<![CDATA[The hospitality industry faces increasing challenges arising from digital transformation, service innovation, and evolving customer expectations, requiring employees to develop multi-competence capabilities. Although Human Capital Investment (HCI) has been widely recognized as a key driver of competency development, limited research has examined how indigenous cultural values enhance the effectiveness of such investments. This study investigates the effect of HCI on Employee Multi-Competence and examines the moderating role of Balinese Local Culture within Bali’s hospitality industry. Grounded in Human Capital Theory and the Resource-Based View (RBV), this study employed a quantitative explanatory approach. Data were collected through structured questionnaires distributed to 256 General Managers of star-rated hotels in Bali, yielding 231 usable responses for analysis. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). The findings reveal that HCI has a positive and significant effect on Employee Multi-Competence. Furthermore, Balinese Local Culture significantly strengthens this relationship, indicating that cultural values enhance the effectiveness of investments in education, training, certification, and employee development. Hotels that embrace indigenous cultural values are more successful in developing technical, managerial, digital, interpersonal, and adaptive competencies. The findings further suggest that the philosophical foundation of Tri Hita Karana, together with the values reflected in Wraspati Kalpa, Wariga, and Nandurin Karang Awak, creates a supportive environment that reinforces learning orientation, adaptability, and competency expansion. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that indigenous cultural values function as a strategic capability that enhances the effectiveness of Human Capital Investment. By positioning Balinese Local Culture as a contextual capability that strengthens the conversion of human capital investments into Employee Multi-Competence, the study extends Human Capital Theory and the Resource-Based View while providing empirical evidence that local cultural wisdom can support sustainable competitive advantage in the hospitality industry.]]>
