Chapter 4
Which of the following BEST increases a country's competitive advantage and its attractiveness as a location for international business?
education system that is well developed Not only is a good education system a determinant of national competitive advantage, but it is also an important factor guiding the location choices of international businesses. The recent trend to outsource information technology jobs to India, for example, is partly due to the presence of significant numbers of trained engineers in India.
Shayla is from South Africa and believes that the customs and beliefs of her culture are superior to those she has encountered during her trip to America. Shayla's attitude is an example of
ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is a belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.
According to Geert Hofstede, what dimension captures attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering by status, protection of face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of gifts and favors?
long-term versus short-term orientation The long-term versus short-term orientation dimension refers to the extent to which a culture programs its citizens to accept delayed gratification of their material, social, and emotional needs. It captures attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering by status, protection of face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of gifts and favors.
The social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations are called
norms. By norms, we mean the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations.
While it might differ in other countries, in the United States the customary distance apart that should be used in a business discussion is
5-8 feet. Another aspect of nonverbal communication is personal space, which is the comfortable amount of distance between you and someone you are talking with. In the United States, the customary distance apart adopted by parties in a business discussion is five to eight feet.
Intelligent Tool Corp. is planning to set up a production plant abroad. It has selected five potential countries based on their population size, stage of economic development, labor costs, and access to world markets. Considering the connection between culture and competitive advantage, which of the following countries would be the best investment site for Intelligent Tool Corp.?
Country B, where education is well-developed and social stratification is lacking. The connection between culture and competitive advantage has important implications for the choice of countries in which to locate production facilities and do business. Consider a hypothetical case when a company has to choose between two countries, A and B, for locating a production facility. Both countries are characterized by low labor costs and good access to world markets. Both countries are of roughly the same size (in terms of population), and both are at a similar stage of economic development. In country A, the education system is undeveloped, the society is characterized by a marked stratification between the upper and lower classes, and there are six major linguistic groups. In country B, the education system is well developed, social stratification is lacking, group identification is valued by the culture, and there is only one linguistic group. Which country makes the best investment site? Country B probably does. In country A, conflict between management and labor, and between different language groups, can be expected to lead to social and industrial disruption, thereby raising the costs of doing business. The lack of a good education system also can be expected to work against the attainment of business goals.
American company Software Unlimited is planning to expand its operations to the Bangor Republic where the group is the primary unit of social organization. According to this information, what is a likely outcome for Software Unlimited from operating in the Bangor Republic?
Employees will achieve close cooperation with others. Strong identification with the group is argued to create pressures for mutual self-help and collective action. If the worth of an individual is closely linked to the achievements of the group (e.g., firm), as Nakane maintains is the case in Japan, this creates a strong incentive for individual members of the group to work together for the common good. Some argue that the success of some Japanese enterprises in the global economy has been based partly on their ability to achieve close cooperation between individuals within a company and between companies.
What is one criticism regarding Geert Hofstede's research on cultural dimensions?
The research team consisted of only Europeans and Americans. We should be careful about reading too much into Hofstede's research. It has been criticized on a number of points. First, Hofstede assumes there is a one-to-one correspondence between culture and the nation-state, but many countries have more than one culture. Second, Hofstede's research may have been culturally bound. The research team was composed of Europeans and Americans.
Jason runs a manufacturing company. He hires five people based on their physical abilities because they are able to lift heavy boxes in the stockroom and two people based who are able to strategically plan the company's next steps. Jason realizes that people are not equal in physical and intellectual capabilities, an aspect of which cultural dimension identified by Hofstede?
power distance Hofstede's power distance dimension focused on how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.
With increased economic progress, cultures across the world seem to be moving toward some universally accepted values and norms. This is known as the
convergence hypothesis. As countries around the world climb the ladder of economic progress, some argue that the conditions for less cultural variation have been created. There may be, in other words, a slow but steady convergence occurring across different cultures toward some universally accepted values and norms—this is known as the convergence hypothesis.
Which of these is not used to determine culture?
geography The values and norms of a culture do not emerge fully formed. They evolve over time in response to a number of factors, including prevailing political and economic philosophies, the social structure of a society, and the dominant religion, language, and education.
Within the context of the individual as the basic unit of a social organization, what is an implication of the emphasis on individualism in many Western societies?
high degree of managerial mobility between companies Individualism also finds expression in a high degree of managerial mobility between companies, and this is not always a good thing. Although moving from company to company may be good for individual managers who are trying to build impressive résumés, it is not necessarily a good thing for companies. The lack of loyalty and commitment to an individual company and the tendency to move on for a better offer can result in managers who have good general skills but lack the knowledge, experience, and network of interpersonal contacts that come from years of working within the same company.
In the Republic of Nabu, natives are resistant to change and do not like to take risks. They value job security and retirement benefits. In addition, they have a strong need for rules and regulations. Based on this information, the Republic of Nabu demonstrates which cultural dimension identified by Hofstede?
high uncertainty avoidance Hofstede's uncertainty avoidance dimension measured the extent to which different cultures socialized their members into accepting ambiguous situations and tolerating uncertainty. Members of high uncertainty avoidance cultures placed a premium on job security, career patterns, retirement benefits, and so on. They also had a strong need for rules and regulations. Lower uncertainty avoidance cultures were characterized by a greater readiness to take risks and less emotional resistance to change.
It has been noted that there is a connection between individualism that is fostered by Protestantism and
the extent of entrepreneurial activity in a nation. The right to freedom of form of worship was central to the nonconformist nature of early Protestantism. This emphasis on individual religious freedom may have paved the way for the subsequent emphasis on individual economic and political freedoms and the development of individualism as an economic and political philosophy. As we saw in Chapter 2, such a philosophy forms the bedrock on which entrepreneurial free market capitalism is based. Building on this, some scholars claim there is a connection between individualism, as inspired by Protestantism, and the extent of entrepreneurial activity in a nation.
Connor was born into a poor family, but he worked hard during high school and went on to receive his master's degree in business. Today, he is considered "upper middle class" and enjoys a comfortable lifestyle. Connor's journey is an example of
social mobility. The term social mobility refers to the extent to which individuals can move out of the strata into which they are born. Social mobility varies significantly from society to society. The most rigid system of stratification is a caste system.
The social strata evident in a society is primarily derived from
socioeconomic characteristics. All societies are stratified on a hierarchical basis into social categories—that is, into social strata. These strata are typically defined on the basis of socioeconomic characteristics such as family background, occupation, and income.
Which scenario best represents a mores violation?
Bribing a government official in a country where bribery is illegal. Mores is a term that refers to norms that are more widely observed, have greater moral significance than other norms, and are central to the functioning of a society and to its social life. This means that mores have a much greater significance than folkways. Accordingly, violating mores can bring serious retribution, ill will, and collapse of any business deal in the making. In many societies, certain mores have been enacted into law.
The mother tongue of the largest number of people is
Mandarin. Mandarin (Chinese) is the mother tongue of the largest number of people, followed by English and Hindi, which is spoken in India.
The system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and together create a design for living is known as a
culture. A culture is a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living.
MaryAnne is always late to meetings and she knows she needs to be better about being on time because it is expected by almost everyone living in the United States. This attitude toward time is an example of a
folkway. Folkways are the routine conventions of everyday life. Generally, folkways are actions of little moral significance. Rather, they are social conventions concerning things such as the appropriate dress code in a particular situation, good social manners, eating with the correct utensils, neighborly behavior, and the like. Although folkways define the way people are expected to behave, violation of them is not normally a serious matter.
