Stephen J. Appold Department of Sociology National University of Singapore 11 Arts Link Singapore 117570

Sununta Siengthai School of Management Asian Institute of Technology Klong Luang, Rangsit,  Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

John D. Kasarda Kenan-Flagler Business School University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3440

Organizational demographers have documented the mostly divisive effects of single and multiple dimensions of group difference among employees on organizational outcomes.  They have, however, missed a key factor – the relationship between those dimensions.  Based on a  two-level study incorporating data from a sample of 109 manufacturing transplants and a sample of their employees, we extend the research on multiple culture organizations by showing how staffing patterns that cross-cut cultural groups and organizational levels ameliorate the potentially divisive effects of nationality differences within organizations.  Our results show that the integration of host-country nationals into the highest managerial ranks has positive influences on three measures of the attachment of approximately 560 Thai managers and professionals to their employers: organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and relationship with immediate supervisor.  Cross-cutting groups, however, may be incompatible with a common mechanism of cultural control in contemporary organizations.

 

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