Global Mindset

Question 1

Civil law

Answer 1

Legal system based on written codes (laws, rules, or
regulations).

Question 2

Common law

Answer 2

Legal system in which each case is considered in terms
of how it relates to legal decisions that have already been
made; evolves through judicial decisions over time.

Question 3

Cultural intelligence

Answer 3

Capacity to recognize, interpret, and behaviorally adapt
to multicultural situations and contexts.

Question 4

Culture

Answer 4

Basic beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, and customs
shared and followed by members of a group, which give
rise to the group’s sense of identity.

Question 5

Due process

Answer 5

Concept that laws are enforced only through accepted,
codified procedures.

Question 6

Global mindset

Answer 6

Ability to take an international perspective, inclusive of
other cultures’ views.

Question 7

High-context cultures

Answer 7

Societies or groups characterized by complex, usually
long-standing networks of relationships; members share
a rich history of common experience, so the way they
interact and interpret events is often not apparent to
outsiders.

Question 8

Jurisdiction

Answer 8

Right of a legal body to exert authority over a given
geographical territory, subject matter, or persons or
institutions.

Question 9

Low-context cultures

Answer 9

Societies in which relationships have less history;
individuals know each other less well and don’t share
a common database of experience, so communication
must be very explicit.

Question 10

Rule of law

Answer 10

Concept that stipulates that no individual is beyond the
reach of the law and that authority is exercised only in
accordance with written and publicly disclosed laws.

Question 11

What does having a global mindset require?

Answer 11

• being able to see the world from a perspective inside another person’s culture and using that awareness to create solutions and bridges
• Self-awareness - understanding ones’ own culture and recognizing it is just one among many

Question 12

What does a global mindset prepare an HR practitioner for?

Answer 12

To complete necessary due diligence, ask the right questions, and prepare and support the organization and it’s employees

Question 13

What key operational benefits does having a global mindset bring to an organization

Answer 13

• More effective communication and coordination across the organization between global divisions and partners.
• More efficient and quicker best-practices sharing across the global organization, including with international partners
• More effective cross-cultural trust building and collaboration through compliance programs and diversity and sensitivity policies and practices.
• More likely to identify international opportunities in order to take advantage of the benefits associated with being first to market
• More sophisticated understanding of local and global standards and preferences, which can lead to faster global rollout of new product/service concepts and technologies

Question 14

What three elements must be in place to develop a global mindset?

Answer 14

• Appropriate knowledge, skills, and understanding
• Desire and motivation on the part of the employee to change
• Support from systems and management

Question 15

What is the checklist for developing and promoting a global mindset?

Answer 15

• Study and understand your own culture and how it relates to others
  *Study and understand global business trends and forces
• Promote a global mindset within your organization

Question 16

What are the 4 T’s?

Answer 16

Travel, Teams, Training, Transfers

Question 17

What is the Travel aspect of the 4 T’s?

Answer 17

• Can help managers and employees gain experience
• Can help expand awareness and appreciation of different places and cultures
• Can increase managers’ and employees’ visibility within an organization
• Can result in culture shock
• Can be time-consuming

Question 18

What is the Teams aspect of the 4 T’s

Answer 18

Can be a highly effective way to help employees develop cross-cultural management skills when they work on culturally diverse and/or international teams

Question 19

What is the Training aspect of the 4 T’s?

Answer 19

• Can broaden employee’s global and cultural awareness
• Can challenge ethnocentric definitions and cultural norms
• Can present challenges

Question 20

What is the Transfers aspect of the 4 T’s?

Answer 20

Can have a strong and lasting impact on individuals’ relationship development and cross-cultural management skills

Can help develop new, transferrable skills dn competencies through cultural immersion

Question 21

What are the Skills needed for global HR

Answer 21

• Develop a strategic view of the organization
• Develop a global organization culture
• SEcure and grow a safe and robust talent supply chain
• Use and adapt HR technology
• Develop meaningful metrics
• Develop policies and practices to manage risks

Question 22

What characteristics will an HR professional with a global mindset have?

Answer 22

• They drive for the bigger, broader picture
• They accept contradictions
• They trust the process to solve problems
• They value multicultural teamwork
  *They view change as an opportunity
• They are open to new ideas and continual learning
• They are inclusive, not exclusive

Question 23

Geert Hofestede notes that culture is only part of an individual’s makeup. It shares space with and can be affected by what other aspects of a person’s makeup?

Answer 23

*The individual’s personality, which is a product of inheritance and experience
* Human nature, which is universal- such as feelings of joy or loss

Question 24

According to Edgar Schein what are the layers of culture from the outside in?

Answer 24

• Artifacts and products
• Norms and Values
• Basic assumptions

Question 25

What are Artifacts and Products in the layers of culture?

Answer 25

• Explicit Culture
  These include a culture’s obvious features, such as its food, dress, architecture, humor, and music

Question 26

What are the Norms and Values in the layers of culture?

Answer 26

Less immediately obvious re a culture’s shared and stated sens of acceptable behaviors, what is right and wrong. These may be a country’s rules and regulations or a company’s mission statement and code of conduct.

Question 27

What are the Basic Assumptions in Schein’s layers of culture?

Answer 27

• Implicit Culture

These are the culture’s core beliefs about how the wor is and out to be. They may be unspoken, and members may not even be consciously aware of them

Question 28

Culture vs. Climate

Answer 28

• The explicit or observable aspects of an organization are not the totality of its culture. These features are more accurately referred to as the organization’s climate.
• Climate is distinct from culture
• Culture is the results of shared beliefs
• Climate may result from the actions of a few individuals or external forces

Question 29

Accoridng to Nancy J. Adler, what are the three aspects of cultural intelligence:

Answer 29

• Cognitive - including thinking, learning and strategizing
• Motivational - including effectiveness, confidence, persistence, value congruence, and the level of attraction toward a new culture
• Behavioral - including an individual’s range of possible actions and responses to intercultural encounters.

Question 30

Edward Hall’s theory of High and Low Context Cultures

Answer 30

Context level affects communication and relationships:
* High-context culture - a statement’s meaning includes the verbal message and the nonverbals and social and historical content attached to the statement
* Low-context cultures - A statement’s meaning is enclosed in the words only.

Question 31

Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture

Answer 31

• Power distance
• Individualism/collectivism
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Masculine/feminine
• Long-term/short term
• Indulgence/restraint

Question 32

Define Hofstede’s Power Distance

Answer 32

Extent to which less-powerful members of organizations and institutions accept unequal distribution of power

High: Malaysia, Latin America, Middle East, China, Indonesia, India
Low: Austria, Israel, Scandinavian countries, UK, US

Question 33

Define Hofstede’s Individualism/collectivism

Answer 33

Degree to which individuals are integrated into groups.

Individualism: Ties are loos, self-reliance valued
Collectivisim: Strong, Cohesive groups; protection is exchanged for loyalty to groups

Individual: US, Australia, UK, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium
Collective: Latin America, Pakistan, Indonesia, South Korea, China

Question 34

What are Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner’s cultural dilemmas?

Answer 34

*Universal/particular - flexibility versus rules
* Individual/communitarian - the good that drives decisions
* Neutral/affective - expression of emotion
* Specific/diffuse - public and private boundaries
* Achieved/ascribed - Source of merit (personal accomplishment or connection
* Sequential/synchronic - Sense of time
*Internal/external - Individual control over one’s destiny

Question 35

Define Hofstede’s Uncertainty Avoidance

Answer 35

Level of tolerance of uncertainy and ambiguity; extent to which individuals feel comfortable in unstructured, new, or unexpected situations

High: Greece, Portugal, Latin America, Belgium, Japan, France
Low: Singapore, Denmark, Sweden, UK

Question 36

Define Hofstede’s Masculin/Feminine

Answer 36

Masculine Traits: Ambitious, tendency to polarize, oriented toward work and achievement.

Feminine traits: Nurturing, empathetic, oriented toward quality of life, striving for consensus, favoring small size and slow pace

Note: In masculine societies, gender roles are distinct; in feminine societies, roles may overlap

Masculin: Japan, Hungary, Austria, Venezuela, Italy
Feminine: Scandinavian countries, Netherlands, Chile, Thailand

Question 37

Define Hofstede’s long-term/short-term

Answer 37

Long-term orientation: Uses traditional norms and customs to guide action. VAlues thrift, perseverance; orders relationships by status and values

Short-term orientation: Makes decisions based on likely results. Values pragmatism

Long-term: China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, India
Short-term: West Africa, Philippines, Norway, UK, US

Question 38

Define Hofstede’s Indulgence/restraint

Answer 38

Indulgence: Enjoyment of life and freedom in gratifying desires

Restraint: Suppression of desires in order to meet social norms

Indulgence: Most North and South American Countries
Restraint: Russia and Baltic countries, Italy, India, China

Question 39

Define Trompenaar’s and H-T’s Universal/Particular Dilemma.

Answer 39

A universal culture emphasizes consistency, clarity, and impartiality. Rules for each case ensure fairness.

A particular culture is flexible, pragmatic, and comfortable with ambiguity. It considers the case and its context first and will make exceptions; fairness is achieved by considering many factors and relationships.

Question 40

Define T and HT’s Individual/Communitarian Dilemma.

Answer 40

To an individualist, a good society is one in which there is freedom and opportunity to advance oneself.

To a communitarian, a good society is achieved when we all take care of each other, even if this means loss of personal freedom or opportunity.

Question 41

Define T and HT’s neutral/affective dilemma.

Answer 41

A neutral society disapproves of public expressions of emotion

In affective cultures individual express emotions freely

Question 42

Define T and HT’s’ Specific/Diffuse dilemma.

Answer 42

People in specific culures have open public lives but a strong boundary between public and private lives

People in diffuse cultures allow access to their public lives only through introduction by a trusted associate, but when access is granted, it includes access to the person’s personal life.

Question 43

Define T and HT’s Achieved/ascribed dilemma.

Answer 43

In an achieved culture, individuals are valued according to their own accomplishments (what they do)

In an ascribed culture, value may be derived from social factors like position, wealth, family or gender (who they are)

Question 44

Define T and HT’s Sequential/synchronic dilemma

Answer 44

Sequential cultures see time as linear and an important part of life. Planning, keeping appointments, and making productive use of time are important. The future is more important than the past

Synchronic cultures see time as large enough to accommodate multiple activities at the same time. They can also accommodate delays if a change is necessary to support a relationship. The past and the present are just as important or more important than the future.

Question 45

Define T and HT’s Internal/External dilemma.

Answer 45

In an internal world, individuals can decide and follow their own paths. One can dominate nature.

In an external world, human begins are part of a larger scheme that directs the course of events. Individuals can only adapt, not create. They must submit to nature.

Question 46

What are the four obstalces that HR may face in trying to achieve understanding in multicultural organizations?

Answer 46

Ethnocentrism and parochialism - the viewer perceives and judges other cultures according to the norms of the viewer’s own culture and rigidly maintains that narrow mindset.

Cultural stereotypes - Perceptions of a culture are applied to all of the culture’s members, often in a negative manner

Cultural determinism - Culture defines behavior and therefore excuses some actions and makes changes impossible.

Cultural relativism - There are no absolutes. Norms and values vary by situation and cultural perspective

Question 47

According to Nancy Adler, what are the different strategies for negotiating cultural differences?

Answer 47

Cultural domination and cultural accommodation are essentially about assimilation. I assimilate your beliefs, or you assimilate mine.

cultural compromise involves both sides giving up some value sin order to meet in the middle

Cultural synergy involves creating a third way-finding what works well in each culture and removing barriers to communication nd collaboration, including language and policies

Question 48

What are the four steps to Trompenaars and Hampden’s dilemma reconciliation process?

Answer 48

Recognize - create awareness of cultural differences
Respect - appreciate the value of difference
Reconcile - resolve differences by finding a common path
Realize - implement solutions and institutionalize them in the organization

Question 49

What is the first step to achieving cultural literacy?

Answer 49

Internalize the importance of mutual understanding, learning, and training.

Question 50

Reverse Mentorship

Answer 50

Reverse mentorship redefines the mentor-mentee relationship into one that goes both ways. Each individual can teach the other about their own cultures, acting in the role of cultural intermediary or coach. These relationships build trust and enhance effective collaboration and can help instill a global mindset as employees are exposed to more diverse viewpoints.

Question 51

Conflict of Laws

Answer 51

Conflict of laws is a situation in which the laws of two or more jurisdictions differ and may exert a different result on a legal case depending on which system is deemed to have jurisdiction.

Question 52

Forum or jurisdiction shopping

Answer 52

Jurisdiction shopping is the practice of taking complaints to jurisdictions sympathetic to complainants’ case.

It is rarely effective where employment contracts are concerned, since residency laws favoring the jurisdiction in which the work is actually done tend to prevail.

Question 53

Levels of law

Answer 53

Laws can be described by their areas of control:

National - federal laws applicable across the nation

Subnational/regional - laws that apply to states, provinces, municipalities, or regions.

Extraterritorial - laws that extend beyond a nation’s borders and protect or apply to the nation’s citizens traveling or working aborad

Supranational - binding agreements between nations; may supersede national laws

International - laws between nations that also apply to individuals within national borders; usually ratified by participating countries but can also be accepted without ratification

Question 54

With the recent addition of a traditional Japanese tea garden, a well-funded art museum wants to invest in educating staff who have little understanding of Japanese tea rituals. Which activity should HR recommend to develop cultural awareness and appreciation for the tea garden experience?

Have the team divide assignments to research the tea garden experience by topic and cross-train each other.

Travel to Tokyo to experience tea culture and tour tea gardens.

Conduct internal training on tea culture experience that includes proper behavior.

Transfer a tea ceremony master from Tokyo to train the event planning staff.

Answer 54

Travel to Tokyo to experience tea culture and tour tea gardens

For the event planning staff to develop cultural awareness and appreciation for the tea garden experience, they should travel to Tokyo, if possible. The other options may aid staff understanding but will not offer the cultural immersion to allow them to return and relay the experience that clients will expect.

Question 55

What is a global mindset?

The ability to learn other languages and understand various cultural holidays

The ability to take an international, multidimensional perspective that is inclusive of other cultures, perspectives, and views

The ability to encourage others with diverse backgrounds to see one’s own perspective as the correct one

The belief that all other cultures and identity groups are really no different from one’s own

Answer 55

The ability to take an international, multidimensional perspective that is inclusive of other cultures, perspectives, and views

People with a global mindset have acquired knowledge and experience of other cultures and, based on this, are able to see cultures different from their own as neither better nor worse but simply different in some ways and similar in many key ways. They use this mindset to interpret individuals and events from multiple cultural perspectives. It is more than just seeing cultures as equivalent; it involves understanding differences and their effects. A global mindset requires more than knowing a language.

Question 56

Training activities that require participants to debate employment practices may be difficult for employees from what type of culture?

power distance culture

High power distance culture

Low-context culture

High-context culture

Answer 56

High power distance culture

In high power distance organizations, less powerful employees accept autocratic and paternalistic structures and may be unwilling to debate or question decisions of leadership.

Question 57

An expatriate, recently transferred to a new country for a temporary assignment, assumes that colleagues in the host country will value timeliness just as much as colleagues in the home country do. The expatriate experiences frustration with slow response to e-mails and requests, inhibiting collaboration and the development of relationships among the new team. This example indicates a lack of understanding and exploration of what type of culture?

National culture

Organizational culture

Professional culture

Subculture

Answer 57

National Culture

Differences in assumptions, outlooks, and rules can challenge communication and comprehension. This challenge is remedied by remaining aware of and curious about the varied rules (written and unwritten) that each nation’s business culture has, combined with respecting and adapting to those rules while working in the environment.

Question 58

What describes a culture that prefers training activities that spell out details and use direct and logical communication?

High-context

Large power distance

Low-context

Small power distance

Answer 58

Low-context

In low-context cultures, people reach to what is explicitly communicated so tat those coming into the environment know how to behave.

Question 59

Where is a plaintiff more likely to file a legal suit when jurisdiction shopping?

Region where the company headquarters resides

Country where the plaintiff is employed

Locale that historically provides the desired results

District that allows for jury trials

Answer 59

Locale that historically provides the desired results

Jurisdiction or forum shopping is the practice of litigants taking their legal cases to the most likely location that will provide a favorable judgment. Some jurisdictions have become known as “plaintiff-friendly” and so have attracted litigation even when there is little or no connection between the legal issues and the jurisdiction in which they are to be litigated.

Question 60

An HR Director is responsible for evaluating employee benefit requirements for various municipalities in regions across the country. What legal concept does this situation represent?

Conflict of laws

Difference between civil and common law

Rule of law

Extraterritoriality

Answer 60

Conflict of Laws

Conflict of laws is created when two or more jurisdictions (in this case, the municipality and any higher level of government in the country or in other countries) each have different legal requirements for the entities operating in their borders. The HR director, probably with legal counsel, must clarify which jurisdiction has control over a particular issue and adjust policies accordingly.