Abstract: 0 this study examines how, to what extent, and with what effect the indigenous cultural con

Implications, Future Directions and Conclusion
In this paper we have explored the continuing influence of 
kreng jai
on the adoption and 
usage of three strategic organizational practices at the Thai subsidiary of a UK-headquar
-
tered multinational. From the Cesaritt corporate perspective the performance implications 
of 
kreng jai
were almost entirely negative. 
Kreng jai
was perceived as a factor subverting 
the intended adoption and usage of all three practices—
empowerment
being stifled where 
it was most needed, 
performance appraisals
completed without conviction or meaning, 
and 
corporate e-communication
used in a manner felt to inhibit—rather than facilitate—
information flows and employee productivity. Cesaritt senior managers felt that these 
findings affirmed what they—as well as colleagues from Thai and other Asian Cesaritt 
units—had long-suspected, i.e., that despite the apparent local shift towards more ‘west
-
ernized’ behaviors, underneath the surface there remain subtle and deeply-held constructs 
Table 4:
Performance appraisal adoption: An emic-etic role comparison
Relevant cultural dimensions/
appraisal target
emic—
Kreng Jai
Etic/comparative
Appraisal target (i) superior
Action: Reticence, ceremonial 
adoption
Action: Reticence, ceremonial 
adoption
Attitude: Unease in express
-
ing direct opinions especially 
if negative; consideration for 
another’s feelings
Attitude: Unworthy of evaluat
-
ing superior’s performance 
( 
high power distance
)
Appraisal target (ii) peer
Action: Reticence, ceremonial 
adoption
Action: Reticence, ceremonial 
adoption
Attitude: Unease in express
-
ing direct opinions especially 
if negative; consideration of 
another’s feelings
Attitude: Uneasy due to wish 
not to damage relationship 
( 
high-context, relations-based
)
Appraisal target (iii) 
subordinate
Action: Reticence, ceremonial 
adoption
n/a
Attitude: Uneasy expressing 
direct opinions especially if 
negative; consideration of 
another’s feelings

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77
Understanding Organizational Practice Adoption … 
such as 
kreng jai
which were acting to limit any such developments progressing beyond 
the superficial level. A prime illustration here concerns where guards expressed a strong 
reticence to adopting empowerment practices, but not because they were uninterested or 
unwilling (as per the apparently irrelevant and defunct high power-distance expectation) 
but because of the deep-rooted feelings of 
kreng jai
at taking on their boss’s role.
Assuredly, given the limited nature of our sample, the nebulous ‘fuzzy’ nature of the 
kreng jai
concept and the intrinsically incomparable nature of emic research (e.g., Sinkov
-
ics et al. 
2008
) we must be careful not to draw premature conclusions based on these find
-
ings. Nonetheless, we believe there are a number of important pointers to be gained from 
this small exploratory study for future, cross-border management research. The first of 
these concerns our understanding of the adoption patterns expressed among subsidiary 
employees. For tailored adoption (Ansari et al. 
2010
) and ceremonial adoption (Kostova 
and Roth 
2002
) specifically we found strong evidence for the instrumental role of 
kreng 
jai
acting both in conjunction with the relevant ‘etic’ constructs (although with notably 
differing underlying motivations/attitudes) as well as in isolation, i.e., where the relevant 
comparative dimensions could provide no satisfactory explanation. Such findings suggest 
that a failure to integrate emic constructs into one’s research explorations alongside the 
universal dimensions may lead to a significant misinterpretation of respondent behaviors. 
By extension, concepts such as