Chapter 04

Question 1

Culture is

Answer 1

The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one group or category of people from another.
Understanding the local culture is critical to successfully managing international operations.

Question 2

Cultural Frameworks

Answer 2

Tools for analyzing the pattern of norms, behaviors and customs that are common in a given society.

Question 3

To classify countries and cultures, the Ronen and Shenkar’s Country Clusters ____

Answer 3

Countries are grouped by patterns of similarity in employees’ attitudes toward work and how well it met their needs.
Countries within a cluster are geographically close (except for immigration patterns) and share the same language and some basic cultural values.
Richer, more developed countries within each cluster are most like each other and most different from lesser developed countries in their cluster.
Within-country differences are the result of the increasing cultural diversity in some countries.

Question 4

Examples of clusters in Ronen and SHenkar’s countrys

Answer 4

we control for the 11 cultural zones defined by Ronen and Shenkar (2013): African, Anglo, Arabic, Nordic, Germanic, Latin America, Near East, Latin Europe, East Europe, the Far East, and Confucian.

Question 5

Limitations of ronen and shenkar

Answer 5

Clusters that are missing countries
Former states of the Soviet Union?
Misrepresentation of developing nations
China: rapidly developing and yet a global competitor
Assumed cultural homogeneity in regional clusters
Concepts (e.g., “harmony”) have a different meaning in each country (e.g., China, Japan, Korea).
Within-country differences that cannot be ignored
Economic, ethnic, religious, and racial differences.

Question 6

Different types of Harmonies

Answer 6

Wa
Is the value that Japanese people place on group cohesion and group loyalty above individual needs.
Guanxi
Describes the business relationship building process in China that provides connections to influential persons and educates through sharing of information.
Inhwa
Refers to the “harmony” engendered by relationships between individuals of unequal status and power in South Korea.

Question 7

Hofstede clustered countries based on:

Answer 7

Work-Related Value Dimensions

Question 8

Individualism - collectivism

Answer 8

Whether people tend to view themselves primarily as individuals or as members of a group

Question 9

Masculinity - femininity

Answer 9

Whether success and assertive acquisition or people and relationships are more highly valued

Question 10

Power Distance

Answer 10

The extent to which people can accept large differences in power between individuals or groups

Question 11

Uncertainty Avoidance

Answer 11

The extent to which people tolerate uncertain or ambiguous events

Question 12

Long vs Short term orientation

Answer 12

Distinguishes between cultures that have a forward-looking perspective on life and those that are more concerned with the past and present

Question 13

Indulgence - self reliant

Answer 13

Distinguishes between cultures that are free to enjoy life and have fun vs. cultures with strict social norms

Question 14

Limitations of Hofstede Clusters

Answer 14

Cluster efforts overlook key countries
Eastern Europe countries and Vietnam.
Clustering ignores differences between countries within a specific cluster or quadrant
Wider generalizations made from Hofstede’s work are not tempered or qualified enough
Original results are based on work done forty years ago on a single large multinational firm.

Question 15

Trompenaars’ Alternate: Another Look at Bipolar Cultural Dimensions

Answer 15

Outer-Directed
People who tend to accommodate their behavior to their situation in life.
Inner-Directed
People who tend to believe they control their own destinies.

Question 16

The Implications of Culture for International Management

Answer 16

Work Centrality
- Is how important work is in the lives of employees.
- Depends on and is affected by culture.
- Varies across countries in its centrality.
- Changes over time within cultures.
-Creates the need for managers to adjust their management approaches to match specific cultures

Question 17

Cultural Convergence

Answer 17

Is the view that people around the world are increasingly thinking and acting alike.
Affects “traditional” cultural values seen as critical for local managerial effectiveness