Exam 15: International Human Resources Management

Repatriation refers to the training a manager receives before taking an international assignment.

Culture shock refers to the disorientation people experience adjusting to a new culture.

BC Computers is a Canadian firm located in British Columbia. In this instance, what does Canada represent?

Women expatriates are thought to succeed in part because they are visible and distinctive.

The employment of guest workers may result in indirect costs that may be substantial.

Pay plans in Japan tend to focus on individual performance and achievement.

While IT Motors is located in China, it has allowed management in all of its international operations to make independent decisions on how they conduct business in their different environments. What kind of corporation is IT Motors?

Managers in Latin American countries can encourage performance by using personal influence and working through individual members of a group.

What is evident when you compare wages and benefits for employees in European countries such as Norway and Denmark to employees in North America?

Under which of the following conditions would a firm continue to use expatriates in its international operations even after a few years?

In Europe, most union negotiations occur at the company level.

What is the first step in selecting individuals for an international assignment?

The source of overseas employees that provides the advantages of less cost and greater facility in the language is host-country nationals.

At early stages of international expansion, many organizations prefer to use host-country nationals.

A multidomestic corporation is essentially a domestic firm that builds on its existing capabilities to penetrate overseas markets.

Scenario 15.2 Coffee Emporium has been one of Canada's premium coffee shops for decades. Recently, the company has been losing market share to giant multinational corporations such as McDonald's, which has now moved into the coffee business with its signature McCafé. Coffee Emporium recognizes that the only way to stay relevant and competitive is to expand its business across international borders and capitalize on its brand recognition and loyalty. The company wants to start off in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), where the cultures are somewhat similar to Canada's. Coffee Emporium will now be adapting its existing products for overseas markets without changing much else about its normal operations. -Refer to Scenario 15.2. If Coffee Emporium expands its business across the United States to begin with, what type of corporation would it become?

Expressions such as "tabling a subject" and "it is inconvenient" may have meanings in other cultures that are very different from their North American meanings.

The balance sheet approach to compensation refers to designing pay systems that equalize the purchasing power of employees at comparable position levels living overseas and in the home country.

In some countries, unions are part of alliances between political parties, churches, or governments.

The European Union (EU) was established to facilitate free trade with North America.