Title: Effects of national culture on group decision making: a comparative study between Thailand and other Asian countries

Authors: Monvika Phadoongsitthi; Nopadol Rompho; Chiaki Iwai; Mitsuru Morita

Addresses: Department of Accounting, Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, 2 Prachan Rd., Pranakorn, Bangkok, 10200, Thailand ' Department of Operations Management, Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, 2 Prachan Rd., Pranakorn, Bangkok, 10200, Thailand ' Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University, 4-4-25 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan ' Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University, 4-4-25 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract: This study examines group decision making by employing a business simulation game. We investigate whether differences in individual countries' business cultures determine the distinguishing features of group decision making. In particular, this study compares groups categorised by agent, strategy, and the population of agents. Group characteristics are analysed based on the ranking by Hofstede (1980), along four dimensions - power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance, of Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand. The four experiments were conducted locally with graduate students at business schools in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand. The results show that there are differences in the approach to cooperation among teams from each country as we hypothesised and that country-specific variables are the source of differences in behaviour. The research findings have implications of cultural dimensions on business practices and managerial behaviour.

Keywords: national culture; group decision making; business games; simulation; contingency theory; individualism; masculinity; uncertainty avoidance; power distance; comparative study; Thailand; Japan; China; Hong Kong; business cultures; organisational culture; business schools; higher education; cultural dimensions; business practices; managerial behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEBR.2017.082269

International Journal of Economics and Business Research, 2017 Vol.13 No.2, pp.110 - 133

Received: 08 Jul 2016
Accepted: 10 Sep 2016
Published online: 14 Feb 2017 *

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