Q&A Hero

Q: Being indebted or obligated to someone for favors is valued differently in different cultures. Discuss, using specific examples from two cultures.

Q: Discuss the value of age/seniority and attitudes toward age in two cultures. Use specific examples.

Q: . Discuss being female in two different cultures of your choice. Focus your discussion on womens roles: traditional and non-traditional. Avoid evaluations of cultures in your answer.

Q: Collectivist cultures see group membership as permanent, while individualist cultures see group membership as potentially temporary. Discusses the implications of temporary versus permanent group membership upon communication with regard to a) face, b) emotion, and c) shame or guilt.

Q: Christianity a. is the religion of fewer people than Islam b. is practiced the same way throughout the world c. has little relevance to social attitudes toward business ventures d. shares with Islam a common root in Judaism

Q: Change is understood a. as synonymous with new and improved, in all cultures b. as something to be feared, in all cultures c. in connection with avoidance or tolerance of uncertainty d. by the educated elite in a society but not understood by the masses

Q: Time a. was invented my the monks in medieval Europe b. is treated as cyclical in Western cultures c. is treated as linear in results-oriented cultures d. is past, present, and future at once, in doing cultures

Q: Discuss self-identity and explain why it is important in investigating cultures influence on communication.

Q: Being cultures a. stress the importance of human beings b. value stillness, collectedness, and serenity c. view activity as important for its own sake d. prefer to fill emptiness with talk and action

Q: Results cultures a. do not put a high priority on winning b. do not identify goals and work toward them c. do not quantify and measure progress d. do not value relationships as highly as results

Q: Fate (or fortune or luck) is relatively unimportant in Western cultures because a. they value planning and luck is of no consequence if contingency plans have been made for various outcomes b. in technologically developed countries things don't have unexpected outcomes c. luck only affects people who believe it has power d. Western cultures are not superstitious

Q: In general, tolerance of uncertainty is a. rejected by relationship-oriented cultures b. typical of cultures that are averse to risk c. not typical of rules-bending cultures d. more a characteristic of planning cultures than of luck-seeking cultures

Q: The relationship of humans to the environment a. has become exploitative only in the past decade or two, since earlier civilizations lived in harmony with nature b. is not an issue related to religion c. is captured in the dimension of nature dominating human activity versus humans dominating nature d. goes beyond culture

Q: Hinduism a. is a relatively young religion b. involves the idea of hierarchy in spiritual and social levels c. is practiced throughout India in the same way d. is kept carefully separate from business life

Q: Buddhism a. is a system of teachings by its leader, Ghandi, about passive resistance to injustice and social wrong b. is a system of teachings about moral and spiritual enlightenment; Gautama is the Buddha's name c. is practiced the same way around the world d. is an offshoot of Islam; the name of Buddha is unknown

Q: Islam a. has more believers than either Buddhism or Hinduism and is the fastest growing religion in the United States b. is older than Buddhism or Hinduism c. worships the god called Mohammed d. results in behavior of believers that is the same around the world

Q: "Cultural priority" means a. key sources where a society generates its GDP b. layers of society with a few at the top and many at the bottom c. a value held by members of a culture to a greater or lesser degree compared with other cultures d. what you should learn last about a culture

Q: Among the five categories for understanding a culture are a. thinking and knowing, the big picture, legal and educational systems b. doing and achieving, the self, and technology c. social organization, hierarchy, the big picture d. thinking and knowing, doing and achieving, the big picture

Q: Knowing comes from a. taking in and processing what one reads, hears, and studies b. listening, doing, and following examples c. experience, intuition, and formal learning d. a, b, or c depending upon one's culture

Q: Reasoning by putting facts in a logical sequence a. is something all cultures do b. is typical of cultures descended from classical Greece c. is true only of Arab cultures d. describes Asian cultures best

Q: Change is viewed positively in traditional cultures.

Q: As the textbook points out, businesspeople do not need to concern themselves with cultural attitudes towards death.

Q: When studying cultures, which of the following is NOT an approach to use? a. emic and etic focuses b. using whole cultures or using individuals as units of analysis c. transactional or non-transactional analyses d. culture as a basis for theory

Q: Stereotypes are a. never OK b. oversimplified generalizations c. the opposite of mental categories d. two opposing views in stereo

Q: Cultural generalizations a. need to be used carefully to avoid cultural determinism b. cannot legitimately be used to make predictions about behavior c. never play a role in cultural determinism d. are the same thing as stereotypes

Q: Cultures that prefer high-context communication a. try to avoid ambiguity, as a rule b. also have a high rate of verbs in their communication c. tend to be technologically undeveloped d. communicate in ways that can be called elliptical and indirect

Q: Cultures that prefer low-context communication a. rely on context to communicate meaning b. are explicit in their messages c. do not trust words d. tend to have a high rate of verbs in their communication

Q: Workers in some cultures who may appear "disorganized" to members of other cultures, may be using a simultaneous, rather than a sequential, approach to work.

Q: All cultures agree about what signifies an achievement..

Q: Uncertainty is the same thing as risk.

Q: Planning is important in cultures that think in cause-and-effect patters, and correspondingly the role of luck is minimal.

Q: The world religion with the greatest number of believers is Buddhism

Q: The third largest group, in the range of world religions, is the non-religious.

Q: The definition of punctuality is the same in all cultures.

Q: Cultures view efficiency differently.

Q: Logic is defined and practiced the same way in all cultures.

Q: Time is understood and used differently in different cultures. Discuss, using specific examples.

Q: Treating culture as a theoretical concept means we can make generalizations about a culture.

Q: Hofstedes work and the GLOBE study are examples of research about cultures at the individual level. Ans: False Pages 96-97 Difficulty: Moderate 13 Answers to the 24 questions in Chapters 3 and 4 should each be thought of as somewhere on a continuum .

Q: Members of a culture are not necessarily the best authorities on that culture.

Q: Novels in translation are ways to learn about another culture's values, attitudes and behaviors.

Q: Anecdotal travelers' tales are not able to add anything accurate to your understanding of a culture.

Q: Some cultures hold that firsthand experience alone enables a person to "know" with certainty.

Q: Everyone, regardless of culture, learns by asking questions.

Q: Some things are considered unknowable to members of some cultures.

Q: Discuss the use of generalizations when talking about cultures. Are they always stereotypes? Are they useful or harmful?

Q: Define high-context and low-context cultures and explain how communication messages may differ when the communicator has to refuse to refund a purchase. Use an example such as this one: May purchased a 3G mobile phone, but found the memory was insufficient to hold all the data the she wants to load into it. May has used the phone for two weeks and has requested a refund, but you, the communicator, have to refuse. Imagine you are from a low-context culture and think what you would say. Then take the part of a high-context culture member.

Q: Discuss how a culture's view toward knowing and knowledge is related to how people learn to learn. Use examples to illustrate your discussion.

Q: Ans: Pages 109-111 Difficulty: Moderate

Q: High-context cultures tend to be group-oriented. Using Category 3, Doing and Achieving, discuss other characteristics of high-context cultures, and give specific examples.

Q: Discuss the cultural dimension that concerns the role of a deity, fate, fortune or luck in business in relation to this question: Why should businesspeople learn about the importance this dimension has in a culture?

Q: Discuss the relationship of beliefs in a culture and religions (belief systems) in this question: Does a culture adopt a religion because its values are similar to the cultures values, or does a religion supply the values to a culture? Choose a specific culture that has had more than one dominant religion in its history. Keep your answer focused on a whole culture, not individual personal religious views.

Q: Discuss the two focuses in the study of culture: a whole-culture focus and an individual-member focus. Give examples of research studies you have read about. Explain emic and etic approaches in your discussion.

Q: Culture as a concept related to a specific group can operate as a theory. Discuss this statement, explaining how the cultural concept of family, for example, can be a theoretical basis for research into Chinese behavior (such as communication). You can refer to the clothesline or beaded chain metaphors.

Q: Language barrier refers to a. violations of grammatical rules b. cultural and linguistic violations of communication conventions c. poor pronunciation d. the use of an interpreter.

Q: The words a culture uses are influenced by a. the physical environment of the culture b. the values of a culture c. the priorities of a culture d. all of the previous choices.

Q: Which of the following statements is not true? a. All languages change over time. b. Many business terms around the globe are derived from English. c. The Japanese are particularly concerned about keeping Japanese free from foreign influences. d. French Canadians do not follow the guidelines of the Acadmie Franaise.

Q: Some say that because English is widely spoken around the globe a. English will become the universal language in all business transactions in the near future. b. there is no need to study any other foreign languages c. there will be a decline of the use of other languages even by native speakers of other languages d. many native English speakers make the assumption that they can do business everywhere in English.

Q: The language spoken in Hong Kong is a. Mandarin b. Shanghai dialect c. Cantonese d. standard Chinese

Q: When you determine which language to study, you should a. consider the political and economic importance of a language b. evaluate your career goals c. find out who the major players are in the industry you are most interested in d. all of the previous choices.

Q: Geocentric staffing means a. managers come from any country regardless of cultural origin b. managers of a subsidiary come from the country of headquarters c. managers of a subsidiary come from the host country d. managers come from the same geographic region.

Q: The use of interpreters a. guarantees that the receiver interprets the message as intended b. proves that it is a waste of time to study foreign languages c. can facilitate negotiations if the interpreter is prepared for the negotiation d. indicates a lack of seriousness about the negotiation

Q: In order to improve the environment for communicating with a foreign partner, you should a. start with a joke to break the ice b. be personal and use first names c. know the basics of behavior and social etiquette of your partner d. talk as you always talk.

Q: Which of the following is not true? a. The American date 3/7/20xx is March 7th 20xx b. The German 3. 9. 20xx becomes 9/3/19xx in American English c. The sum $3,956.70 is written as $3.956,70 in most European languages d. All multinational companies have agreed to write dates as follows: 5 May, 20xx.

Q: The industrialized countries have come to an agreement on what is an acceptable format for business letters and reports.

Q: The writing of dates can be confusing in intercultural communication.

Q: In American English, 6/5/19xx refers to June 5th, 19xx.

Q: The recent increase in migration of people around the world has led to discussions about multiculturalism in many countries.

Q: Technology has made international business travel obsolete.

Q: Ethnocentric staffing means that a firm staffs all managerial positions in a foreign subsidiary with people from the home country.

Q: In polycentric staffing, managers of the subsidiary are natives of the country in which the subsidiary is located.

Q: Geocentric staffing does not consider the cultural origin of the manager in staffing decisions.

Q: Any native speaker of a language can function as an effective interpreter.

Q: The cultural background of the interpreter may affect the communication process.

Q: Briefing the interpreter on the topic of discussion before the meeting will enhance the effectiveness of the meeting.

Q: One of the functions of the Acadmie Franaise is to keep French pure and reject the adoption of foreign words into French.

Q: The use of acronyms facilitates intercultural communication.

Q: English is the most widely accepted language for business; therefore, native English speakers do not need to learn a foreign language.

Q: More than 6500 different languages are spoken around the world.

Q: The two major Chinese languages are Mandarin and Cantonese.