Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship

Harzing, Anne‐Wil; Köster, Kathrin; Magner, Ulrike

doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.005

Cited by 222 publications

(156 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Language-related research in international business is mainly concerned with the latter (see e.g. Kassis Henderson, 2005;Harzing et al, 2011). Given the salience of national languages in our own data, the present study also follows this approach.…”

Section: Language Barriers In International Business and Their Influementioning

confidence: 94%

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The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

2013

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AcknowledgementsWe thank Sebastian Reiche for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We are very grateful for the constructive and thoughtful guidance by special issue editors Rebecca Piekkari and Mary Yoko Brannen, as well as three anonymous reviewers. MNTs in three German automotive corporations, we show how MNT members' cognitive and emotional reactions to language barriers influence their perceived trustworthiness and intention to trust, which in turn affect trust formation. We contribute to diversity research by distinguishing the exclusively negative language effects from the more ambivalent effects of other diversity dimensions. Our findings also illustrate how surface-level language diversity may create perceptions of deep-level diversity.Furthermore, our study advances MNT research by revealing the specific influences of language barriers on team trust, an important mediator between team inputs and performance outcomes. It thereby encourages the examination of other team processes through a language lens. Finally, our study suggests that multilingual settings necessitate a reexamination and modification of the seminal trust theories by Mayer, Schoorman (1995) andMcAllister (1995). In terms of practical implications, we outline how MNT leaders can manage their subordinates' problematic reactions to language barriers and how MNT members can enhance their perceived trustworthiness in multilingual settings.

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Section: Language Barriers In International Business and Their Influementioning

confidence: 94%

“…Despite the importance of language for the efficient functioning of multinational corporations (MNCs) (Harzing & Feely, 2008;Luo & Shenkar, 2006), language effects have long been underestimated by international business researchers (Harzing, Köster, & Magner, 2011). Only since the groundbreaking research by Piekkari (see e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

2013

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“…Firm-level research focuses on language competencies, policies, and practices within MNCs (e.g., Harzing and Pudelko 2013), including HQ-subsidiary relationships (Harzing et al 2011;Harzing and Pudelko 2014) and mergers, acquisitions, and alliances (Joshi and Lahiri 2014;Cuypers et al 2015). These studies investigate the impact of linguistic diversity on social identity formation (e.g.…”

Section: Firm Level Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

2017

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A fast growing number of studies demonstrates that language diversity influences almost all management decisions in modern multinational corporations. Whereas no doubt remains about the practical importance of language, the empirical investigation and theoretical conceptualization of its complex and multifaceted effects still presents a substantial challenge. To summarize and evaluate the current state of the literature in a coherent picture informing future research, we systematically review 264 articles on language in international business. We scrutinize the geographic distributions of data, evaluate the field's achievements to date in terms of theories and methodologies, and summarize core findings by individual, group, firm, and country levels of analysis. For each of these dimensions, we then put forward a future research agenda. We encourage scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to draw on, integrate, and test a variety of theories from disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to gain a more profound understanding of language in international business. We advocate more multi-level studies and cross-national research collaborations and suggest greater attention to potential new data sources and means of analysis.

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“…Conceptualizing the management of communication and co-ordination in a multilingual environment has therefore to a significant degree concerned the understanding and overcoming of language barriers (Feely & Harzing, 2003;Harzing & Feely, 2008;Harzing, Köster & Magner, 2011;Lauring & Klitmøller, 2014;Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt & Jonsen, 2010). The introduction of a common corporate language is a frequently adopted solution to the problem (Brannen & Doz, 2012).…”

Section: Language In An International Business Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

How non-native English-speaking staff are evaluated in linguistically diverse organizations: A sociolinguistic perspective

Śliwa

Johansson

2014

J Int Bus Stud

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The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of evaluations of non-native speaking staff's spoken English in international business settings. We adopt a sociolinguistic perspective on power and inequalities in linguistically diverse organizations in an Anglophone environment. The interpretive qualitative study draws on 54 interviews with non-native English speaking staff in 19 UK business schools. We analyze, along the dimensions of status, solidarity and dynamism, the ways in which nonnative speakers, on the basis of their spoken English, are evaluated by themselves and by listeners.We show how such evaluations refer to issues beyond the speaker's linguistic fluency, and have consequences for her or his actions. The study contributes to the literature on language and power in international business through offering fine-grained insights into and elucidating how the interconnected evaluative processes impact the formation and perpetuation of organizational power relations and inequalities. It also puts forward implications for managing the officially monolingual, yet linguistically diverse organizations.

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Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship

Cited by 222 publications

References 26 publications

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

How non-native English-speaking staff are evaluated in linguistically diverse organizations: A sociolinguistic perspective

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