International Business Study Guide

A collection of vocabulary flashcards for key terms relevant to International Business concepts, focused on definitions and explanations.

Culture

The shared values, beliefs, norms, symbols, and learned behaviors of a group.

Values

Deep beliefs about what is good, desirable, or proper.

Attitudes

Learned tendencies to react positively or negatively to people, ideas, or situations.

Norms

Social rules that dictate how individuals are expected to behave in a group or society.

Folkways

Everyday customs such as dress, greetings, or table manners.

Mores

Norms with strong moral significance; violating them invites serious social disapproval.

Cultural Determinism

The view that people's behavior and social outcomes are primarily shaped by culture.

Enculturation

The lifelong process of learning one's own culture's language, symbols, norms, and values.

The Iceberg Model of Culture

A model indicating that visible aspects of culture are only a small part of a deeper underlying belief system.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards of one's own culture.

Cultural Distance

The degree to which two cultures differ in values, norms, and practices.

Cultural Frameworks

Analytical models used to compare different cultures, such as Hofstede's model.

Hofstede's Value Survey Model

A model comparing countries based on dimensions like power distance and individualism vs. collectivism.

Phases of Cultural Adjustment

The stages of adapting to a new culture, including honeymoon, culture shock, adjustment, and mastery.

Effective Expatriate Selection

The process of choosing expatriates based on more than just technical skills, emphasizing adaptability and relational skills.

Global Mind-Set

The ability to appreciate and integrate multiple cultures into a broad strategic view.

Expatriate Failure

When an expatriate's overseas assignment ends prematurely or does not achieve its goals.

Foreign Exchange Market

The global market for buying and selling currencies and determining exchange rates.

Exchange Rate

The price of one currency expressed in terms of another currency.

Foreign Exchange Risk

The possibility that currency movements will affect the value of future cash flows or profits.

Currency Appreciation

A market-driven increase in a currency's value relative to another currency.

Currency Devaluation

An official decrease in a currency's value under a fixed regime.

Capital Market

A market for raising and trading long-term funds such as stocks and bonds.

Cost of Capital

The return required by investors to provide funds to a company.

Primary versus Secondary Capital Markets

The primary market is for new securities; the secondary market is for trading existing securities.

Systematic Risk

Marketwide risk caused by economic or financial forces.

Portfolio Diversification

Spreading investments across different assets to reduce risk.

Hot Money

Highly mobile capital seeking short-term returns.

Eurocurrency Market

A market for currency deposited in banks outside the country of that currency's issuance.

National Interests versus Global Needs

The debate between prioritizing domestic economic interests and addressing global economic challenges.

Universal Needs

Customer needs that are broadly similar across different countries.