Download Glossary of Terms: Globalization, Economics, Business, Law, and Politics and more Quizzes International Business in PDF only on Docsity!
Globalization
Trend away from distinct national economic units and toward one huge global market. TERM 2
Globalization of markets
DEFINITION 2 Moving away from an economic system in which national markets are distinct entities, isolated by trade barriers and barriers of distance, time, and culture, and toward a system in which national markets are merging into one global market. TERM 3
Globalization of production
DEFINITION 3 Trend by individual firms to disperse parts of their productive processes to different locations around the globe to take advantage of differences in cost and quality of factors of production. TERM 4
Factors of production
DEFINITION 4 Inputs into the productive process of a firm, including labor, management, land, capital, and technological know-how. TERM 5
General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade
(GATT)
DEFINITION 5 International treaty that committed signatories to lowering barriers to the free flow of goods across national borders and led to the WTO.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
The organization that succeeded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as a result of the successful completion of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. TERM 7
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
DEFINITION 7 International institution set up to maintain order in the international monetary system. TERM 8
World Bank
DEFINITION 8 International institution set up to promote general economic development in the world's poorer nations. TERM 9
United Nations
DEFINITION 9 An international organization made up of 191 countries headquartered in New York City, formed in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation. TERM 10
International trade
DEFINITION 10 When a firm exports goods or services to consumers in another country.
Political economy
The political, economic, and legal systems of a country. TERM 17
Political system
DEFINITION 17 The system of government in a nation. TERM 18
Collectivism
DEFINITION 18 A political system that emphasizes collective goals as opposed to individual goals. TERM 19
Socialism
DEFINITION 19 A political philosophy advocating substantial public involvement, through government ownership, in the means of production and distribution. TERM 20
Communists
DEFINITION 20 Those who believe socialism can be achieved only through revolution and totalitarian dictatorship.Classless, moneyless, and stateless social order structured upon common ownership.
Social democrats
Those committed to achieving socialism by democratic means. TERM 22
Privatization
DEFINITION 22 The sale of state-owned enterprises to private investors TERM 23
Individualism
DEFINITION 23 An emphasis on the importance of guaranteeing individual freedom and self-expression TERM 24
Democracy
DEFINITION 24 Political system in which government is by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives. TERM 25
Totalitarianism
DEFINITION 25 Form of government in which one person or political party exercises absolute control over all spheres of human life and opposing political parties are prohibited.
Market economy
An economic system in which the interaction of supply and demand determines the quantity in which goods and services are produced. TERM 32
Command economy
DEFINITION 32 An economic system where the allocation of resources, including determination of what goods and services should be produced, and in what quantity, is planned by the government. TERM 33
Legal system
DEFINITION 33 System of rules that regulate behavior and the processes by which the laws of a country are enforced and through which redress of grievances is obtained. TERM 34
Common law
DEFINITION 34 A system of law based on tradition, precedent, and custom; when law courts interpret common law, they do so with regard to these characteristics TERM 35
Civil law system
DEFINITION 35 A system of law based on a very detailed set of written laws and codes.
Theocratic law system
A system of law based on religious teachings. TERM 37
Contract
DEFINITION 37 A document that specifies the conditions under which an exchange is to occur and details the rights and obligations of the parties involved. TERM 38
Contract law
DEFINITION 38 The body of law that governs contract enforcement. TERM 39
United Nations Convention on Contracts for
the International Sale of Goods (CIGS)
DEFINITION 39 A set of rules governing certain aspects of the making and performance of commercial contracts between sellers and buyers who have their places of businesses in different nations. TERM 40
Property rights
DEFINITION 40 Bundle of legal rights over the use to which a resource is put and over the use made of any income that may be derived from that resource
Copyright
Exclusive legal rights of authors, composers, playwrights, artists, and publishers to publish and dispose of their work as they see fit. TERM 47
Trademark
DEFINITION 47 Designs and names, often officially registered, by which merchants or manufacturers designate and differentiate their products. TERM 48
World Intellectual Property Organization
DEFINITION 48 An international organization whose members sign treaties to agree to protect intellectual property. TERM 49
Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property
DEFINITION 49 International agreement to protect intellectual property. TERM 50
Product safety laws
DEFINITION 50 Set certain safety standards to which a product must adhere
Product liability
Involves holding a firm and its officers responsible when a product causes injury, death, or damage. TERM 52
Gross national income (GNI)
DEFINITION 52 The yardstick for measuring economic activity of a country, this measures the total annual income of a nation's residents. TERM 53
Purchasing power parity
(PPP)
DEFINITION 53 An adjustment in gross domestic product pr capita to reflect differences in the cost of living. TERM 54
Human Development Index (HDI)
DEFINITION 54 An attempt by the UN to assess the impact of a number of factors on the quality of human life in a country. TERM 55
Innovation
DEFINITION 55 Development of new products, processes, organizations, management practices, and strategies.
Economic risk
The likelihood that events, including economic mismanagement, will cause drastic changes in a country's business environment that adversely affect the profit and other goals of a particular business enterprise. TERM 62
Legal risk
DEFINITION 62 The likelihood that a trading partner will opportunistically break a contract or expropriate intellectual property rights. TERM 63
Cross-cultural literacy
DEFINITION 63 Understanding how the culture of a country affects the way business is practiced. TERM 64
Culture
DEFINITION 64 A system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living. TERM 65
Values
DEFINITION 65 Abstract ideas about what a society believes to be good, right, and desirable.
Norms
Social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in particular situations. TERM 67
Society
DEFINITION 67 Group of people who share a common set of values and norms. TERM 68
Folkways
DEFINITION 68 Routine conventions of everyday life. TERM 69
Mores
DEFINITION 69 Norms seen as central to the functioning of a society and to its social life. TERM 70
Social structure
DEFINITION 70 The basic social organization of a society.
Class consciousness
A tendency for individuals to perceive themselves in terms of their class background. TERM 77
Religion
DEFINITION 77 A system of shared beliefs and rituals concerned with the realm of the sacred. TERM 78
Ethical systems
DEFINITION 78 A set of moral principles, or values, that are used to guide and shape behavior. TERM 79
Power distance
DEFINITION 79 Theory of how a society deals with the fact that people are unequal in physical and intellectual capabilities. TERM 80
Individualism versus collectivism
DEFINITION 80 Theory focusing on the relationship between the individual and his or her fellows; in individualistic societies, the ties between individuals are loose and individual achievement is highly valued; in societies where collectivism is emphasized, ties between individuals are tight, people are born into collectives, such as extended families, and everyone is supposed to look after the interests of her or her collective.
Uncertainty avoidance
Extent to which cultures socialize members to accept ambiguous situations and to tolerate uncertainty. TERM 82
Masculinity versus femininity
DEFINITION 82 Theory of the relationship between gender and work roles.In masculine cultures, sex roles are sharply differentiatedIn feminine cultures, sex roles are less sharply distinguished, and little differentiation is made between men and women in the same job TERM 83
Confucian
dynamism
DEFINITION 83 Theory that Confucian teachings affect attitudes toward time, persistence, ordering by stats, protection of face, respect for tradition, and reciprocation of gifts and favors. The units of resources required to producea good are assumed to remain constant no matter where one is on a country's production possibility frontier. TERM 84
Ethnocentrism
DEFINITION 84 Behavior that is based on the belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture; often shows disregard or contempt for the culture of other countries. TERM 85
Business ethics
DEFINITION 85 Accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of businesspeople.
Organization culture
The values and norms shared among an organization's employees TERM 92
Cultural relativism
DEFINITION 92 The belief that ethics are culturally determined and that firms should adopt the ethics of the cultures in which they operate. TERM 93
Righteous moralism
DEFINITION 93 The belief that a multinational's home-country standards of ethics are the appropriate ones for companies to follow in foreign countries. TERM 94
Naive immoralism
DEFINITION 94 The belief that if a manager of a multinational sees that firm from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should not either. TERM 95
Utilitarian approaches to ethics
DEFINITION 95 These hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences.
Kantian ethics
The belief that people should be treated as ends and never as means to the ends of others. TERM 97
Rights theories
DEFINITION 97 A 20th-century theory that recognizes that human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures. TERM 98
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
DEFINITION 98 A United Nations document that lays down the basic principles of human rights that should be adhered to. TERM 99
Just distribution
DEFINITION 99 A distribution of goods and services that is considered fair and equitable TERM 100
Code of Ethics
DEFINITION 100 A business's formal statement of ethical priorities.
