60.
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
The attributes of the self-orientation strengthen the expatriate’s
selfesteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being. Expatriates with high
self-esteem, self-confidence, and mental well-being were more likely to
succeed in foreign postings.
61.
_____ 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
Perceptual ability is the ability to understand why people of other countries
behave the way they do; that is, the ability to empathize. This dimension
seems critical for managing host-country nationals.
62.
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:
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.
Cultural toughness refers to the relationship between the country of
assignment and how well an expatriate adjusts to a particular posting.
Some countries are much tougher postings than others because their
cultures are more unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
63.
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.
Mendenhall and Oddou did not address the problem of expatriate failure
due to a spouse’s inability to adjust. According to a number of other
researchers, a review of the family situation should be part of the expatriate
selection process.
64.
Which of the following statements is true regarding management
development?
A.
Historically, most international businesses have been more concerned
with management development than with training.
B.
Management development facilitates the creation of an informal network
for sharing knowledge within the multinational enterprise.
C.
Management development refers to specific training efforts to prepare
home-country nationals for foreign postings.
D.
Typically, management development programs use standard
psychological tests to select managers for specific foreign postings.
Management development is seen as a tool to help the firm achieve its
strategic goals, not only by giving managers the required skill set, but also
by helping to reinforce the desired culture of the firm and by facilitating the
creation of an informal network for sharing knowledge within the
multinational enterprise.
65.
Practical training is:
A.
provided to foster an appreciation for the host country’s culture.
B.
aimed at helping expatriates improve their communication skills.
C.
aimed at helping expatriate managers to build relationships in the host-
country.
D.
aimed at helping the expatriate manager and family ease themselves into
day–to-day life in the host country.
Practical training is aimed at helping the expatriate manager and family
ease themselves into day-to-day life in the host country. The sooner a
routine is established, the better are the prospects that the expatriate and
his or her family will adapt successfully.
66.
Management development programs aims to:
A.
facilitate an ethnocentric approach to staffing.
B.
reduce job rotations of managers.
C.
build a formal management network.
D.
build a unifying corporate culture.
Management development programs help build a unifying corporate culture
by socializing new managers into the norms and value systems of the firm.
67.
Bringing managers together in one location for extended periods and
rotating them through different jobs in several countries is a part of:
A.
the ethnocentric approach.
B.
the global standardization strategy.
C.
cultural toughness programs.
D.
management development programs.
Management development programs are designed to increase the overall
skill levels of managers through a mix of ongoing management education
and rotations of managers through a number of jobs within the firm to give
them varied experiences.
68.
_____ makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of expatriate managers
objectively.
A.
Cultural relativism
B.
Internal documentation
C.
Unintentional bias
D.
Others-orientation
Unintentional bias makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of
expatriate managers objectively. In many cases, two groups evaluate the
performance of expatriate managers—host-nation managers and home-
office managers—and both are subject to bias.
69.
When evaluating expatriates, home-country managers usually rely on:
A.
the manager’s ability to develop cross-cultural awareness.
B.
hard data such as market share.
C.
the ability of the expatriate to work with local managers.
D.
a set of subjective criteria such as interpersonal skills
Home-office managers are often not aware of what is going on in a foreign
operation. Accordingly, they tend to rely on hard data in evaluating an
expatriate’s performance, such as the subunit’s productivity, profitability, or
market share. Such criteria may reflect factors outside the expatriate
manager’s control.
70.
Which among the following should be done in order to reduce bias in the
performance appraisal process for expatriates?
A.
More weight should be given to an off-site manager’s appraisal than to
an on-site manager’s appraisal.
B.
The on-site manager should be of a different nationality as the expatriate
manager.
C.
Home-office managers should be consulted before an on-site manager
completes a formal termination evaluation.
D.
A former expatriate who served in the same location as a current
expatriate should not be allowed to participate in the appraisal.
When the policy is for foreign on-site managers to write performance
evaluations, home-office managers should be consulted before an on-site
manager completes a formal termination evaluation. This gives the home–
office manager the opportunity to balance what could be a very hostile
evaluation based on a cultural misunderstanding.
71.
Which of the following is the most common approach to expatriate pay?
A.
Balance sheet approach
B.
Net–to-net approach
C.
Host-country approach
D.
Cost-based approach
The most common approach to expatriate pay is the balance sheet
approach. According to Organizational Resources Consulting, some 80
percent of the 781 companies it surveyed used this approach.
72.
A foreign service premium is:
A.
paid when the expatriate is being sent to a difficult location.
B.
the extra pay that an expatriate receives for working outside his or her
country of origin.
C.
normally given to ensure that the expatriate can afford the same quality
of housing in the foreign country as at home.
D.
paid to ensure that the expatriate enjoys the same standard of living in
the foreign posting as at home.
A foreign service premium is extra pay the expatriate receives for working
outside his or her country of origin. It is offered as an inducement to accept
foreign postings.
73.
A hardship allowance is paid:
A.
when the expatriate is being sent to a location where such basic
amenities are grossly deficient by the standards of the expatriate’s home
country.
B.
to ensure that an expatriate’s children receive adequate schooling (by
home-country standards).
C.
to ensure that the expatriate will enjoy the same standard of living in the
foreign posting as at home.
D.
to ensure that the expatriate can afford the same quality of housing in
the foreign country as at home.
A hardship allowance is paid when the expatriate is being sent to a difficult
location, usually defined as one where such basic amenities as health care,
schools, and retail stores are grossly deficient by the standards of the
expatriate’s home country
74.
Which of the following is a concern of organized labor regarding
multinational firms?
A.
A company can counter a union’s bargaining power with the power to
move production to another country.
B.
An international business will keep low-skilled tasks in its home country
and farm out only highly skilled tasks to foreign plants.
C.
An international business can attempt to import employment practices
and contractual agreements from its host-country.
D.
A multinational company is more likely to receive government support in
the case of hostile labor relations.
A principal concern of domestic unions about multinational firms is that the
company can counter its bargaining power with the power to move
production to another country.
75.
Which of the following is NOT an action taken by organized labor to respond
to the increased bargaining power of multinational corporations?
A.
Trying to establish international labor organizations
B.
Increasing competition between national unions
C.
Lobbying for national legislation to restrict multinationals
D.
Trying to achieve international regulations on multinationals through
such organizations as the United Nations
Organized labor has responded to the increased bargaining power of
multinational corporations by taking three actions: (1) trying to establish
international labor organizations, (2) lobbying for national legislation to
restrict multinationals, and (3) trying to achieve international regulations on
multinationals through such organizations as the United Nations.
76.
What is the long-term goal of international trade secretariats (ITSs)?
A.
To increase the competition between national unions
B.
To be able to bargain transnationally with multinational firms
C.
To accommodate wide variation in union structure
D.
To be able to regulate multinationals with regard to labor policies
In the 1960s, organized labor began to establish international trade
secretariats (ITSs) to provide worldwide links for national unions in
particular industries. The long-term goal was to be able to bargain
transnationally with multinational firms.
77.
The international trade secretariats (ITS) have had virtually no real success.
Which of the following is NOT a cause of the ITS’s ineffectiveness?
A.
National unions compete with each other to attract investment from
international businesses.
B.
The structure and ideology of unions tend to vary significantly from
country to country.
C.
Organized labor has had only limited success in its efforts to get national
and international bodies to regulate multinationals.
D.
The codes of conduct developed by International Labor Organization and
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development prevented
the ITSs from exercising absolute power.
International organizations as the International Labor Organization (ILO)
and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
have adopted codes of conduct for multinational firms to follow in labor
relations. However, these guidelines are not as far-reaching as many unions
78.
Which of the following is true regarding approaches to labor relations?
A.
International businesses use mostly similar approaches to international
labor relations.
B.
The trend is toward greater decentralized control of international labor
relations.
C.
Historically, most international businesses have centralized the labor
relations function.
D.
Many firms are now using the threat to move production to another
country in their negotiations with unions.
Because labor costs account for such a large percentage of total costs,
many firms are now using the threat to move production to another country
in their negotiations with unions to change work rules and limit wage
increases.
79.
What is human resource management? Why is HRM an important strategic
component?
Human resource management refers to the activities an organization carries
out to use its human resources effectively. These activities include
determining the firm’s human resource strategy, staffing, performance
evaluation, management development, compensation, and labor relations.
None of these activities is performed in a vacuum; all are related to the
strategy of the firm. HRM has an important strategic component. Through
its influence on the character, development, quality, and productivity of the
firm’s human resources, the HRM function can help the firm achieve its
primary strategic goals of reducing the costs of value creation and adding
value by better serving customer.