- •International Management: Exam Questions
- •International management: an overview.
- •How would you define management?
- •What are the managerial functions?
- •What are the basic managerial jobs?
- •In what fundamental way are the basic goals of all managers at all levels and in all kinds of enterprises the same?
- •What is the nature of today’s global business environment? How does this environment facilitate international business activities? Provide examples.
- •How do the legal–political, economic, and cultural environmental differences within a country affect a firm’s international business transactions? Provide examples.
- •What is international business? How does the management of an international business differ from that of a domestic one? Provide examples with specific firms and countries in mind.
- •International transactions involve money converting into different currencies
- •Define globalization. What are the pros and cons of globalization? Provide examples.
- •What is the globalization of markets? Of production? Provide examples.
- •Why do we study international business? Why has studying it become more important today than ever before?
- •How would you define the nature and purpose of international management?
- •What advantages do multinational corporations have? What challenges must they meet? Give examples.
- •What are the major forms of internationalizing? How do firms choose the market entry modes?
- •Why is managing an international business different from managing purely domestic business?
- •International economic environment
- •What are the major objectives for the international economic environment scanning? Name the elements of international economic environment that require special attention of the firms. Why?
- •What are the stages of the country economic analysis? What are the major objectives of this analysis?
- •Compare and contrast the theories of absolute and comparative advantage. How do they stand today? Does one stand more than the other? Why or why not? Support your answer with examples.
- •What do the contemporary trade theories state? Provide examples.
- •Explain the difference between autonomous and offsetting (or accommodating) transactions.
- •Since the balance of payments must always balance, how do balance of payments deficits or surpluses emerge?
- •How will the dollar/euro exchange rate be affected if American consumers consider that it is fashionable to own a bmw car?
- •What are the causes of globalization?
- •What is the difference between a free-trade area and a customs union?
- •What are the costs and benefits of economic and monetary union?
- •International cultural environment
- •Define culture. Which definition in your opinion, is the most appropriate and why? Provide examples?
- •Which needs must be satisfied by culture? Briefly explain each and provide examples.
- •Present culture and its elements. Provide examples and relate them to international business.
- •What is the role of each major religion in conducting international business? What do Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism declare in terms of business?
- •Describe Trompenaar’s value dimensions and discuss their use in international business.
- •Compare and contrast the Kluckhohn–Strodtbeck and Hofstede frameworks and their application in understanding culture.
- •What is parochialism? Culture shock? Ethnocentrism? Provide examples.
- •What are the phases of the culture shock? Explain the methods of dealing with culture shock
- •What do we mean by cross-cultural management and training?
- •How employers can help bridge the cultural divide in the workplace?1
- •How would you train an international business manager?
- •Which practical tips would you provide as the most appropriate when it comes to international business, and why?
- •What is social capital? In your opinion, how cross-cultural management can benefit the business from the point of view of its intangible assets and the income statement?
- •International political and legal environment
- •Define and describe the international political environment. Name its key elements. How should the international managers deal with the foreign political environments?
- •What is political risk? What are the sources of political risk for international companies? How are they connected with the types of political risks?
- •Define the categories of international political risk. Provide examples.
- •What are the objectives of political risks analysis? Are they different from the objectives of international political environment analysis?
- •What are the elements of risks that should be formalized? Explain the methods of political risks analysis.
- •What are the factors and variables of political risks rating, modeling and forecasting suggested by the prs Group and The Economist Intelligence Unit, and beri?
- •What are the best information sources for the political risks analysis?
- •What are the basic strategies to manage political risk?
- •How should international managers minimize the political risk?
- •How does the political environment affect the economy?
- •How does the legal environment affect international business? How should the international managers address the various legal challenges in different countries?
- •What ways are there in resolving international disputes?
- •What are the differences between Common, Civil, and Theocratic Law? How do international managers deal with these different types of laws?
- •What is corruption and how does it affect international business?
- •What is bribery and how is it being addressed by international agencies?
- •Strategic planning in the multinational company.
- •Why strategic planning is important?
- •What are the limitations for strategic planning?
- •How to organize the strategic planning process?
- •Why strategic planning process might be different in different organizations? Provide examples.
- •What are the existing approaches and methods to strategic management?
- •Organizing in the multinational company.
- •What kinds of authority relationships exist in organizations?
- •How authority is dispersed throughout the organization structure, and what determines the extent of this dispersion?
- •What explains the differences in organizing practices between countries? How these differences might be managed?
- •Fundamentals of international hr management. Leadership and motivation in international context.
- •What are the different approaches to international staffing? Outline their main characteristics.
- •What are the functions of international assignments?
- •What are the reasons for using international assignments?
- •What are the positive and negative aspects of a Parent Country National?
- •What elements would you include in a repatriation program?
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What elements would you include in a repatriation program?
The company must anticipate the repatriation problems and plan actions to facilitate the reintegration of its international employees and their family. Most of the methods used to facilitate the adjustment process before the transfer can also be used for the repatriation process. In the next paragraphs, we will examine the steps of an effective repatriation process, which starts during the assignment and extends after the coming back home. The authors in the field recommend generally three steps in the preparation of the repatriation process.
1. Determination of Ownership for the Repatriation Activities. Normally, this should have been clarified before the departure. Black et al.4 propose the creation of a repatriation team, consisting of an HR department representative and the expatriate’s supervisor in the home country, or his sponsor/mentor. The role of this team is to initiate the preparation for the return and to take responsibility for identifying an appropriate return position for the expatriate. Collaboration between home and host HR and line management is essential when it comes to the managing of the international assignments. Confusion will make communication between the expatriate and the HR more difficult, and will make the expatriate feel less supported.
2. Pre-return Preparation. The repatriation should be planned much before the effective home-coming, and should ideally start at least six months before the end of the international assignment.63
• The company should give the expatriate sufficient time between the warning of the repatriation and the effective transfer to allow the expatriate and his or her family to make anticipatory adjustment before returning to the home country. Several information sources should be made available to the expatriate and his or her family to help them develop accurate expectations about the return.
• The company should inquire about the expectations of the expatriate regarding his or her expected return job and his or her career goals and initiate an internal search to find a suitable position. In the ideal case, expectations about re-entry should have been already set up at the end of the selection process. Even if a specific job at the end of the assignment cannot be guaranteed, the assignee should at least know what opportunities are available in the company and how they can be considered for them.
• The organization should appoint an organizational sponsor/ mentor, who could be an accurate source of information about the company-related changes. The sponsor should have himself/ herself experienced expatriation and have sufficient influence to act as a supporter for the expatriate
• Periodical visits to the home country just prior to the repatriation give the expatriate the opportunity to develop accurate expectations about what is happening in the home country and in the organization.
• The company should also provide pre-return training and orientation. Essential information about the repatriation process can be provided in a workshop/training program, including such matters as housing, financial compensation packages, school system,andso on.
• Finally, the company should provide assistance to the expatriate family to find a suitable accommodation back home.
3. Post-return adjustment. Black et al.4 note that the most pivotal component of successful repatriation for expatriates is the selection of a return job assignment, taking into account the expats’ skills, competencies, and the new interests developed during the international assignment. In order to avoid potential problems between the expatriate and his or her colleagues and supervisor, they could also attend training or an orientation program. The company could also organize a collective debriefing about the expats’ international experience. Finally, in order to allow the expatriate to make the transition quietly, the organization should leave time for the expatriate, and give him one week off to settle down, or allow him/her to have reduced working hours during the first days.
1 Cultural and Language Barriers In the Workplace.pdf