A comparative study on cultural differences and quality practices - Korea, USA, Mexico, and Taiwan

Purpose - This paper seeks to present an international comparative study on cultural differences and quality practices of four countries - Korea, USA, Mexico, and Taiwan. The paper aims to present a model, which depicts the relationships among cultures (i.e. power distance and collectivism), employee empowerment, and quality results (i.e. internal and external quality results). Design/methodology/approach - An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a discriminant analysis were employed to test hypotheses following the research model. Using reliable and valid instruments, data from four countries were collected on employee empowerment, and internal and external quality results to test the hypotheses. Findings - The results suggest that collectivistic cultures, not power distance cultures, make a significant difference in employee empowerment, employee empowerment plays an important role in enhancing quality results in the four countries, and successful employee empowerment practices are not uniform across countries. Originality/value - This paper makes a contribution to revealing the relationships among cultures, employee empowerment, and quality practices at the international level of study and to evoking managerial insights to multinational firms.