52) Terrell, a manager with Qualsys Technologies, has been on an expatriate assignment in Russia for
the last three years. Terrell’s foreign assignment has ended, and he is working with HR to return to the
U.S. and begin a new job at the firm’s headquarters in Philadelphia. In which activity is Terrell most
likely involved?
A) expatriation
B) repatriation
C) demotion
D) promotion
53) Which of the following is NOT an area in which expatriates experience repatriation frustration?
A) change in personal finances and compensation
B) readjustment to home country corporate structure
C) change in technical competence
D) readjustment to life at home
54) Companies often face problems repatriating executives from foreign assignments to the home nation
due to which of the following?
A) The vacant position cannot be filled overseas.
B) The firm must increase compensation substantially.
C) Different departments compete excessively to hire the repatriated manager.
D) The returning expatriate has less social status and autonomy than when abroad.
55) All of the following would most likely improve the successful repatriation of expatriates EXCEPT
________.
A) encouraging repatriated workers to take sabbaticals upon return
B) developing mentoring programs to smooth transitions
C) integrating foreign assignments into career plans
D) providing repatriated workers with desirable jobs
56) Studies indicate that the main cause of nearly half of failed expatriate assignments is the inability of
the expatriate to ________.
A) meet performance expectations
B) initiate a fair compensation package
C) adapt to the host culture
D) learn the local language
57) Which of the following trends has LEAST likely led to the increased demand for expatriate talent?
A) market developments
B) technology changes
C) globalization
D) nationalism
58) Which of the following best explains why MNEs often employ more locals than expatriate managers
in foreign facilities?
A) lower compensation expense
B) better support from unions
C) improved economies of scale
D) better grasp of core competencies
59) Which of the following is a characteristic of India that discourages MNE investment?
A) slow market growth
B) restrictive labor laws
C) poor communication infrastructure
D) government controlled market
60) Fundamentally, the task of HRM is putting the right person into the right job in the right place at the
right time for the right salary.
61) The various activities of HRM perform best when managers link them to the strategy of the firm.
62) There is a strong yet inconsistent relationship between the strategic performance of an MNE and the
decisions it has made in managing its human resources.
63) Companies have found that superior human resources are instrumental to improving their ability to
create and sustain competitive advantage.
64) Expatriates are locals from the country of the foreign subsidiary.
65) An example of an expatriate would be a Canadian manager working for a Canadian firm in China.
66) Executives from the home office typically demand richer compensation packages and impose higher
relocation costs than third-country nationals do.
67) The past few years have seen fewer females sent on international assignments.
68) Companies around the world typically find it easy to locate a number of executives able and willing
to run foreign operations.
69) The ethnocentric and polycentric staffing policies, unlike the geocentric staffing policy, rely on
extensive use of expatriate managers.
70) The MNE that aims to control the transfer of its unique core competencies overseas usually prefers
an ethnocentric staffing policy.
71) Unlike the geocentric and polycentric mindsets, the ethnocentric mindset is not tied to a particular
home or host nation.
72) An executive with a polycentric staffing policy presumes that successful business practices at home
need not change when transferred to foreign markets.
73) A key disadvantage of a polycentric staffing policy is that it limits the career mobility of subsidiary
executives.
74) A geocentric staffing policy seeks the best qualified people for key jobs throughout the organization,
irrespective of their nationality.
75) A geocentric staffing policy is one in which all key management positions throughout the company’s
global operations are filled by host-country nationals.
76) An ethnocentric staffing policy is well matched with a multidomestic strategy.
77) A polycentric staffing policy is well matched with a transnational strategy.
78) Historically, companies searching their ranks for potential expatriates looked first for individuals
with the necessary language proficiency and then evaluated their technical competence.
79) Companies find it challenging to judge a potential expatriate’s adaptability to foreign places, people,
and processes.
80) Expatriate failure, broadly defined, indicates there is a breakdown in a company’s selection policies
to staff its foreign operations.
81) Failure rates for overseas postings fall typically between 30 and 50 percent, and usually reduce
performance, sidetrack careers, and corrode morale.
82) Upon selection of an executive for an expatriate posting, the most common predeparture training
involves a range of instructive profiles of major aspects of the host country.
83) Practical predeparture training for the expatriate is often geared toward developing his or her
sensitivities to overcome culture fright.
84) The headquarters-based compensation method bases the expatriate’s compensation on the salary of a
comparable job in the city where the MNE has its headquarters.
85) A hardship allowance nullifies the risk that an expatriate will suffer a decline in his or her standard
of living due to the exorbitant expense of a particular city.
86) Historically, companies have not been particularly concerned with the challenge of repatriation in
managing their international human resources.
87) Studies of repatriated employees regularly report that most knew what their company position would
be when they returned home but were uncertain about their likely new workplace practices.
88) A growing number of MNEs are increasing expatriate allowances to entice employees to move
overseas.
89) A growing number of MNEs in Asia and Latin America are using performance-based pay to link
compensation with business results.
90) What are the differences between ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric frameworks?
91) What types of employees are increasingly being chosen for expatriate assignments? What
characteristics are firms seeking when selecting expatriates?
92) Why is global HRM more difficult than domestic HRM? How can staffing a foreign facility with
locals alleviate some of these HRM difficulties?
93) What individual characteristics and qualifications should a company consider when choosing
managerial candidates for foreign assignments? Which one do you think is most important? Why?
94) List and compare the three common methods of implementing a balanced compensation plan.
95) List and discuss the main components of an expatriate’s compensation package.
96) What problems do managers commonly encounter when repatriated from foreign assignments? How
can HRM improve the repatriation process?
97) What are the current trends in expatriate allowances? What are the reasons for these changes?
98) Why are third-country nationals increasingly being used to fill expatriate assignments? How do
third-country nationals fit into the concept of geocentrism?
99) How do MNEs benefit from superior international HRM especially when filling expatriate
positions? What costs do MNEs face when expatriate assignments are unsuccessful?