STUDY ON CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND CONFLICT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS OF CHINESE ENTERPRISES IN THAILAND
คำสำคัญ:
Cross-cultural management, cross-cultural conflict, Hofstede's cultural dimensions, infrastructure projects, Chinese enterprises in Thailandบทคัดย่อ
Under the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises have become major participants in Thailand's infrastructure market, yet cross-cultural friction remains a persistent threat to project performance. This study quantifies the relationship between Sino-Thai cultural differences and cross-cultural management conflict, using China State Construction Engineering (Thailand) Co., Ltd. as the case organisation. Drawing on Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory, four dimensions - Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity and Long-Term Orientation - were treated as independent variables and four conflict types - communication, behavioural/overtime, salary/benefit and decision-making/custom - as dependent variables. From an enumerated frame of 135 staff on three project sites, 120 bilingual questionnaires yielded 100 valid responses (50 Chinese, 50 Thai), a response rate of 83.3 per cent equal to the sample required by Cochran's finite population correction. Data were analysed with a standard statistical software package; overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.826. Independent samples t-tests show significant inter-group differences (p < 0.001) in Masculinity (mean difference +1.540, d = 1.73), Power Distance (+1.100, d = 1.34) and Uncertainty Avoidance (-0.640, d = -0.85), whereas Long-Term Orientation converged (p = 0.527). Pearson correlation identified one dominant association per divergent dimension: Power Distance with decision-making/custom conflict (r = 0.485), Uncertainty Avoidance with communication conflict (r = 0.392) and Masculinity with behavioural/overtime conflict (r = 0.578), each that dimension's largest coefficient. All four hypotheses are supported and none rejected; Long-Term Orientation, a comparison dimension carrying no directional hypothesis, shows no significant association. Communication conflict was the most frequently reported (M = 3.92). Conflict frequency is thus systematically associated with measurable cultural distance rather than with individual attitude, supporting a three-level framework of institutionalised cultural integration, cultural intelligence training and localised overtime and reward practices. As the design is cross-sectional, the results establish association rather than causation.
เอกสารอ้างอิง
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