Coping with multilingualism: Internationalization and the evolution of language strategy

Abstract

Research Summary: In this article, we explore the interaction between internationalization and language strategy. We identify a range of language coping mechanisms that internationalizing firms use in response to the multilingualism they encounter. Learning outcomes and strategy implications of each of these mechanisms are identified. We then build a conceptual model to depict how, over time, interaction and influence between internationalization and language strategy become a two‐way, co‐evolutionary process. A key aspect is the role of management in shifting the firm from a reactive to a more proactive stance on language strategy. A case study is used to contextualize and illustrate the co‐evolutionary process over the long term. Case data demonstrate the constant adoption and adaptation of coping mechanisms that feed into language strategy as internationalization unfolds. Managerial Summary: This article links the internationalization process of firms with the exposure to multilingualism and the development of language strategy. We outline how internationalizing firms may utilize a range of language coping mechanisms—such as the adoption of a common corporate language—to handle multilingualism. These feed into the development of language strategy. The case of Fazer, the Finnish bakery, confectionary, and catering firm, provides an illustration of how language strategy co‐evolves over time as internationalization proceeds—in Fazer's case, many decades. Fazer's experience also demonstrates the importance of management and changes in top management in ensuring a more proactive language strategy is adopted and enforced. Adequate allocation of resources and a link to performance management were found to be critical in supporting strategic implementation.

Subsidiary power: Loaned or owned? The lenses of agency theory and resource dependence theory

“…This leaves more scope for subsidiary initiatives as the integration is more of a concerted effort among headquarters and subsidiaries. The language of communication is an important part of the socialization mechanism and this is the topic of the article by Welch and Welch () in this issue. They identify a number of language coping mechanisms along with the learning outcomes and strategy implications for each of these.…”

The knowledge based view and global strategy: Past impact and future potential

“…In either case, language barriers arise wherever the functional language of the corporation differs from that of at least some employees. Welch and Welch (2019) indicate the benefits of an explicit language strategy and the advantages of a single, company-wide language. However, technical competence in the common language does not eliminate barriers to communication when employees think in structurally different native languages (Joshi & Lahiri, 2015).…”

Strategic Decision-Making in a Global Context: The Comprehension Effect of Foreign Language Use on Cooperation

“…An increasing number of studies on foreign language effects are finding their way into economics and management research (e.g., Hicks et al 2015;Ku and Zussman 2010;Mavisakalyan and Weber 2018;Micola et al 2019;Neeley 2012Neeley , 2013Neeley and Dumas 2016;Pan and Patel 2018;Sutter et al 2018;Tenzer et al 2017;Volk et al 2014;Welch and Welch 2019), documenting far-reaching and fundamental effects of foreign language use on international business. However, we are still largely in the dark regarding the exact underlying causal mechanisms of why foreign language changes individuals' choices (e.g., Costa et al 2014a;Hayakawa et al 2016).…”

“…Joining an emerging stream of research studying decision-making through the lens of using a foreign language (e.g., Costa et al 2014a;Geipel et al 2016;Urbig et al 2016;Volk et al 2014;Welch and Welch 2019) and its application in international business research (Tenzer et al 2017), this study highlights that firms that introduce English-only policies to cope with an increasingly linguistically diverse workforce, especially in international corporations, need to be aware of the subtle, but potentially profound, influences of nonnative speakers' use of English on their comprehension, decision-making, and behavior. The fundamental significance of the effect implies that it relates to the whole range of corporate domains including, among others, knowledge transfer (e.g., Welch and Welch 2008) and trust formation in multilingual team settings (Tenzer et al 2014).…”