Multiple Choice
1. A value system represents __________ in a culture.
a. what actually occurs
b. what is expected or hoped for
c. the most religious or moral behaviors
d. the traditional patterns
Answer: b
2. A “salad bowl” is a more apt characterization of the U.S. than a “melting pot” because
__________.
a. individual subcultures retain their own identity and integrity
b. the subcultures are very similar, like the vegetables in a salad
c. a “salad bowl” provides more positive imagery than a “melting pot”
d. subcultures borrow from the cultural patterns, or flavors, of their neighbors
Answer: a
3. What was the primary assumption of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s valueorientations
approach for understanding cultural differences?
a. All cultures have the same basic underlying values.
b. Value systems are culturally relative and cannot be compared across societies.
c. There are only a limited number of solutions to universal human problems.
d. Cultural diversity is too great to have any underlying universal values.
Answer: c
4. Which of the following sets are among Hofstede’s five major dimensions of cultural
values?
a. power distance, masculinity–femininity, and individualism–collectivism
b. spiritual–secular, capitalist–socialist, and masculinity–femininity
c. individualism–collectivism, capitalist–socialist, and power distance
d. masculinity–femininity, power–distance, and spiritual–secular
Answer: a
5. How is the bipolar, dimensional approach related to ethnocentrism?
a. Both assume a relative approach to cross-cultural communication, in which each culture’s
value systems are viewed as equally valid.
b. Ethnocentrism is an antiquated idea that has been replaced by frameworks such as the
dimensional approach.
c. The dimensional approach aims to replace other culture’s value systems with more modern,
western ones.
d. The framework assumes that cross-cultural awareness takes place only when you view
other cultural values in relation to your own.
Answer: d
6. Which of the following traits is characteristic of collective-oriented cultures?
a. confrontation is acceptable
b. personal goals over group goals
c. strong connections to a few groups
d. value autonomy and independence
Answer: c
7. What is a major source of criticism for microfinance projects?
a. The entrepreneurs do not have the skills to budget their loan money.
b. The banks do not have sufficient money to make the loans.
c. The interest rates are too high.
d. The loans are not always repaid.
Answer: d
8. The equality–hierarchy dimension is also referred to as __________.
a. autonomy gap
b. class-caste dimension
c. power distance
d. stratification
Answer: c
9. In the U.S., it is expected that high-status people will __________.
a. continue to move up into higher-status positions
b. play down their superior rank
c. make no notice of rank among their colleagues
d. reinforce their rank through titles, clothing, and behavior
Answer: b
10. Start-ups represent a __________ culture.
a. change-embracing
b. change-fearing
c. precise-reckoning-of-time
d. loose-reckoning-of-time
Answer: a
11. Which of the following is characteristic of a change-fearing culture?
a. Leaders are likely to be innovative, creative, and approachable.
b. Employees prefer a structured set of policies, rules, and regulations.
c. Partners are able to function in a meeting with a loose agenda.
d. Authority figures are not reluctant to say “I don’t know.”
Answer: b
12. Precise-reckoning-of-time cultures believe that __________.
a. social relationships are secondary to business
b. social relationships are most important
c. time is money
d. time is plentiful
Answer: c
13. Americans working with Mexican colleagues must adapt to a cultural pattern known as
__________ syndrome.
a. el día
b. mañana
c. mas tarde
d. trabajador
Answer: b
14. People from synchronically ordered, or __________-time societies, conduct a number of
tasks simultaneously.
a. C
b. M
c. P
d. S
Answer: c
15. The American view of the future is generally __________.
a. long term
b. short term
c. truncated
d. pessimistic
Answer: b
16. Susan, an American, is beginning a business relationship with new colleagues in
Nicaragua, which has a P-time culture. What can she do to help develop a solid working
relationship with her new colleagues?
a. become more flexible with her schedule and be patient of perceived tardiness
b. focus on the tasks at hand, rather than spending time developing social relationships
c. demonstrate that “time is money,” so the new colleagues will understand American
business models
d. keep managers and other high-status people waiting, to emphasize equality among all
employees
Answer: a
17. Which of the following is an example of a low-context communication?
a. a long, meandering chat with a potential client
b. an e-mailed memo detailing the day’s tasks
c. a perfume advertisement showing beautiful models
d. a modern art exhibit depicting the costs of war
Answer: b
18. How are high- and low-context communication related to the collectivismindividualism
dimension of culture?
a. People in high-context cultures need a lot of background information to function
efficiently.
b. Employees in low-context cultures share common goals.
c. Members of high-context cultures have transitory relationships.
d. Goals in low-context cultures tend to be individually defined.
Answer: d
19. A __________ is for the anthropologist what a __________ is for the physicist.
a. metaphor, hypothesis
b. hypothesis, simile
c. simile, theory
d. theory, metaphor
Answer: a
20. When using metaphors to assist with planned change, one should __________.
a. introduce new traditions from your own culture
b. demonstrate how the planned change builds on relevant traditions
c. show that the planned change will replace traditions
d. explain the change with language and methods from your own culture
Answer: b
21. Metaphors not lend themselves well to cross-cultural comparisons because they
__________.
a. are vague and open to interpretation
b. require at least a university degree to understand
c. are too complex to translate into another language
d. are culturally specific by nature
Answer: d
22. Which of the following situations best represents a negotiated culture, bridging cultural
differences in a new business organization?
a. a French restaurant prohibits employees from speaking their native Polish at work
b. a Venezuelan oil company adopts M-time patterns in order to work with English
distributors
c. a Japanese team and an American team compromise to make a 20-year business plan
d. a big-box distributor enforces American work standards in its new factory in Vietnam
Answer: c
23. Organizations aligned with the __________ view of culture are more comfortable with
the nature and pace of change in today’s modern world.
a. developing
b. emergent
c. evolving
d. rising
Answer: b
24. The change-orientation dimension, the time orientation dimension, the __________
dimension and the __________ dimension are four lenses through which understanding and
problem solving in international business can occurs.
a. equality–hierarchy; secular–sacred
b. modernized–traditional; individual–collectivism
c. individual–collectivism; equality–hierarchy
d. secular–sacred; modernizedtraditional
Answer: c
25. What limitation of the dimensional approach described in this chapter must we keep in
mind?
a. Cultures change so rapidly that the dimensions are not stable.
b. It provides only an imprecise version of reality.
c. There are only a few possible combinations of dimensions.
d. This approach does not allow for cultural change.
Answer: b
Test Bank for Cultural Dimension of Global Business
Gary Ferraro, Elizabeth K. Briody
9780205900725
