Chapter 4 Differences in Culture MKT 358

Which of the following means an understanding of how cultural differences across and within nations can affect the way business is practiced?

cross-cultural literacy

Which of the following statements is true about culture?

Multinational enterprises can themselves be engines of cultural change.

In a social context, the term values is used to describe the:

abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right, and desirable.

In a society, actions of people directed toward one another are governed by a set of social rules called:

norms

which of the following are social conventions concerning things such as the appropriate dress code in a particular situation, good social manners, eating with the correct utensils, neighborly behavior, and the like

folkways

Which of the following best exemplifies violation of folkways best?

Failing to greet a person you know

What is the difference between folkways and mores?

Violating mores tends to bring more serious retribution than violating folkways

Which of the following best exemplifies violation of mores?

committing a financial fraud

A difference in the attitudes of people toward time in different cultures is an example of which of the following in individual cultures?

folkways

Which of the following statements is true about most Western societies?

The value systems of many Western societies emphasize individual achievement.

Which of the following is an implication of high degree of managerial mobility in societies that emphasize individualism?

Lack of company-specific experience, knowledge, and a network of contacts among managers

In the context of social structure, the American society is characterized by a low degree of:

social stratification

The United Republic emphasizes individual performance and achievements in every sphere of society. Which of the following statements is true about the society of this country?

The employees in this country will lack loyalty and commitment to a company.

One of the downsides to the emphasis on individualism is that it:

is difficult to build teams within an organization to perform collective tasks.

Which of the following statements is true about the business implications of the Japanese society?

There is a low degree of movement from company to company among managers and workers in Japan.

When compared to the American society, the Japanese society lacks:

dynamism and entrepreneurship.

If a society emphasizes the group as the primary unit of social organization, it is most likely to:

discourage employees from moving from company to company.

Which of the following statements is true about social stratification?

Individuals are born into a particular social stratum.

A _____ 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.

caste

Which of the following statements is true about the class system in the United States when compared to the British class system?

The class system in the United States is more pronounced than in Britain.

_____ refers to a condition where people tend to perceive themselves in terms of their class background, and this shapes their relationships with members of other classes.

class consciousness

Which of the following is most likely to be the result of high degrees of class consciousness in societies?

increase in the costs of production

_____ is an ethical system that has influenced behavior and shaped culture in parts of Asia, however it cannot be considered as a religion.

confucianism

In 1904, _____ theorized that there was a relationship between Protestantism and the emergence of modern capitalism.

Max Weber

According to Max Weber, Protestantism encouraged capitalism’s development by:

emphasizing on the importance of hard work and wealth creation for the glory of God and frugality.

Which of the following is a religion that prohibits the payment or receipt of interest, as it is considered to be usury?

Islam

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism is, in part, a response to the:

movement in traditional Islamic societies toward modernization.

Which of the following statements is true of Islam?

Islam forbids the consumption of pork and alcohol.

Muslim countries are likely to be receptive to international businesses as long as those businesses:

behave in a manner that is consistent with Islamic ethics.

A major distinction between a conventional bank and an Islamic bank is that Islamic banks

cannot pay or charge interest

"Mudarabah" and the "murabaha" are:

Islamic banking methods

Which of the following is true about the Islamic banking method — the mudarabah?

A mudarabah contract is similar to a profit-sharing scheme.

Which of the following religions does not owe its founding to any one particular individual?

Hinduism

Dharma, karma, and nirvana are terms related to:

Hinduism

Many _____ believe that the way to achieve nirvana—a state of complete spiritual perfection— is to lead a severe ascetic lifestyle of material and physical self-denial, devoting life to a spiritual rather than material quest.

Hindus

Which of the following statements is true about Hinduism?

Hinduism supported India’s caste system.

Max Weber argued that the ascetic principles embedded in _____ do not encourage entrepreneurial activity in pursuit of wealth creation because it is perceived that such activities make the attainment of nirvana more difficult.

Hinduism

Hindus see mobility between castes as something that can be achieved through:

spiritual progression and reincarnation

Mr. X finds it hard to dine with his American colleagues as his religion prohibits the consumption pork and alcohol. He also quit his previous job in a bank on the base that his religion considers the payment or receipt of interest as exploitative and unjust. According to this information, Mr. X is a follower of:

Islam

Maya is a follower of a religion which emphasizes that individuals should be judged solely by their spiritual achievements. The caste Maya belongs to is of the highest order in her religion, and hence is highly respected. She also firmly believes that she was born into the high caste as a result of her spiritual development in her previous life. Maya follows:

Hinduism

_____ was founded in India in the sixth century b.c. by Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince who renounced his wealth to pursue an ascetic lifestyle and spiritual perfection.

Buddhism

What is the common aspect of the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism?

Both stress the afterlife and spiritual achievement rather than material progress

Which of the following statements is true about Buddhism?

The emphasis on wealth creation that is embedded in Protestantism is not found in Buddhism.

Mr. X follows a religion that does not propagate the caste system. also, his religion emphasizes right seeing, thinking, speech, action, living, effort, mindfulness, and meditation as a route for spiritual transformation. according to this information, Mr. X can be considered a

Buddhist

For more than 2,000 years until the 1949 Communist revolution, which of the following, which teaches the importance of attaining personal salvation through right action, was the official ethical system of China.

Confucianism

_____ is a non-religious, ethical system principally followed in China, Korea, and Japan.

Confucianism

_____ is not concerned with the supernatural, has little to say about the concept of a supreme being or an afterlife, and believes that loyalty to one’s superiors is an absolute obligation?

Confucianism

Which of the following statements is true of Confucianism?

In Confucian thought, loyalty to one’s superiors is regarded as a sacred duty.

China Innovation Inc. is a devout follower of Confucian ethics. Hence, it hires people who live by similar principles. Which of the following is most likely to be a characteristic of this company?

The cost of doing business will be low for those companies that enter into a business with it

In a Confucian culture, loyalty of the subordinates to their superiors should be:

reciprocated by the superiors by bestowing blessings on them.

Which of the following Confucian ethics is central to the Chinese concept of guanxi?

Reciprocal obligations

A person seeking and receiving help through a guanxi network is:

liable to a social sanction if he or she does not reciprocate when called upon.

_____ is the most widely spoken language in the world, and is increasingly becoming the language of international business.

English

Chinese is the mother tongue of the largest number of people, but English is the most widely spoken language in the world. This indicates that:

many people speak English as a second language.

Which of the following is an aspect of nonverbal communication?

personal space

Which of the following statements best defines personal space?

It is the comfortable amount of distance between you and someone you are talking with.

When schools emphasize respect for others, obedience to authority, honesty, neatness, being on time, and use a grading system, they are:

indirectly teaching cultural values and norms.

The recent trend to outsource information technology jobs to countries such as India indicates that:

a good education system is a determinant of national competitive advantage.

Managers at the Blue Dragon Inc., an international company with operations in China and the United States, are often heard complaining about the difficulties in achieving synergy and cooperation between the employees of both the countries. On extensive research it was concluded that the cultural differences between these countries, which resulted in different work-related values, caused the lack of cooperation. In order to effectively tackle this problem, Blue Dragon Inc. should:

vary its management process and practices to account for these differences.

_____ isolated four dimensions—power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity—that he claimed summarized different cultures.

Geert Hofstede

Which of the following statements is true with regard to Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions?

Members of high uncertainty avoidance cultures had a strong need for rules and regulations.

According to Hofstede, in societies where _____ was emphasized, the ties between individuals were tight.

collectivism

Which of the following is a characteristic of high uncertainty avoidance cultures?

They allow a manager to tightly control the subordinates’ initiatives.

A country characterized with low uncertainty avoidance and low masculinity will:

be less resistant to change and less distinguishing between men and women in the same job.

Which of the following statements is true of Geert Hofstede’s work on cultural dimensions?

His work fails to consider that many countries have more than one culture.

Hofstede’s _____ dimension focused on how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities.

power distance

Which of the following is a criticism of Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions?

Certain social classes were excluded from Hofstede’s work sample.

Hofstede’s fifth dimension of Confucian dynamism captures:

attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering by status, protection of face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of gifts and favors.

Survival values typically stress the importance of:

economic and physical security

Janet believes that the cultural group she belongs to is superior and is hence highly intolerant toward employees from the cultures of other countries. This behavior of Janet is known as:

ethnocentrism

Which of the following best exemplifies ethnocentrism?

Bryan’s belief in the superiority of his culture has resulted in conflicts with his colleagues from different countries.