IBU637 Comparative International Management Midterm Exam Latest 2021

Question 1The process of applying management concepts and techniques in a multinational environment and adapting management practices to different economic, political and cultural environments is:

                Strategic management

                Internationalization

                Globalization

                International management

Question 2The following definitions accurately match their dimension of culture except:

                People as members of a group, organization or society share culture

                Culture has structure and is integrated

                Culture is based on the human capacity to change or adapt

                Culture is cumulative, passed down from one generation to another

Question 3The three degrees of communication quantity are:

                Elaborate, exacting and succinct

                Precise, imprecise and elaborate

                Succinct, affective and precise

                Coarse, precise and elaborate

Question 4The study of morality and standards of conduct is referred to as:

                Social responsibility

                Law

                Governance

                Ethics

Question 5To qualify as a multinational corporation, a firm must meet all of the following criteria except:

                Operations in more than one country

                International sales

                A nationality mix of managers and owners

                Sales of at least one million dollars per year

Question 6Globalization:

                Is the growth of interstate trade, spurred on by the progress toward free-market policies

                Is the subcontracting of activities to endogenous organizations that had previously been performed within the firm

                Is the process of social, political, economic, cultural and technological integration among countries around the world

                Is the process of a business crossing national and cultural borders

Question 7The subcontracting or contracting out of activities to endogenous organizations that had previously been performed by the firm is called:

                Homesourcing

                Insourcing

                Offshoring

                Outsourcing

Question 8The World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Cancun in September of 2003 was led by:

                India and Brazil

                The U.S. and Japan

                The U.K. and France

                EU members

Question 9Which of the following is not a determinant of culture?

                Language

                Political philosophy

                Environmental Structure

                Education

Question 10Companies that pursue this strategy typically sell products for which a large portion of value is added in the upstream activities of the industry's value chain.

                Quality imperative

                Political imperative

                Economic imperative

                Administrative coordination

Question 11What is corporate governance and how does this differ around the world. Give an example.

Corporate governance is how different companies in a country are controlled and directed by the government. The companies are managed and controlled by the board of directors. The board of directors are in the positions and performing the duties given to them through the appointment by the shareholders who feel satisfied when the group are doing the tasks given.  Depending on the country, the corporate governance differ since there exists different policies governing businesses and how they should operate. It is because of this those different countries have different agency problems and it leads to the country having different actions to their directors.  For example, UK is known to be best in managing these corporates with about 395 companies. Canada comes second with 132 as Ireland takes the third slot with about 420 companies.

Question 12Typically, MNCs utilizing this approach to strategic planning use a country-centered or multi-domestic strategy.

                Quality imperative

                Administrative coordination

                Political imperative

                Economic imperative

Question 13Which of the following is false about the adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do?"

                It is derived from the idea of cultural relativism

                It suggests that businesses and the managers should behave in accordance with the ethical standards they are active in

                It suggests that it is necessary, to some extent, to rely on local teams to execute under local rule

                It is derived from the idea of cultural materialism

Question 14In terms of communication styles, which of the following countries has a high-context society?

                Germany

                Scandinavia

                Canada

                Japan

Question 15What is negotiation and the five steps to negotiation?

Negotiation is a process that entails two or more groups who have different agendas and needs with their viewpoint and they seek to achieve common ground through an agreement and thus, solving a mutual problem. In most cases it involves resolving conflicts that is done through exchanging their values. Before negotiation, one needs to plan and prepare to have meaningful negotiation. Secondly, definition of the ground rules to ensure both parties abide to the rules and the situation to be contained. Clarification and justification are another step after the parties meet. Again, there is bargaining and solving problem of the problem that would take the largest part of the discussion. Lastly, closure and implementation of what was agreed to come up with common grounds that will solve the problems of the parties.

Question 16In terms of communication styles, which of the following countries has a low-context society?

                The United States

                Japan

                Italy

                Arab countries

Question 17Which of the following statements is not true with regard to child labor?

                Child labor continues to climb

                Child labor has declined for girls

                The ILO has been involved in developing standards regarding child labor

                UNICEF and the World Bank recognize that family survival sometimes depends on children working

Question 18These individuals are the key to stimulating profit growth within a company.

                Supervisors

                Middle managers

                First-line managers

                Top managers

Question 19All of the following are accurate descriptions of the main characteristics of culture except:

                Culture is inherited or biologically based; it is not acquired by learning and experience

                People as members of a group, organization or society share culture; it is not specific to a single individual

                Culture is cumulative, passed down from one generation to the next

                Culture is based on the human capacity to symbolize or use one thing to represent another

Question 20The products sold by MNCs pursuing this approach often have a large portion of their value added in the downstream activities of the value chain.

                Political imperative

                Cost imperative

                Quality imperative

                Economic imperative

Question 21Ford Motor's strategic plan in Thailand is based on:

                Offering the right price and product

                Offering the right combination of price and financing to a carefully identified market segment

                Offering the right combination of price and financing to all market segments

                Offering the right financing only

Question 22Antiglobalization activists:

                Contend that even within the developing world, it is protectionist policies, not trade and investment liberalization, that result in environmental and social damage

                Believe globalization will force higher-polluting countries such as China and Russia into an integrated global community that takes responsible measures to protect the environment

                Assert that if corporations are free to locate anywhere in the world, the world's poorest countries will relax or eliminate environmental standards and social services in order to attract first-world investment and the jobs and wealth that come with it

                Believe that industrialization will create wealth that will enable new industries to employ more modern, environmentally friendly technology

Question 23Discuss what is the Base of the Pyramid theory and what opportunities do companies have regarding it

In economics, the term is used to mean the poorest two-thirds human pyramid in economic and therefore, it elaborates the group of people who are about 4 billion and are living under abject poverty. This has more opportunities to the companies because it consists of the largest group of consumers. Firms always consider perfect market for their products and therefore, focusing to the base of the pyramid is golden opportunity that no company would like to lose. The model was developed by young entrepreneurs who were focusing their interest to poor people. It is always easy to convince these groups of people especially if one has cheap products that are affordable compared to middle-class groups that are selective whenever they are shopping.

Question 24_____ is acquired knowledge that people use to interpret, experience and generate social behavior.

                Edification

                Culture

                Symbol

                Cognition

Question 25A worldwide strategy based on cost leadership, differentiation and segmentation is referred to as the:

                Economic imperative

                Political imperative

                Quality imperative

                Administrative coordination strategy

Question 26According to the text, which country has experienced widespread human trafficking in recent years?

                South Africa

                India

                Russia

                China

Question 27Explain the wide variety of tactics used in international negotiation. Give an example.

International negotiations usually involve dialogues that are power-based whose aim is to achieve common goals or even to end contracts. The negation serves to solve a dispute the involved countries have to achieve satisfactions. Different tactics are available and the common one includes starting with extreme demands that are followed by slow and small concessions of demands towards the end of the negotiation process. Also, there is a take-it-or leave it tactic strategy that is used when the party demanding the need knows that there is nothing, they can lose from the negotiation process. The other style is inviting the offers that are unreciprocated to up the negotiation game. A good example is negotiating on the matter of COVID-19 vaccination that requires more than one country to participate.

Question 28Messages are implicit and often highly coded in:

                Low-context societies

                Moderate-context societies

                High-context societies

                Variable-context societies

Question 29Identify the statement that is false of globalization.

                It can be defined as the process of social, political, economic, cultural and technological integration among countries around the world

                It is the process of a business crossing national and cultural borders

                Evidence of globalization can be seen in increased levels of trade, capital flows and migration

                It has been facilitated by technological advances in transnational communications, transport and travel

Question 30Communication is the process of:

                Transferring meanings from sender to receiver

                Choosing a course of action among alternatives

                Giving teams the resources they need to develop ideas and effectively implement them

                Using reports and other written forms to communicate business operations

Question 31Which of the following views the individual as part of rather than separate from nature?

                Aristotelian virtue ethics

                Utilitarianism

                Kantian philosophical traditions

                Eastern philosophy

Question 32Honda and General Motors have both built plants in Thailand to take advantage of

                Demand and low delivery costs

                Strategic pricing

                New technologies and low wages

                Tax incentives and demand

Question 33The global organization of countries that oversees rules and regulations for international trade and investment, including agriculture, intellectual property, services, competition and subsidies is the:

                WTO

                NAFTA

                WIPO

                ITO

Question 34According to the text, the highest cultural priority (or value) in Japan is considered as:

                Cooperation

                Individualism

                Family security

                Belonging

Question 35Which style of communication focuses on precision and the use of the right amount of words to convey the message?

                Coarse

                Succinct

                Elaborate

                Exacting

Question 36_____ is the information that surrounds a communication and helps convey the message.

                Contingency

                Stipulation

                Context

                Circumstance

Question 37The approach to strategic formulation and implementation utilizing strategies of TQM to meet or exceed customers' expectations and continuously improve products and/or services is referred to as the:

                Value-added imperative

                Quality imperative

                Political imperative

                Economic imperative

Question 38In high-context societies, the _____ style of communication is common.

                Exacting

                Elaborate

                Succinct

                Compact

Question 39MNCs using the _____ approach to strategic planning are country-responsive; their approach is designed to protect local market niches.

                Administrative coordination strategy

                Economic imperative

                Quality imperative

                Political imperative

Question 40The issue of relatively low wages paid by subcontractors to workers in ______ made headlines in 2010 after a series of suicides by factory workers.

                Vietnam

                Malaysia

                Mexico

                China

Question 41Identify the handshake that does not accurately match the culture it is associated.

                Asian-gentle

                French-light and quick

                Latin America-moderate grasp; repeated frequently

                United States-soft

Question 42Culture is:

                Individual

                Acquired

                Inherited

                Unstructured

Question 43Culturally, a German can be expected to have a _____ handshake.

                Gentle

                Light and quick

                Brusk and firm

                Long and involved

Question 44The process by which companies undertake some activities at offshore locations instead of in their countries of origin is:

                Homesourcing

                Insourcing

                Offshoring

                Outsourcing

Question 45According to the text, the highest cultural priority (or value) in the U.S. is considered as:

                Family security

                Belonging

                Freedom

                Cooperation

Question 46

The largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number is associated with which of the following?

                Aristotelian virtue ethics

                Kantian philosophical traditions

                Utilitarianism

                Eastern philosophy

Question 47According to the text, strategic planning helps MNCs to do all of the following except:

                Coordinate and monitor its far-flung operations

                Deal with political risks

                Determine performance

                Get higher profitability

Question 48Researchers have found that the contextual style is often associated with:

                Low-power distance, collective, high-context cultures

                Low-power distance, individualistic, high-context cultures

                High-power distance, individualistic, low-context cultures

                High-power distance, collective, high-context cultures

Question 49All of the following statements about ethics are true except:

                It is the study of morality and standards of conduct

                It is the victim of subjectivity as it yields to the will of cultural relativism

                It is the belief that the ethical standard of a country is based on the culture that created it and that moral concepts lack universal application

                It is not related to the area of corporate social responsibility

Question 50Japanese firms tend to have a culture of deference which is supported by all of the following except

                the unwillingness of workers to report problems to their superiors

                the unwillingness of workers to question their superiors

                the unwillingness of workers to challenge what has been decided

                the unwillingness of workers to be loyal to the firm