Nationality vs industry cultures: which has a greater effect on managerial behavior?

Abstract

A study was undertaken among 192 hotel managers in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea for the purpose of determining (1) whether national cultures, as defined by Hofstede, have a greater effect on the managerial behavior of hotel managers, than the culture of the hotel industry, and (2) whether personal work-values have a determining effect on managerial behavior. The results demonstrated more differences than similarities between the managerial practices of hotel managers from Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, indicating therefore that nationality cultures have a stronger effect on managerial behavior than the culture of the hotel industry. The findings also show that to a large extent there was a positive relationship between work-values and managerial behavior. Therefore it was possible to conclude that as hypothesized by Hofstede and others, values affect attitudes which in turn affect behavior.