Design/methodology/approach – This study employs a qualitative methodology, using a case-study approach.
Findings – All the studies of national culture and innovation potential use Hofstede’s dimensions but this study suggests that in Thailand there may be cultural factors other than Hofstede’s that influence innovation and that modify the effects of Hofstede’s model on innovation. Allied to this, it appears that
the traditional cultural values could be shifting, as younger people absorb an increasing amount of influence from Western media.
The first finding from this study suggests that Thai SMEs may tend to
more effectively produce or adopt incremental innovations rather than radical ones. The second finding is that, if the research company is typical of Thai SMEs, Thai SMEs are likely to experience difficulties with adopting completely novel innovations effectively.
This is because four (except the dimension of long versus short-term orientation) of Hofstede’s five Thai cultural dimensions were clearly found to obstruct the innovation process. Also there are some cultural factors peculiar to Thailand, not mentioned by Hofstede, that impact on the innovation process.