International Business Chapter 4

According to ________, suffering originates in people's desires for pleasure.

Buddhism

Which of the following is a closed system of stratification in which social position is determined by the family into which a person is born, and change in that position is usually not possible during an individual's lifetime?

Caste system

The emphasis on individualism in the United States results in which of the following advantages?

Executives are exposed to different ways of doing business

The emphasis on individualism in the United States results in which of the following advantages?

Executives are exposed to different ways of doing business.

The protection of the right to private property is embedded within ________.

Islam

Which of the following sociologists made a connection between Protestant ethics and "the spirit of capitalism"?

Max Weber

________ include such factors as indictments against theft, adultery, incest, and cannibalism.

Mores

Which of the following statements about the use of spoken language is true?

Most people prefer to converse in their own language rather than English.

Max Weber theorized that there was a relationship between Protestantism and the emergence of modern capitalism because:

Protestant ethics emphasize the importance of hard work and wealth creation and frugality.

Max Weber coined the term ________ to denote the tendency on the part of Protestants to work hard and accumulate wealth.

Protestant work ethic

Which of the following refers to the extent to which individuals can move out of the strata into which they are born?

Social mobility

Which of the following statements is true about a class system?

Social mobility within a class system varies from society to society.

These are typically defined on the basis of characteristics such as family background, occupation, and income.

Social strata

These are typically defined on the basis of characteristics such as family background, occupation, and income.

Social strata Norms refer to the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations.

Which of the following observations is correct?

The economic principles of Islam prohibit the payment or receipt of interest. One economic principle of Islam prohibits the payment or receipt of interest, which is considered usury. This is not just a matter of theology; in several Islamic states, it is also a matter of law.

Which of the following statements about values and norms of a culture is true?

The values and norms of a society influence social structure.

The ________ is a research project spanning more than 100 countries that explores people's values and norms, how they change over time, and what impact they have in society and business.

World Values Survey The WVS includes dimensions for support for democracy; tolerance of foreigners and ethnic minorities; support for gender equality; the role of religion and changing levels of religiosity; the impact of globalization; attitudes toward the environment, work, family, politics, national identity, culture, diversity, and insecurity; and subjective well-being.

For international businesses, the connection between culture and competitive advantage is important because:

a strong connection is likely to produce the most viable competitors.

Hinduism and Buddhism both stress the importance of ________.

afterlife

Cross-cultural literacy refers to:

an understanding of how cultural differences can affect business.

A society's social structure refers to its:

basic social organization.

A condition where people tend to perceive themselves in terms of their class background and this shapes their relationships with members of other classes is known as ________.

class consciousness

An upper-middle-class manager tends to have hostile relationship with the working-class employees in the firm because of his tendency to perceive himself as superior to them based on his class background. In this example, the manager exhibits ________.

class consciousness

A ________ is a less rigid form of social stratification in which social mobility is possible.

class system

The system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living best defines ________.

culture

A major difference between Buddhism and Hinduism is that unlike Hinduism, Buddhism:

does not support the caste system.

A ________ is an association of two or more individuals who have a shared sense of identity and who interact with each other in structured ways on the basis of a common set of expectations about each other's behavior.

group

In countries where the value of ________ identification is considered to be primary, managers and workers are discouraged from moving from company to company.

group

Class-based conflict between workers and management in class-conscious societies can lead to:

increased costs of doing business.

A caste system differs from a class system because:

it is not possible for an individual to change his or her caste, while a class system allows people to change their class through individual achievement. A caste system is a closed system of stratification in which social position is determined by the family into which a person is born, and change in that position is usually not possible during an individual's lifetime. A class system is a form of open stratification in which the position a person has by birth can be changed through his or her own achievements or luck.

The ________ refers to the extent to which a culture programs its citizens to accept delayed gratification of their material, social, and emotional needs.

long-term versus short-term orientation dimension

The concept of mobility between castes within an individual's lifetime:

makes no sense to traditional Hindus. Historically, Hinduism also supported India's caste system. An individual can be reborn into a higher caste in his or her next life if he or she achieves spiritual development in this life.

Hofstede's masculinity versus femininity dimension looked at the relationship between gender and work roles and found that in:

masculine cultures, sex roles were sharply differentiated, and traditional "masculine values" determined cultural ideals.

Culture is ________.

not static

The ________ dimension of Hofstede's study explores how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.

power distance

A group of people who share a common set of values and norms form a ________.

society

The term ________ also means culture.

society The relationship between culture and country is often ambiguous. Even if a country can be characterized as having a single homogeneous culture, often that national culture is a mosaic of subcultures. To abide by these cultural nuances, businesspeople should be aware of the delicate issues pertaining to folkways.

An act, as simple as shaking hands when meeting new people is an example of ________.

symbolic behavior Folkways include rituals and symbolic behavior. Rituals and symbols are the most visible manifestations of a culture and constitute the outward expression of deeper values.

One reason for the shift in values away from collectivism and toward individualism may be:

that richer societies exhibit less need for social and material support structures built on collectives.

Hinduism and Buddhism both stress the importance of ________.

the afterlife

Norms refer to:

the social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations.

According to Islam, those who hold property are regarded as ________.

trustees