopia refers to a firm’s failure to
A) adapt to certain ethnocentric cultures.
B) act confidently in host countries.
C) understand host-country cultural differences.
D) prevent gender discrimination within the firm.
22) What is the difference between an ethnocentric and a polycentric staffing approach?
Version 1 7
A) An ethnocentric staffing approach alleviates cultural myopia, while a polycentric
staffing approach can lead to cultural myopia.
B) An ethnocentric staffing approach may be more expensive compared to a polycentric
staffing approach.
C) An ethnocentric staffing approach seeks host-country nationals for all key positions,
while a polycentric staffing approach seeks the best people for key jobs regardless of nationality.
D) An ethnocentric staffing approach is now used in most international businesses,
while the polycentric staffing approach is on the wane.
23) If a company recruits host-country nationals to manage subsidiaries while parent-country
nationals occupy key positions at corporate headquarters, the firm is following _____ staffing
policy.
A) a polycentric
B) an ethnocentric
C) a geocentric
D) an internal
24) Which of the following is a drawback of the polycentric approach to staffing?
A) Firms are likely to suffer from cultural myopia.
B) Host-country nationals are vulnerable to cultural misunderstandings.
C) This approach increases the cost of value creation.
D) Host-country nationals have limited opportunities for advancement beyond senior
positions in their subsidiary.
25) _____ seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of
nationality.
Version 1 8
A) A polycentric staffing policy
B) An ethnocentric staffing policy
C) A geocentric staffing policy
D) A uniform staffing policy
26) A polycentric approach may be effective for firms pursuing
A) an international strategy.
B) a localization strategy.
C) a transnational strategy.
D) a global standardization strategy.
27) A firm using a polycentric staffing policy will
A) be less likely to suffer from cultural myopia.
B) seek the best people for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of
nationality.
C) most likely follow an ethnocentric strategy.
D) be likely to have improved communication between host-country managers and
parent-country managers.
28) What is the most important advantage of using a geocentric staffing policy?
Version 1 9
A) It enables the firm to build a cadre of international executives who feel at home
working in a number of cultures.
B) It may be less expensive to implement than other policies, reducing the costs of value
creation.
C) The higher pay managers on an international fast track enjoy is a source of
inspiration within a firm.
D) It reduces the need for futile and time-consuming documentation.
29) An ethnocentric approach to staffing is appropriate for firms that are pursuing
A) a localization strategy.
B) an international strategy.
C) a global standardization strategy.
D) a transnational strategy.
30) Which of the following staffing approaches will be most effective for a firm that is
pursuing a transnational strategy?
A) a polycentric staffing policy
B) an ethnocentric staffing policy
C) a geocentric staffing policy
D) an internal staffing policy
31) A geocentric staffing policy
Version 1 10
A) requires host-country nationals to be recruited to manage subsidiaries, while parent-
country nationals occupy key positions at corporate headquarters.
B) leads to ineffective use of human resources.
C) requires extensive documentation.
D) is compatible with both international and localization strategy.
32) An organization’s norms and value systems are known as its
A) corporate culture.
B) mission statement.
C) human resources.
D) organizational structure.
33) A firm with _____ staffing policy will fill all key management positions with parent-
country nationals.
A) a geocentric
B) an ethnocentric
C) a eurocentric
D) a polycentric
34) A firm following _____ approach to staffing believes that the host-country nationals
should be recruited to manage subsidiaries, while parent-country nationals occupy key positions
at corporate headquarters.
A) a geocentric
B) a eurocentric
C) a polycentric
D) an ethnocentric
Version 1 11
35) _____ staffing policy seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization,
regardless of nationality.
A) An ethnocentric
B) A polycentric
C) A eurocentric
D) A geocentric
36) _____ staffing policy can be expensive to implement because training and relocation
costs increase when transferring managers from one country to another.
A) A geocentric
B) A eurocentric
C) A polycentric
D) An ethnocentric
37) A polycentric approach to staffing is one in which
A) host-country nationals are recruited to manage subsidiaries while parent-company
nationals occupy key positions at corporate headquarters.
B) standard psychological tests are used to assess perceptual ability and cultural
toughness, when selecting a manager for foreign posting.
C) all key management positions are filled by parent-company nationals.
D) the best people, regardless of nationality, are recruited to fill key positions
throughout the organization.
38) Broadly speaking, a geocentric approach is compatible with
Version 1 12
A) an international strategy.
B) both global standardization and transnational strategies.
C) a localization strategy.
D) both an international and a localization strategy.
39) The ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do is
A) self-orientation.
B) others-orientation.
C) perceptual ability.
D) cultural toughness.
40) Expatriate managers who lack _____ tend to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-
country nationals.
A) self-orientation
B) cultural toughness
C) others-orientation
D) perceptual ability
41) A citizen of France who moves to the United States to work at Ford is a(n)
A) a host-country national.
B) a local.
C) an inpatriate.
D) an acquired citizen.
Version 1 13
42) Expatriate failure refers to
A) expatriates who follow host-country norms instead of their home-country norms.
B) the inability of expatriate managers to treat foreign nationals as if they were home-
country nationals.
C) the premature return of an expatriate manager to his or her home country.
D) the ethical drawbacks of the ethnocentric staffing approach.
43) In a seminal study, R.L. Tung found that among American multinationals, the biggest
impediment to expatriate success was the
A) inability of the spouse to adjust.
B) manager’s inability to adjust.
C) manager’s inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.
D) lack of adequate technical training.
44) In a seminal study, R.L. Tung found that for Japanese multinationals, the biggest
impediment to expatriate success was
A) the inability of the spouse to adjust.
B) inadequate compensation.
C) the manager’s inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.
D) the lack of adequate technical training.
45) Mendenhall and Oddou’s “others-orientation” dimension, in their study on what predicts
success in foreign jobs postings, refers to the
Version 1 14
A) expatriate’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being.
B) expatriate’s ability to interact effectively with host-country nationals.
C) expatriate’s ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they
do.
D) relationship between the country of the assignment and how well an expatriate
adjusts to a particular posting.
46) Which dimension of Mendenhall and Oddou’s study suggests that an expatriate with high
self-esteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being is likely to succeed in a foreign job posing?
A) self-orientation
B) others-orientation
C) cultural toughness
D) perceptual ability
47) _____ is the ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they do.
A) Others-orientation
B) Cultural myopia
C) Perceptual ability
D) Cultural toughness
48) Mendenhall and Oddou identified cultural toughness as one of the dimensions in their
study on dimensions that predict success in foreign jobs postings. This dimension refers to the
Version 1 15
A) expatriate’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being.
B) expatriate’s ability to interact effectively with host-country nationals.
C) expatriate’s ability to understand why people of other countries behave the way they
do.
D) relationship between the country of the assignment and how well an expatriate
adjusts to a particular posting.
49) In a seminal study, R.L. Tung found that for managers of European firms, the biggest
impediment to expatriate success was the
A) manager’s inability to cope with larger overseas responsibilities.
B) lack of adequate technical training.
C) inability of the spouse to adjust.
D) manager’s inability to adjust.
50) Which of the following issues was not addressed by Mendenhall and Oddou’s study?
A) expatriate failure due to a spouse’s inability to adjust
B) expatriate failure due to a manager’s lack of self-esteem
C) expatriate failure due to lack of relationship development
D) expatriate failure due to a manager’s inability to empathize
51) The premature return of an expatriate manager to his or her home country is known as
A) repatriation.
B) inpatriation.
C) expatriate failure.
D) outpatriation.
Version 1 16
52) Which of the following is one of the factors that impact a spouse adjusting to
expatriation?
A) the inability of the spouse to get a job in the foreign country due to poor training and
education
B) laws against spouses freely coming and going from their home in the foreign country
C) spouses not being welcomed into the expatriate community
D) language differences making it difficult for a spouse to make new friends and feeling
trapped at home
53) _____ refers to the relationship between the country of assignment and how well an
expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.
A) Cultural toughness
B) Self-orientation
C) Perceptual ability
D) Others-orientation
54) Historically, most international businesses have been
A) more concerned with training than with management development.
B) focused on smoothly transitioning their home-country nationals back from foreign
postings to home postings.
C) more concerned with management development than with training.
D) less focused on training their home-country nationals for foreign postings than with
training home-country managers.
55) _____ is considered the language of world business.
A) Chinese
B) English
C) Spanish
D) Hindi
56) Training can help a manager and spouse cope with issues of adjusting to the foreign
environment. _____ is aimed at helping the expatriate manager and family ease themselves into
day-to-day life in the host country.
A) Language training
B) Practical training
C) Others-orientation training
D) Cultural training
57) Firms pursuing _____ strategy increasingly are using management development as a
strategic tool.
A) a localization
B) a global standardization
C) a transnational
D) an international
58) Bringing managers together in one location for extended periods and rotating them
through different jobs in several countries helps the firm build
A) an expatriate community.
B) a formal management network.
C) an inpatriate community.
D) an informal management network.