The relationship between hotel employees’ cross-cultural competency and team performance in multi-national hotel companies

•Cross-cultural competency and team performance are explored as an essential for organizational effectiveness.•Relationship building, cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness of cross-cultural competency are essential for hotel employees.•Team skills, team foundation, and team climate are the suitable topics for investigating team performance in the multi-national hotels.•Highlighted the importance of cross-cultural competency in establishing interpersonal relationship and working effectively with culturally diverse colleagues.

In this study, the authors explored the benefits of understanding employee cross-cultural competency and strengthening team performance, which are essential for improving the organizational effectiveness of multi-national hotel companies as they expand globally. Data were collected from six multi-national hotel companies in Thailand. A total of 738 valid questionnaires were obtained and analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the proposed relationships, in which cross-cultural competency was developed as determinant of multi-cultural team performance. The results indicate that cross-cultural competency had a positive, direct effect on team performance. The authors provide significant cross-cultural theoretical and practical management advice for stakeholders in the hospitality industry. In addition, the authors establish the foundation for future studies into cross-cultural competency and multi-cultural team performance in the context of Thai multi-national hotels.