Intercultural Communicative Competence of Thai Hotel Workers in Samui Island Through the Eyes of HR Professionals
Keywords:
Intercultural Communicative Competence, human resources development, globalizationAbstract
This study aimed to explore the perspectives of human resources professionals on the nature of intercultural communicative competence and its application within the Thailand hotel industry through qualitative interviews. As human resources professionals are considered to be one of the direct practitioners in the industry, their insights and perspectives on the intercultural communicative competence of hotel workers were valuable for the current study. The subjects included eight human resources professionals purposively selected from upscale hotels in Samui island. Two research questions were posed: “What constitutes intercultural communicative competence according to human resources professionals?,” and “To what extent do Thai hotel workers currently possess intercultural communicative competence according to human resources professionals?” Results revealed that the components of intercultural communicative competence from a human resources perspective were grouped under five core categories including attitude, cultural empathy, experience, interaction involvement, and personal attributes. In regard to the extent of intercultural communicative competence of Thai hotel workers who worked in the line level and management level positions, the majority of interviewees described their level of intercultural communicative competence as being ‘relatively good’ and ‘better than relatively good,’ respectively. Other relevant headings in the Thailand hotel industry from a human resources perspective were also discussed.
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