PurposeThe purpose of this conceptual literature review is to investigate how language factors have been studied in the expatriate literature, and how cross-fertilisation with the broader language-sensitive international business and management field may facilitate integrated research of language in global work.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a thematic review of expatriate research and international business and management literature. The findings are structured through Reiche et al.'s (2019) three-dimensional conceptualisation of global work, after which two frameworks are developed to conceptualise how language connects the three dimensions – actors, structures and processes.FindingsThe literature review demonstrates that language-related topics are yet to gain status in the expatriate tradition, and the majority of studies, which do consider linguistic factors appear largely dissociated from the growing community of language research in the broader international management and international business fields. However, once consolidated, the literature reveals that language is present in all dimensions of global work. A processual view of corporate language management highlights the central role of human resource management (HRM), while a dynamic multi-level perspective indicates that language may form bidirectional relationships between the three dimensions of global work.Originality/valueDue to the segmentation between language-sensitive research in the expatriate and international business/management traditions, few studies have considered the HRM implications of global mobility and the multifaceted nature of language at work. This conceptual literature review brings both perspectives together for a more contextualised and holistic view of language in international workforces.

Although language has become a central theme in international business and management research, this stream still holds many unexplored research avenues.One area that has attracted some attention, but lacks extensive systematic assessment, is the connection between language and personal reputation. Qualitative research has offered tentative insights suggesting that proficiency in key organizational languages increases the status of individuals over and above their functional abilities. In this study, we use data from 171 pairs of expatriate academics and their local academic collaboration partners. We asked the local academic peers to rate expatriate academics' reputation, their local and English language skills, and collaboration performance. As expected, we found a positive association between academic reputation and collaboration performance. In line with analyses from qualitative research, we show a moderation effect of language skills, where high common organizational language (English) proficiency compensates for a weaker perceived reputation in predicting collaboration performance. Surprisingly, however, there was no moderating effect of local language skills.

Employees often face multilingualism and organisational language policies when engaging in global work. Working in an organisation, which crosses linguistic borders through geographic dispersion and/or employing multilingual workforces, could entail encountering various forms of organisational language management. However, when multiple linguistic contexts are involved, multinational organisations may balance pressures for global standardisation and local adaptation through flexible language management. Here, flexible language management denotes organisational approaches to language, which, either officially or unofficially, apply a common language/s, but does not stipulate in which domains and forms employees should use it/them. While such policies may allow balancing conflicting pressures through the coexistence of common and local languages, their ambiguity has several implications. Leaving the organisational language and its qualities undefined leaves room for varying interpretations and expectations for language use, in turn influencing work collaboration and the careers of employees in an international workforce. By consolidating theoretical insights through a thematic literature review of language-sensitive business and management research, supplemented by sociolinguistic perspectives, this chapter provides a conceptual outline of flexible organisational language management. Furthermore, the chapter proposes critical realism as a suitable layered ontology for researching various facets of the phenomenon. Due to the multidimensional nature of language management as a social phenomenon, and flexible language management in particular, critical realist research strategies are here argued to provide the required contextual adaptation to study practices, norms, and ideology.