Objective [1]

Define ethnocentrism, and explain what Hofstede concluded about applying American management theories in other countries. Ethnocentrism is a prejudicial belief that one’s native country, culture, language, behavior, and traditions are better than all others. Due to the wide variations in key dimensions Hofstede found among cultures, he warned against directly applying American-made management theories to other cultures without adapting them first. He said there is no one best way to manage across cultures.

Objective [2]

Identify and describe the nine cultural dimensions from the GLOBE project. (1) Power distance—How equally should power be distributed? (2) Uncertainty avoidance—How much should social norms and rules reduce uncertainty and unpredictability? (3) Societal collectivism—How much should loyalty to the social unit override individual interests? (4) In-group collectivism—How strong should one’s loyalty be to family or organization? (5) Gender egalitarianism—How much should gender discrimination and role inequalities be minimized? (6) Assertiveness—How confrontational and dominant should one be in social relationships? (7) Future orientation— How much should one delay gratification by planning and saving for the future? (8) Performance orientation—How much should individuals be rewarded for improvement and excellence? (9) Humane orientation—How much should individuals be rewarded for being kind, fair, friendly, and generous?

Objective [3]

Draw a distinction between individualistic cultures and collectivist cultures. People in individualistic cultures think primarily in terms of “I” and “me” and place a high value on freedom and personal choice. Collectivist cultures teach people to be “we” and “us” oriented and to subordinate personal wishes and goals to the interests of the relevant social unit (such as family, group, organization, or society).

Objective [4]

Demonstrate your knowledge of these two distinctions: highcontext versus low-context cultures and monochronic versus polychronic cultures. People in high-context cultures (such as China, Japan, and Mexico) derive great meaning from situational cues, above and beyond written and spoken words. Low-context cultures (including Germany, the United States, and Canada) derive key information from precise and brief written and spoken messages. In monochronic cultures (e.g., the United States), time is precise and rigidly measured. Polychronic cultures, such as those found in Latin America and the Middle East, view time as multidimensional, fluid, and flexible. Monochronic people prefer to do one thing at a time, while polychronic people like to tackle multiple tasks at the same time.

Objective [5]

Explain what the GLOBE project has taught us about leadership. Across 60 cultures, they identified three categories of leader attributes: universally liked, universally disliked, and disputed. The universally liked leader attributes—including trustworthy, dynamic, motive arouser, decisive, and intelligent—are associated with the charismatic/transformational leadership style that is widely applicable. Universally disliked leader attributes—such as noncooperative, irritable, egocentric, and dictatorial— should be avoided in all cultures. Disputed leader attributes need to be used or avoided on a culture-byculture contingency basis.

Objective [6]

Explain why US managers have a comparatively high failure rate in foreign assignments, and identify an OB trouble spot for each stage of the foreign assignment cycle. American expatriates are troubled by family and personal adjustment problems; in other words, cultural problems, not technical competence problems. The four stages of the foreign assignment cycle (and OB trouble spots) are (a) selection and training (unrealistic expectations), (b) arrival and adjustment (culture shock), (c) settling in and acculturating (lack of support), and (d) returning home and adjusting (reentry shock).