Cross-Cultural Competence - A Crucial Factor That Affects Chinese Corporations’ Business Performance in The Eastern Special Development Zone of Thailand

Abstract

The Eastern Special Development Zone (ESDZ) is a special economic zone in the Eastern part of Thailand, comprised of three central provinces, namely Chachoengsao, Chonburi, and Rayong, amounting to a total area of 13,285 km2. This research aimed to examine the causal relationships of cross-cultural competence, business strategy emphasis, and ESDZ environmental dimensions, and the impacts of these factors on the business performance of Chinese corporations in the ESDZ of Thailand. Accordingly, a questionnaire survey was used for data collection, with results analyzed using IBM SPSS 24 (SPSS, 2019) and IBM SPSS AMOS 23 (Arbuckle, 2014). Results identified strong significant relationships between cross-cultural competence, business strategy emphasis, and the ESDZ environmental dimensions, as well as significant positive relationships between these indicators and business performance. Cross-cultural competence among the top management of the Chinese corporations, exerted the highest impact on business performance with a total effect of 0.865.