Part 1- Read the chapter "The sociocultural environment" and answer the following questions-
1 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having the same product range shown in all IKEA catalogues around the world?
2 The catalogue is the most important element in IKEA's global marketing planning. Discuss if there could be some cultural differences in the effec- tiveness of the catalogue as a marketing tool
3 Explain some cultural differences which are illustrated by the two different illustrations of the same product (from the Danish and Chinese IKEA catalogues).
Part 2- Multiple Choice: This activity contains 10 questions.
1. Which of the following statements is true?
a. national culture is rapidly losing its importance as people become more homogeneous in needs, wants and desires
b. national culture is not important in the context of global marketing
c. national culture has a significant impact on global marketing
d. national culture does not affect most products' marketing mix
2. The roots of individualism are in:
a. the US
b. England
c. Saudi Arabia
d. France
3. Which of the following are true about the Japanese?
a. they are generally familiar with the culture of the people with whom they are dealing with
b. they are very collectivistic, but only so in the workplace
c. they perceive uncertainty with suspicion
d. A and C only
4. Treoiganfeor who works in Japan, the many different bows, such as the bow for meeting colleagues in the hall, the bow for greetings customers, and the bow for special occasions, are examples of:
a. low context culture
b. non-verbal communication
c. environmental sensitivity
d. cultural universals
5. Judging by Hofstede's cultural typology, one of the following statements is not true:
a. France, Hong Kong and the Philippines score high in power distance
b. Austria and Denmark score high in power distance
c. the US, Germany and Israel score low in power distance
d. Portugal, Spain and France score high in power distance
6. Islam and Christianity share which of the following similarities when it comes to international business?
a. they share the principles of honesty and respect of the right of others
b. they both support free enterprise
c. they are both hostile to socialist ideas
d. all the above are valid similarities
7. The concept of friendship is ambiguous and does not exist in society.
a. American
b. Russian
c. Japanese
d. British
8. Which one of the following is true of the Chinese?
a. they are very relaxed about time
b. tehrey pref to work on a one-to-one basis
c. they pay close attention to long standing relationships
d. B and C only
9. Which of the following statements best illustrates individualist versus collectivist cultures?
a. the US and Japan are both collectivist cultures
b. the US is an individualistic culture while Japan is a collectivist culture
c. the US and Japan are both individualistic cultures
d. the US is a collectivist culture, while Japan is an individualistic culture
10. Which of the following sentences is not true?
a. in small power distance cultures, freedom means independence
b. characteristic of weak uncertainty avoidance is resistance to change, a desire for stability
c. in large power distance and collectivistic cultures, children remain dependent on their parents much more than those in small power distance and individualistic cultures
d. the norm, the desirable, in masculine societies is that one wants to show one's success