INB FINAL

Which of the following is true of expatriate failure?

A combination of work-related and family-related problems leads to expatriate failure.

Which of the following is a reason that conflict exists between labor unions and firm managers?

All answers are correct.

Which of the following is an effect of adopting a local responsiveness strategy?

Costs of products and services are increased.

The business leader of a specific country (or a geographic region) is known as a(n) ______:

Country manager

From a resource-based standpoint, a fundamental basis for competitive advantage is innovation-based firm heterogeneity. _____ virtually guarantees that there will be persistent heterogeneity in the solutions generated.

Decentralized R&D work performed by different teams around the world

_____ refers to longer-term, broader preparation to improve managerial skills for a better career.

Development

_____ are nonnative employees who work and reside in a foreign country.

Expatriates

_____ is leaving one's home country to work in another country.

Expatriation

Sara is an American national working as an expatriate for a MNE in Turkey. Her contact was for two years, but she decided to repatriate after only six months. Which of the following is a likely reason for her early repatriation?

Family related problems

_______ is an organizational structure often used to alleviate the disadvantages associated with both geographic area and global product division structures, particularly when adopting a transnational strategy.

Global matrix

TrinkCan Inc., a soft drink company in Wales, establishes new branches in England, Australia, and the United States. To minimize its costs, the company uses similar packaging, distribution, and promotion across all the countries. According to the integration-responsiveness framework, which of the following strategies is used by TrinkCan?

Global standardization strategy

Frolik Foods Inc., a fast food franchise in the United States, opens a new outlet in Germany. The franchise develops recipes in the U.S. and then transfers them to its outlets in Germany. Which of the following strategies is being used by Frolik Foods?

Home replication strategy

Which of the following statements is true of a polycentric approach in staffing?

Host-country nationals (HCNs) provide continuity of management as they stay in their positions for a long period of time

In the context of organizational cultures, which of the following is true of a wolf culture?

It centers on relentless pursuit with highly motivated employees working overtime.

Which of the following statements is true of the going rate approach of compensating expatriates?

It differs for the same position around the world.

Which of the following statements is true of a geographic area structure?

It encourages the fragmentation of the multinational enterprises into fiefdoms.

Which of the following statements is true of a global product division structure?

It is highly responsive to cost reduction pressures.

Which of the following is an advantage of adopting a home replication strategy?

It is relatively easy to implement.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of adopting a home replication strategy?

It often lacks local responsiveness.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of a global product division structure?

It results in the suffering of local responsiveness

Which of the following is a disadvantage of adopting a global standardization strategy?

It sacrifices local responsiveness

In the context of knowledge management, which of the following is true of multinational enterprises (MNEs) adopting a localization strategy?

Knowledge is developed and retained within each subsidiary

In the context of knowledge management, which of the following is true of multinational enterprises (MNEs) adopting a transnational strategy?

Knowledge is developed jointly and shared worldwide

In the context of knowledge management, which of the following is true of multinational enterprises (MNEs) adopting a global standardization strategy?

Knowledge is mostly developed and retained at the center and key locations

_____ means reacting to different consumer preferences and host-country demands.

Local responsiveness

Which of the following best illustrates the effect of formal institutions on human resource management?

Red Inc., a company based in the country of Nebulia, faces legal hurdles when hiring part time workers for one of its foreign subsidiaries

Zipsoft Inc., a technological firm in Belwick, is planning to establish subsidiaries in Arcadia and Platinia. A major problem is that Arcadia is a union stronghold. To tackle the union stronghold, which of the following would be in the best interest of the company if it establishes a subsidiary in Arcadia?

Relying on an experienced employee from Arcadia

_____ is the process of returning to expatriate's home country after an extended period overseas.

Repatriation

The proactive and deliberate pursuit of new opportunities by a subsidiary to expand its scope of responsibility is known as _____.

Subsidiary initiative

The balance sheet approach refers to a compensation approach that balances the cost-of-living differences based on parent-country levels and adds a financial inducement to make the package attractive.

TRUE

Which of the following is true of performance appraisal meetings conducted by western multinational enterprises (MNEs) in high power distance countries?

These meetings are not of much help as employees themselves do not place a lot of importance on self-expression

Which of the following is true of the business leader of a specific country (or a geographic region)?

They carry a great deal of weight in their geographic area.

To avoid expatriate failure, which of the following is true of the firms that use situation dimensions to select expatriates?

They prefer employees with some command of the local language.

To avoid expatriate failure, which of the following is true of the firms using only individual dimensions to select expatriates?

They prefer employees with strong technical abilities and cross-cultural adaptability.

What is the difference between training and development for expatriates?

Training is specific preparation for a job.

What did Theodore Levitt argue in his 1983 article "The Globalization of Markets"?

Worldwide consumer tastes are converging

A HRM team that wants to retain expatriates and foster strong identification with the host country should use which of the following compensation approaches?

balance sheet approach

In multinational enterprises (MNEs), third-country nationals:

come from neither the parent country nor the host country.

The two sets of pressures that multinational enterprises (MNEs) confront are _____.

cost reduction and local responsiveness

Companies following a localization strategy differ from companies following a home replication strategy in that the companies following a localization strategy:

develop and retain knowledge within each subsidiary.

In the context of strategizing, structuring, and learning around the world, an implication for savvy managers will be to:

develop learning and innovative capabilities to leverage multinational presence as an asset

A(n) _____ emphasizes the norms and practices of the parent company (and the parent country of the MNE) by relying on parent-country nationals (PCNs).

ethnocentric approach

Widget Corp., a technological firm based in the U.S., mainly relies on staffing its employees from the U.S. for its operations. It adopts the same approach in staffing the top positions of its foreign subsidiaries as they have perfect understanding of the norms and cultures of the parent company. In this case, Widget Corp. follows a(n) _____ in staffing.

ethnocentric approach

A perceived lack of talent among parent-country nationals (PCNs) often necessitates an ethnocentric approach.

false

Centralized research and development guarantees persistent heterogeneity in the solutions generated by a company.

false

Domestic and international competition share the pressure to reduce costs, but only domestic competition feels the pressure for local responsiveness.

false

Every country has formal rules that are embodied in cultures, norms, and values governing the do's and don'ts of human resource management.

false

From a resource-based standpoint, a fundamental basis for competitive advantage is innovation-based firm homogeneity.

false

In multinational enterprises, host-country nationals (HCNs) are generally referred to as expats.

false

In the context of performance appraisals, evaluation of host-country nationals by expatriates is isolated from cultural differences.

false

MNEs prefer to work with unionized workforces.

false

Nowadays, it has become necessary to pay extra compensation to attract higher-caliber and more senior expatriates.

false

Performance appraisal refers to salary and benefits.

false

The stakeholders of an MNE (employees and world governments) gain confidence in the global aspirations of the MNE when the upper echelon of management consists largely of one nationality.

false

To be more effective and supportive of labor causes, labor unions should move operations around the world

false

Widget Corp., a manufacturing firm in Lithuania, exports its manufactured tools to Wales. To protect its domestic firms, the Government of Wales imposes a 20 percent tax on the tools imported from Widget Corp. Therefore, Widget Corp. is subject to:

formal institutional frameworks erected by the host-country government.

Multinational enterprises appoint home-country nationals as the head of a foreign subsidiary because the home-country nationals:

have an understanding of the informal workings of multinational enterprises.

In the context of staffing approaches, a multinational enterprise (MNE) pursuing a localization strategy:

hires host-country nationals to head subsidiaries.

Training and development programs for expatriates who are assigned to work for a short period in a foreign country should ideally

involve survival-level language training

The global matrix structure supports the goal of the transnational strategy, but in practice it is often difficult to deliver because:

managers have to deal with two bosses who are often in conflict.

Austin is an employee of Zade Corp. in Ethiona. He worked in Zade's subsidiary in Lumeria for over four years and returned to Ethiona. Upon his return, he assumed a new position as a project manager at Zade. In this scenario, Austin is a(n) _____.

repatriate

Expatriates acting as ambassadors:

represent the interests of the subsidiaries when interacting with headquarters

_____ refers to human resource management (HRM) activities associated with hiring employees and filling positions.

staffing

John lives in the country of Lucitonia. He has been employed with Rues and West Inc., a capital goods manufacturing company based in Lucitonia, for more than 15 years. He is currently on an assignment to his company's subsidiary at Aquardica. He is representing the interests of Rue and West's headquarters to suggest changes in the management of the subsidiary at Aquardica. Given this information, John is an expatriate acting as a _____.

strategist

Altonland Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in the United States, generally appoints a U.S. national as the head of its foreign subsidiaries for the first few years after a subsidiary is established. The company has been following this practice from the time it started its overseas operations. The given scenario illustrates:

the informal rules of the game.

When a geocentric approach in staffing is adopted, _____.

the nationality of the employees is disregarded.

Jane is an experienced analyst at a data analytics company based in Athenia. She is traveling to their subsidiary unit at Sparanthea to explain the use of the latest data analytics tools to the newly recruited data analysts. In this scenario, Jane is an expatriate acting as a(n) _____.

trainer

_____ is specific preparation to do a particular job.

training

Multinational enterprises that engage in a _____ strategy promote global learning and diffusion of innovations in multiple ways.

transnational

'Be curious' is one of the four Cs developed by Susan Meisinger for savvy managers.

true

A hallmark of transnational multinational enterprises is a high degree of interdependence and extensive and bi-directional flows of knowledge.

true

As HRM becomes increasingly more strategic, managers should use VRIO dimensions to assess its activities.

true

Formal structures are easier to observe and imitate than informal structures.

true

Managers need to actively develop learning and innovation capabilities to leverage multinational presence.

true

The positioning of the four strategic choices of multinational enterprises is not random. They develop from the relatively simple international division through either geographic area or global product division structures.

true

The staffing choices of top positions abroad are of paramount importance and often a reflection of the strategic posture of the MNE.

true

Transnational strategy aims to capture the best of both worlds by endeavoring to be both cost efficient and locally responsive.

true

According to a polycentric approach in staffing, host-country nationals (HCNs):

who are in top positions send morale-boosting signals to others.