Cross cultural management
2016
1 “What is most important for me and my department is not what I do or achieve for the
company, but whether the Master’s favour is bestowed on me. This I have achieved by
saying ‘yes’ to everything the Master says or does. To contradict him is to look for another
job. I left my freedom of thought in Boston.” This is a quote of an American employee
working in India. This example is a clear case of:
a. A high score on ‘power distance’
b. A low score on ‘power distance’
c. A high score on ‘masculinity’
d. A low score on ‘masculinity’
2 What are the alternative names for the dimension ‘masculinity/feminity’ (Hofstede)?
a. Directive leadership/participative leadership
b. High power distance/low power distance
c. Career success/quality of life
d. Short-term/long-term orientation
3 In some Arab groups there is a saying that in order to really be talking with someone, ‘you
have to feel the breath coming out of his mouth’. Nydell confirms that Arabs ‘tend to stand
and sit closer and to touch other people more than people from other cultural groups do’.
Which of the following cultural groups works the opposite way were interpersonal distance
is concerned:
a. Mexican people
b. Japanese people
c. Jamaican people
d. Dutch people
4 What status does a written contract have a) in the West and b) in Asia?
a. In the West, a contract is a text which is legally binding. In Asia contract is a
declaration of the intent of a mutually fruitful co-operation
b. In the West, a contract is a declaration of the intent of a mutually fruitful co-
operation. In Asia, a contract is a text which is legally binding
c. In the West, a contract can be modified or renegotiated. In Asia, a contract is seen as
the final agreement
d. In the West, a contract is a ‘direction taking’ document. In Asia, a contract is marking
the first stage in business dealings
5 America: you said yes. Chinese: that doesn’t mean I agree. Sometimes it’s important to
read between the lines. The above is an example of:
a. Social stratification
b. Verbal exaggeration
c. Low context communication
d. High context communication
2016
1 “What is most important for me and my department is not what I do or achieve for the
company, but whether the Master’s favour is bestowed on me. This I have achieved by
saying ‘yes’ to everything the Master says or does. To contradict him is to look for another
job. I left my freedom of thought in Boston.” This is a quote of an American employee
working in India. This example is a clear case of:
a. A high score on ‘power distance’
b. A low score on ‘power distance’
c. A high score on ‘masculinity’
d. A low score on ‘masculinity’
2 What are the alternative names for the dimension ‘masculinity/feminity’ (Hofstede)?
a. Directive leadership/participative leadership
b. High power distance/low power distance
c. Career success/quality of life
d. Short-term/long-term orientation
3 In some Arab groups there is a saying that in order to really be talking with someone, ‘you
have to feel the breath coming out of his mouth’. Nydell confirms that Arabs ‘tend to stand
and sit closer and to touch other people more than people from other cultural groups do’.
Which of the following cultural groups works the opposite way were interpersonal distance
is concerned:
a. Mexican people
b. Japanese people
c. Jamaican people
d. Dutch people
4 What status does a written contract have a) in the West and b) in Asia?
a. In the West, a contract is a text which is legally binding. In Asia contract is a
declaration of the intent of a mutually fruitful co-operation
b. In the West, a contract is a declaration of the intent of a mutually fruitful co-
operation. In Asia, a contract is a text which is legally binding
c. In the West, a contract can be modified or renegotiated. In Asia, a contract is seen as
the final agreement
d. In the West, a contract is a ‘direction taking’ document. In Asia, a contract is marking
the first stage in business dealings
5 America: you said yes. Chinese: that doesn’t mean I agree. Sometimes it’s important to
read between the lines. The above is an example of:
a. Social stratification
b. Verbal exaggeration
c. Low context communication
d. High context communication
