Management Ch. 4: Terms

individualism versus collectivism; power distance; achievement versus nurturing orientation; uncertainty avoidance; and long-term versus short-term orientation

Geert Hofstede developed five dimensions along which national cultures can be placed:

tariff

A ______ is a tax that a government imposes on goods imported into one country from another.

(1) the supplier is the sole source of an input and (2) the input is vital to the organization

A major supplier-related threat that confronts managers arises when suppliers' bargaining position is so strong that they can raise the prices of the inputs they supply to the organization. A supplier's bargaining position is especially strong when (1) _______ and (2) ________.

long term short term long term short term

A national culture with a _______-term orientation rests on values such as thrift (saving) and persistence in achieving goals. A national culture with a ______-term orientation is concerned with maintaining personal stability or happiness and living for the present. Societies with a _______ -term orientation include Taiwan and Hong Kong, well known for their high rate of per capita savings. The United States and France have a _____-term orientation, and their citizens tend to spend more and save less.

Low; High High; Low

Advanced Western countries such as the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have relatively _______ power distance and ______ individualism. Economically poor Latin American countries such as Guatemala and Panama, and Asian countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines, have _____ power distance and _____ individualism.

global organization

An organization that operates and competes in more than one country.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) World Trade Organization (WTO)

Countries that accepted this free-trade doctrine set as their goal the removal of barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and capital between countries. They attempted to achieve this through an international treaty known as the _________. GATT was replaced by the ________.

Low power distance

In societies with _______ power distance, large inequalities between citizens are not allowed to develop. In ______-power-distance countries, the government uses taxation and social welfare programs to reduce inequality and improve the welfare of the least fortunate. These societies are more attuned to preventing a large gap between rich and poor and minimizing discord between different classes of citizens.

government regulations administrative barriers

In some cases, _______________ function as a barrier to entry at both the industry and the country levels. At the national and global levels, ___________ are government policies that create barriers to entry and limit imports of goods by overseas companies.

economic forces

Interest rates, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, and other factors that affect the general health and well-being of a nation or the regional economy of an organization.

distributors

Organizations that help other organizations sell their goods or services to customers.

potential competitors

Organizations that presently are not in a task environment but could enter if they so choose.

political and legal forces

Outcomes of changes in laws and regulations, such as deregulation of industries, privatization of organizations, and increased emphasis on environmental protection.

sociocultural forces

Pressures emanating from the social structure of a country or society or from the national culture.

low high

Societies ______ on uncertainty avoidance (such as the United States and Hong Kong) are easygoing, value diversity, and tolerate differences in personal beliefs and actions. Societies _____ on uncertainty avoidance (such as Japan and France) are more rigid and skeptical about people whose behaviors or beliefs differ from the norm.

high power distance

Societies in which inequalities are allowed to persist or grow over time have ______ power distance. In _______-power-distance societies, workers who are professionally successful amass wealth and pass it on to their children, and, as a result, inequalities may grow over time.

achievement nurturing achievement nurturing

Societies that have an _________ orientation value assertiveness, performance, success, competition, and results. Societies that have a ________ orientation value the quality of life, warm personal relationships, and services and care for the weak. Japan and the United States tend to be ___________-oriented; the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark are more _________-oriented.

task environment

The ___________ is the set of forces and conditions that originate with global suppliers, distributors, customers, and competitors; these forces and conditions affect an organization's ability to obtain inputs used to manufacture and sell its products or services. This contains the forces that have the most immediate and direct effect on managers because they pressure and influence managers daily.

values and norms

The basic building blocks of national culture are _____ and _______.

power distance

The degree to which societies accept the idea that inequalities in the power and well-being of their citizens are due to differences in individuals' physical and intellectual capabilities and heritage.

Political capital Resource capital Financial capital Human capital

The four principal forms of capital that flow between countries are these:

free-trade doctrine

The idea that if each country specializes in the production of the goods and services that it can produce most efficiently, this will make the best use of global resources.

global environment

The set of global forces and conditions that operate beyond an organization's boundaries but affect a manager's ability to acquire and utilize resources.

national culture

The set of values that a society considers important and the norms of behavior that are approved or sanctioned in that society.

social structure

The traditional system of relationships established between people and groups in a society.

general environment

The wide-ranging global, economic, technological, sociocultural, demographic, political, and legal forces that affect an organization and its task environment.

mores and folkways.

Two types of norms play a major role in national culture:

Performance Orientation; Assertiveness; Future Orientation; Humane Orientation; Institutional Collectivism; In-Group Collectivism; Gender Egalitarianism; Power Distance; Uncertainty Avoidance

What are The GLOBE Project's nine cultural dimensions?

GLOBE Project (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness)

Which project extends Hofstede's work by looking at additional cultural dimensions.

Values

______ are beliefs about what a society considers to be good, right, desirable, or beautiful—or their opposites. They provide the basic underpinnings for notions of individual freedom, democracy, truth, justice, honesty, loyalty, social obligation, collective responsibility, the appropriate roles for men and women, love, sex, marriage, and so on. They are more than merely abstract concepts; they are invested with considerable emotional significance.

Norms

______ are unwritten, informal codes of conduct that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations and are considered important by most members of a group or organization. They shape the behavior of people toward one another.

capital

________ -valuable wealth-generating assets or resources that people move through companies, countries, and world regions to seek their greatest returns or profits

Customers

________ are the individuals and groups that buy the goods and services an organization produces.

Folkways

________ are the routine social conventions of everyday life. They concern customs and practices such as dressing appropriately for particular situations, using good social manners, eating with the correct utensils, and displaying neighborly behavior. Although they define how people are expected to behave, violation of them is not a serious or moral matter. People who violate them are often thought to be eccentric or ill-mannered, but they are not usually considered immoral or wicked.

Individualism

________ is a worldview that values individual freedom and self-expression and adherence to the principle that people should be judged by their individual achievements rather than by their social background.

Suppliers

_________ are the individuals and organizations that provide an organization with the input resources (such as raw materials, component parts, or employees) it needs to produce goods and services.

Collectivism

_________ is a worldview that values subordination of the individual to the goals of the group and adherence to the principle that people should be judged by their contribution to the group. It was widespread in communist countries but has become less prevalent since the collapse of communism in most of those countries. Japan is a noncommunist country where this worldview is highly valued.

Technology Technological forces

_________ is the combination of tools, machines, computers, skills, information, and knowledge that managers use to design, produce, and distribute goods and services. __________ are outcomes of changes in that technology.

Barriers to entry economies of scale, brand loyalty, and government regulations

__________ are factors that make it difficult and costly for a company to enter a particular task environment or industry and they result from three main sources:

Mores

__________ are norms that are considered to be of central importance to the functioning of society and to social life. Accordingly, the violation of these brings serious retribution. It include proscriptions against murder, theft, adultery, and incest.

Competitors

__________ are organizations that produce goods and services that are similar and comparable to a particular organization's goods and services.

Demographic forces

__________ are outcomes of changes in, or changing attitudes toward, the characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, ethnic origin, race, sexual orientation, and social class.

Brand loyalty

__________ is customers' preference for the products of organizations currently in the task environment.

Globalization interdependent

__________ is the set of specific and general forces that work together to integrate and connect economic, political, and social systems across countries, cultures, or geographic regions. The result of this is that nations and peoples become increasingly __________ because the same forces affect them in similar ways.

Global outsourcing

__________ occurs when a company contracts with suppliers in other countries to make the various inputs or components that go into its products or to assemble the final products to reduce costs.

Economies of scale

___________ are the cost advantages associated with large operations. It results from factors such as manufacturing products in very large quantities, buying inputs in bulk, or making more effective use of organizational resources than do competitors by fully utilizing employees' skills and knowledge.

expatriate

______________ —an employee who lives and works in a foreign country.