Article Global Business Review 19(1) 162–174 © 2017 IMI SAGE Publications sagepub.in/home.nav DOI: 10.1177/0972150917713286 http://gbr.sagepub.com 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Patna, Bihta, Patna, Bihar, India. 2 Professor & HOD, Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. 3 Professor, Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. 4 Assistant Professor, Department of General Management, Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand. 5 Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business, Economics and Communications, Naresuan University, Thailand. Corresponding author: Richa Chaudhary, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Patna, Bihta 801103, Patna, Bihar, India. E-mails: richa.chaudhary18@gmail.com; rich.biet@gmail.com; richa.chaudhary@iitp.ac.in Work Engagement in India and Thailand: A Comparative Analysis Richa Chaudhary 1 Santosh Rangnekar 2 Uthai Tanlamai 3 Surasvadee Rajkulchai 4 Anirut Asawasakulsor 5 Abstract The study investigated the role of human resource development climate (HRDC) and self-efficacy as predictors of work engagement amongst IT-sector employees of India and Thailand. In addition, it also made an attempt to unfurl the mechanism underlying the proposed relationship by proposing and testing a model with self-efficacy as an intervening variable. Work engagement levels among IT-sector employees in Thailand were found be slightly higher than those among the employees in India. Both HRDC and self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of work engagement. The results for self-efficacy as a mediator and a moderator of the proposed relationship between HRDC and work engagement are reported and discussed. Article building on the theoretical framework of the job- demands resources model, the social cognitive theory and the conservation of resources (COR) theory produces cross-national knowledge about work engagement and predictors. Keywords Work engagement, self-efficacy, HRDC, cross-cultural management, Asia, IT Introduction The increasing growth rate of the information technology (IT) sector in South Asia has come with its own set of challenges. 1 Though the IT sector is booming, the high attrition rate continues to plague the sector, making retention of critical manpower resources a key challenge. Demanding work environment, tight deadlines, zero tolerance to defects, night shifts coupled with high aspirations of young workforce