1.

Explain the different categories of cultural shock that may be

experienced by people working overseas. (Topic 1)
As businesses go overseas, there is a tendency to send workers from the
home country to manage or complete assignments at the foreign subsidiary.
These workers are also known as expatriates. The ability of expatriates to
complete their tasks and assignments depends very much on their ability to
respond and adjust to the local culture. Failure to do so will result in culture
shock, a situation where expatriates feel upset, confused, disoriented and
face emotional upheaval. Those experiencing culture shock might fail to
assimilate into a different culture and return to their home country without
completing their given tasks
2. List several ways to reduce cultural differences. (Topic 5)
(a) Interpersonal skills
(b) Linguistic ability
(c) Cultural empathy
(d) Patience and respect
3. 3. List some characteristics of Latin American leaders. (Topic 7)
a) Flexibility to face uncertainty; (b) Vertical hierarchy; (c) Work groups; (d)
Good personal relations over performance
4. Describe the general guidelines that international managers should
know regarding cross-cultural
communication. (Topic 5)

(a) Host Country Managers Managers who are nationals of the host country recruited by the
company.
(b) Third Country Managers Managers who are nationals of a third country (other than the
home country and host country).
(c) Inpatriates Managers from the host country or third countries recruited to work in the
home country. This group is also known as inpatriates.
5. Describe some factors to consider in intercultural negotiations.
(Topic 9)
(a) The players and the situation
(b) Methods of decision making
(c) National character
(d) Cultural noise

1. An international manager plays many roles which are not played by a

manager in a local organisation.
a) Describe the general roles played by an international manager.
(15)
(a) Manage Operations and Ensure Companies Goals are Achieved
Businesses have become more international and interdependent for a few
decades now. Thus, international managers have an important role to
assume in managing operations abroad and ensuring that all the goals and
objectives of their companies are achieved.
(b) Initiate the Management, Process and Technology Transfer Process
Usually, managers are the ones who make the first move in the company.
They initiate the management, process and technology transfer process as
the company tries to transfer its core competencies to the foreign
subsidiary.
(c) Fill in Positions International managers are expected to fill in positions in
countries where qualified people are not available.
(d) Secure Headquarter Control over Foreign Subsidiaries Managers are
expected to secure the headquarters control over foreign subsidiaries,
especially in the context of management, administrative, financial and
corporate culture.
(e) Learn Foreign Cultures and Acquire New Knowledge Managers need to
learn foreign cultures and environments as well as acquire new knowledge
and skills from foreign countries that might be useful and applicable to the
headquarters itself or the other subsidiaries.
b) Explain two traits of a good international manager. (5)
(a) Management Principles International managers must not depend solely
on universal management principles as a guideline for their behaviour and
conduct in foreign countries. This is because management principles were
created by Western theorists such as Peter Drucker and Michael E. Porter,
while societies in other countries have different cultures and ideologies.
Besides this, in multinational companies, managers interact with people
from several cultures from time to time. Such conditions constitute a
challenge for managers to perform their duties and solve problems in
different situations. Therefore, the ability to manage differently in other
countries based on the situation is an important trait for international
managers.
(b) Contingency Leadership In terms of leadership, international managers
must have the contingency role. The contingency leadership concept
suggests that good international managers will always prepare a
management plan or alternative leadership method to overcome unexpected
situations in the event of the failure of the original plan. With this concept,
managers will be more prepared with a backup plan which will support the
original plan. This effective method can help international managers to act
rationally in critical times.
2. Multinational corporations can choose to ignore, minimise or utilise
cultural differences as strategies to
manage these differences.
a) Explain how a multinational corporation could ignore or utilise cultural
differences and give some
examples to support your answer. (Topic )

(8)
Even in this era of globalisation, we can still see global products like Levis
jeans and McDonalds burgers or a 200-year-old global organisation which
has no indication of an international mindset. Head offices and most of the
product/ business unit heads often remain firmly planted in the home
country. When companies choose to ignore cultural differences, they are
operating on the assumption that business is business and that managers,
engineers or bankers are the same throughout the world. Companies assume
that policies and practices developed in the home country are readily
transferable. The host country subsidiaries feel that they have to maintain
product quality to uphold customer service and technological standards, and
ensure that the corporate culture is shared by all employees. Such
companies might even create their own training centres or universities to
inculcate the necessary management practices and behaviour, core beliefs
and values.While compliance may be achieved at the surface level of
behaviour, values and beliefs, it is not evident that underlying assumptions
are truly shared. Some companies develop their own beliefs, values and
identity. For example, IBM managers worldwide share th
b) Show several ways that multinational corporations could minimise cultural
differences. (12)
(a) Create a Corporate Culture This can be done by developing a corporate
culture globally but this is difficult to accomplish. Companies believe that a
strong corporate culture can be designed to be a melting pot to reduce
cultural differences. They also assume that subsidiaries can implement it on
their own (polycentric approach), provided that they can show good results.
However, implementing similar systems and procedures or creating a global
corporate culture which does not reflect the practices and culture of the
headquarters is quite difficult. For this reason, global corporate values,
systems and practices are often unacceptable.
(b) Assign Senior Management from the Parent Company Senior
management from the parent company can be assigned to head up the local
subsidiary to serve as a cultural transfer agent. Parent company executives
may frequently visit subsidiaries and meet with local managers to discuss
how things are going. In this way, problems can be resolved immediately.
Local managers, on the other hand, must adapt themselves to the policies
and procedures of the parent company so that they can understand the
attitude and values practised by the parent company. Creating a strong
corporate culture to reduce cultural differences is challenging as the culture
of the parent company is seen as permanent and dominant. This makes local
managers feel isolated in their own country. For example, many Japanese
companies have tried to minimise the influence of local cultural differences
by combining frequent personal interaction between the head office and
expatriate Japanese with strong socialisation practices for locals. The heads
of the subsidiary, who are mostly Japanese nationals, will remain in close
contact with the headquarters. It is vital to keep informed and to maintain
the network of contacts in order to get things done, mainly by making
frequent trips back to the home country. Local nationals are carefully
screened to ensure that they match the companys values and behaviour.
(c) Provide Intensive Training to Local Workers Local workers are given
intensive training not only in work techniques but also in company
philosophy. They are often sent to the companys home country to observe
and experience the way things are done at the headquarters. For example,
Sony sends managers from their subsidiary in Malaysia to Japan to learn the
latest Japanese quality practices in manufacturing. However, success is not

always guaranteed as non-Japanese managers, even those who speak fluent

Japanese, are not able to develop the necessary personal network. They also
would never really be able to understand the Japanese way of doing things.
Local managers would not have the essential experience that is needed to
build relationships and understand management processes. While these
approaches may take into account national cultural differences, they aim to
assimilate these differences into an overriding corporate culture. Efforts to
create a strong corporate culture in order to reduce cultural differences
often meet with resistance because the parent company culture remains
dominant.
3. Leadership may differ across regions and also according to the type of
leadership. (Topic 7)
a) Differentiate between leadership styles in the United States and Japan.
(10)
United States Leadership Styles
The United States is a highly individualistic and masculine-oriented country
where the culture emphasises the active recognition of their peoples roles
and contributions. In reference to the collected literature, the American
leadership style is seemingly participative and supportive as it provides
strong support in carrying out organisational objectives and targets. The
participative leadership style involves strong roles played by subordinates.
American leaders are able to use this style, specifically in the decisionmaking processes. There are four types of participation approaches: (a)
Quality circle; (b) Self-directed work teams; (c) Quality of work-life
programme; and (d) Scale on gain-sharing plans.
Japanese Leadership Styles
Japan is well known for its paternalistic approach to leadership. Japanese
leaders will usually try to establish an atmosphere of respect and obedience
from their subordinates. However, they do not impose more rules and laws
on their subordinates that affect overall working relationship and conditions.
Their paternalistic history emerges in the manner they manage their
subordinates. While most Japanese organisations are highly hierarchical and
rigidly organised, the leaders have an outstanding concern for the personal
lives of their subordinates. Trust plays a vital role as most Japanese leaders
leave their subordinates with a set of instructions and it is up to them to
carry out the work. Most Japanese managers believe that their employees
are so motivated by teamwork that they want to share in the responsibility
for attaining group goals. Thus, Japanese workers seek opportunities to
participate in the management process. In terms of decision-making, they
similarly acknowledge the consensus of everyone particularly during
extensive consultation. In addition, the leadership process used by Japanese
managers places a strong emphasis on ambiguous goals. Subordinates are
typically unsure of what their managers wants them to do and as a result,
they spend more time preparing their assignments. Though it seems like
wasting the subordinates time, it gives the leaders stronger control over
the followers because the latter do not know with certainty what is expected
from them. Therefore, the workers will prepare themselves for every
eventuality (Luthans & Doh 2010).
b) Distinguish between transformational leader and charismatic leader.
Transformational Leaders
This type of leader can be associated with visionary agents with a sense of
mission and capable of motivating their followers to accept new goals and
new ways of doing things. They always build commitment to the mission and

always try to achieve the objective of the organisation. Working for a

transformational leader can be a wonderful and uplifting experience as they
put passion and energy into everything and care about subordinates and
their need to succeed. Leaders also guide or motivate their followers in the
direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. At
the same time, they will try to create awareness of issues by helping
subordinates to look at old problems from a new perspective, and they are
able to excite and inspire followers to put in extra effort to achieve group
goals.
Charismatic Leaders
Now, we will look at the third type of leader. Charismatic leaders inspire and
motivate employees through their charismatic traits and abilities. Leaders
demonstrate charm, grace and self-belief, which are needed to create
followers as people follow others whom they personally admire. There is a
personal magnetism among these leaders that contributes to remarkable
ability to get other people to endorse to their vision and promote it
passionately. Charismatic leaders use a wide range of methods to manage
their image and, if they are not naturally charismatic, may tirelessly practise
developing their skills. They may engender trust through visible selfsacrifice and taking personal risks in the name of their beliefs. Charismatic
leaders will always show these traits: (a) Inspire great confidence in their
followers; (b) Very persuasive; and (c) Make very effective use of body
language and verbal language when communicating.