1. When discussing culture and its importance in international business, it is important to understand the difference between cultural generalizations, which can be helpful, and cultural stereotypes, which we should try to avoid. What is the difference between the two?

a. Cultural generalizations are observations of patterns that exist at the group level. Whereas when people assume a statement is true of all members of a culture, it becomes a cultural stereotype.

b. Cultural stereotype are observations of patterns that exist at the group level. Whereas when people assume a statement is true of all members of a culture, it becomes a cultural generalization.

c. Cultural stereotypes are negative attributes that are present in all members of a culture. Whereas cultural generalizations refer to both negative and positive attributes that are present in all members of a culture.

d. Cultural generalizations refer to groups of people, whereas cultural stereotypes refer to individuals.

2. In Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions, which dimension describes the degree of interdependence a culture maintains among its members?

a. Dependent vs Codependent

b. Individualism vs. Collectivism

c. Personal vs Charitable

d. Selfish vs Generous

3. In Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions, what is the Power Distance dimension?

a. This dimension deals with the fact that individuals in cultures do not all have equal access to government leaders

b. This dimension deals with the fact that individuals in cultures are not equal and considers the attitude that the people have towards inequalities

c. This dimension deals with the fact that individuals in cultures are separated geographically and may have unequal access to resources (e.g. power, water)

d. This dimension deals with the fact that individuals in cultures have different attitudes towards natural resources (e.g. power, water)

4. In Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions, which dimension represents a culture's preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success, as compared to a preference for cooperation, caring for others and quality of life?

a. Assertiveness vs Cooperation

b. Masculinity vs. Femininity

c. Achievement vs Caring

d. Material Rewards vs Quality of Life

5. On a business trip to Brazil, Mark Wolpert, the sales manager for Aqua Electric Inc., a U.S.-based power company, had several meetings with executives from Braz-Power S.A. During each meeting all of Mark's suggestions for joint venture projects together were quickly rebuffed as being far too risky. His suggestions were based on similar projects his company had undertaken in other countries, but his hosts seemed to be overly concerned about project unknowns even though these preliminary meetings were only intended to be exploratory in nature. Which aspect of Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions would probably be most important to consider in this situation?

a. Power Distance

b. Masculinity vs. Femininity

c. Uncertainty Avoidance

d. Long Term vs. Short Term Orientation

6. In Meyer's cultural model, what is the difference between low-context and high-context communication?

a. In low-context cultures people generally prefer to speak directly. In highcontext cultures the way things are said is more meaningful than the words in the message.

b. In high-context cultures people generally prefer to speak directly. In low-context cultures the way things are said is more meaningful than the words in the message.

c. In low-context cultures nuance is highly important. In high-context cultures people are more straight forward.

d. In high-context cultures silence is not tolerated. In low-context cultures silence is used frequently in conversation.

7. In Meyer's cultural model, how do cultures differ when it comes to persuasion?

a. Some cultures treat persuasion as an offensive threat, whereas other cultures believe that persuasion is an important aspect of negotiation

b. Some cultures consider persuasion to be rude, whereas other cultures consider it to be an important part of relationship building

c. People from applications-first cultures generally want to understand the "why" behind a task before they move to action. Principles-first cultures tend to focus more on the "how" (to the point, then describe the why).

d. People from principles-first cultures generally want to understand the "why" behind a task before they move to action. Applications-first cultures tend to focus more on the "how" (to the point, then describe the why).

8. In Meyer's cultural model, how do cultures differ on decision making?

a. Some cultures prefer logical decision-making, whereas other cultures prefer a more emotional, heart-felt approach

b. Some cultures prefer collaborative decision-making, whereas other cultures prefer a more independent approach

c. Some cultures prefer consensual decision-making, whereas other cultures prefer a top-down approach

d. Some cultures prefer fast decision-making, whereas other cultures prefer a slower more methodical approach

9. In Meyer's cultural model, which aspect of the cultural map considers the fact that some cultures have people in positions of authority who are conditioned to think they are no better, no smarter and no more important than anyone else; whereas in other cultures, people in positions of authority or with many years of service are given more respect and privileges?

a. Leading

b. Power

c. Authoritarianism

d. Subservience

10.Meyer's cultural model considers two different types of trust which are based on two different sets of criteria. What are the two different types?

a. Belief trust and emotional trust

b. Cognitive trust and affective trust

c. Time trust and truth trust

d. Correlation trust and positive trust

11.In Confucian cultures like China, South Korea and Japan, preservation of group harmony is an important concept. It is more important to protect another person from embarrassment than to state what you believe is true; and, if a single individual or the larger group experiences embarrassment, it will create feelings of shame for all members of the group. This type of situation is carefully avoided by doing which of the following?

a. Shame saving

b. Saving face

c. Chiru Avoidance

d. Open voice

12.RPR Golf Inc. is a U.S.-based company that builds top-ranked golf courses in many different parts of the world. Paul Smith, the Director of Marketing for RPR, has travelled to Chile for a meeting with a local developer that has expressed a keen interest in having a course built. After arriving at the office of the Chilean company at the agreed upon meeting time, Paul was greeted by a receptionist and asked to take a seat. Mr. Gonzalez, the person he was supposed to meet, was partially visible in an office behind the receptionist, and over the next 45 minutes he waited in frustration while Mr. Gonzalez made and took phone calls, worked quietly at his desk, and summoned the receptionist for assistance with several tasks. Finally, the RPR Director of Marketing was invited into Mr. Gonzalez's office but at that stage he was feeling disrespected. Paul had travelled a great distance for the meeting, and, from his perspective, Mr. Gonzalez obviously did not consider the meeting important or he would have greeted him at the door when he arrived and would have started the meeting on time. What is most likely going on in this situation?

a. Mr. Gonzalez was probably unaware that Paul had arrived and did not know he was waiting to see him

b. Mr. Gonzalez was probably hoping that Paul would get frustrated and leave

c. Mr. Gonzalez believes that starting a meeting after the agreed upon time is okay and not a signal of disrespect

d. Mr. Gonzales probably forgot that Paul was in the waiting area

13.Tuning Trix Ltd., a U.S.-based exporter of sound equipment, has recently set up a meeting with his distributor in Taiwan. After one year of working together, the Taiwanese distributor was consistently failing to meet sales targets, so a meeting was arranged in Taiwan with Hanzi Chen, the account manager, and Mr. Lee Lin, the Managing Director of the Taiwanese company. During the meeting, John Smith, the Director of Marketing at Tuning Trix Ltd., remained calm but he began the meeting by presenting the monthly statistics from each month and showed clearly and forcefully (by reviewing email correspondence) that each month Hanzi Chen had promised to work hard to increase sales but consistently failed to meet the agreed upon targets. Finally, he appealed directly to Mr. Lee Lin to take action to deal with Hanzi Chen's failing performance. Mr. Lin said he understood and then ended the meeting promptly by promising to provide an update soon. But after returning to the U.S., Tuning Trix Ltd. received an email from someone new at the Taiwanese company explaining that they were no longer able to continue to distribute their products. What is most likely going on in this situation?

a. The Managing Director of the Taiwanese company probably fired Hanzi Chen for poor performance and then dropped all of his principal accounts

b. John Smith's approach, which focused on Hanzi Chen's failings, resulted in his boss feeling shame and the company is now acting to avoid further disappointment

c. The company is probably just rationalizing product lines to focus on products that perform better

d. The distributor in Taiwan is probably not comfortable doing business with companies in the United States

14.Which of the following are three strategies international trade practitioners can use to build and sustain intercultural relationships, and apply to any type of relationship but are particularly important to intercultural ones?

a. (1) Finding similarities; (2) Creating leverage; (3) Focus on sales

b. (1) Building trust; (2) Increasing profits; (3) Being consistent

c. (1) Finding similarities; (2) Building trust; (3) Ongoing communication

d. (1) Ongoing communication; (2) Focus on business; (3) Staying on track

15.How can an international sales manager best make use of Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions and Meyer's cultural map?

a. An international sales manager can use these tools to identify weaknesses in their partners and use that information to their advantage during negotiations

b. An international sales manager can use these tools to better understand how potential partners may view the world, which will help when interpreting correspondence and fully understanding conversations

c. An international sales manager can use these tools to know exactly how each person will react when they re doing business together

d. An international sales manager can use these tools to perfectly profile each business partner and then find ways to use that knowledge to create leverage in their relationship

16.Bill Smith is a sales manager at a company in Australia that makes computing peripherals. He has been in sales for many years, and he likes to start every sales presentation with a joke to "break the ice" and make everyone in the room feel comfortable. At a recent sales meeting in Japan, he told his best joke but none of the potential Japanese clients laughed. Again, at lunch, after the group was seated, he told another joke, hoping to make the luncheon a little less formal, but none of his Japanese counterparts laughed. What is most likely going on in this situation?

a. In Japan, jokes are never told, and people rarely laugh

b. In Japan, humor is not appreciated when doing business

c. Bill's jokes may not be considered funny by his Japanese counterparts

d. The Japanese clients may not have a sense of humor

17.After spending three days in Japan in a series of meetings, lunches and dinners with a potential new distributor, Eileen Mackay, the sales manager for Full Force Video LLP in London, England, was very frustrated. The company she was meeting with had an excellent reputation and extensive capabilities, but in her assessment, they had avoided sharing a lot of details with her. Instead, she had been to several lengthy lunches and dinners where the food was not to her taste, her hosts wanted to drink more than she was comfortable with, and no one wanted to talk business. On one afternoon they organized a sight-seeing tour for her and during the meetings her hosts focused mainly on her career, her family, and her progress within her own company. Overall, they had simply not been very forthcoming about many of the facts that were most important to her. What is most likely going on in this situation?

a. The employees at the Japanese distributor are avoiding work

b. The employees at the Japanese distributor like to drink, especially when the company is paying for it

c. The employees at the Japanese distributor are focused on building affective trust

d. The employees at the Japanese distributor are not comfortable doing business with a woman

18.When travelling abroad to meet with a businessperson in another country for the first time, it is important to have a strategy for the encounter. This can be best summarized by which of the following?

a. (1) Clarity of business objectives; (2) Negotiation tactics; (3) Business model

b. (1) Background checks; (2) Business plan targets; (3) Negotiation tactics

c. (1) Awareness of oneself and others; (2) Planning for an intercultural encounter; (3) Checking interactions to see if one's understanding and plans were appropriate

d. (1) Travel plans; (2) Meeting details; (3) Contingency plans