Leading across language barriers: Managing language-induced emotions in multinational teams

Tenzer, Helene; Pudelko, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.05.006

Cited by 94 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 78 publications

(128 reference statements)

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“…Extending Piekkari et al's (2014, p. 244) recent conclusion that ''the pervasive effects of language need to be taken more fully into account in explanations of international business activity'', we argue that a more profound understanding of its effects will have a very positive impact on business and management studies as a whole. Lauring and Klitmøller (2014) Lauring and Selmer (2010, 2012a, b, 2013 Nickerson (1998Nickerson ( , 2005Nickerson ( , 2015 Oh, Selmier, and Lien (2011) Okamoto (2011) Peltokorpi (2010Peltokorpi ( , 2015aPeltokorpi ( , b, 2016 Peltokorpi and Clausen (2011) Vaara (2012, 2014 Tenzer and Pudelko (2015, 2016a, 2016b …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Depending on their disciplinary socialization, international business scholars with an interest in language draw on a variety of theories from organizational behavior, economics, and strategy. Organizational behavior and cross-cultural management scholars approach language with theories on culture (e.g., Harzing et al 2002;Kassis Henderson 2005), social identity (e.g., Groot 2012; Reiche et al 2015), power relations (e.g., Neeley 2013;Hinds et al 2014), emotions (e.g., Neeley et al 2012;Tenzer and Pudelko 2015), and a range of other phenomena. Those with a background in economics apply, among others, the gravity model of trade (e.g., Melitz and Toubal 2014;Sauter 2012), transaction cost economics (e.g., Selmier and Oh 2013), or linguistic relativity (e.g., Chen 2013).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Hosoda et al (2012) examined the discrimination against potential job applicants with Spanish-accented English in hiring and promotion processes. Scholars have also established that a lack of understanding due to foreign language use creates uncertainty with resulting feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and tension (Neeley et al 2012;Tenzer and Pudelko 2015) which can spill over to other contexts and lead to general feelings of negativity and a fear of exploitation. Again others look at the impact of language choice in bilingual advertising on individual consumers (e.g., Ying-Ching and Wang 2016; Kubat and Swaminathan 2015).…”

Section: Individual Level Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Individual Level Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2017

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“…In a multinational environment (Marschan-Piekkari et al, 1999), an individual's facility with the group's working language influences the extent to which they can participate (Barner-Rasmussen and Björkman, 2007;Janssens and Brett, 1997), while weak skills may lead to a high use of a local language rather than the team's lingua franca (Kroon et al, 2015), i.e., code-switching, which may not always be appreciated by those who do not speak the local language and who might, therefore, feel excluded (Brett et al, 2006;Hinds et al, 2014;Tenzer and Pudelko, 2015;Tenzer et al, 2014;Vigier and Spencer-Oatey, 2017).…”

Section: Language Fluency and Language Asymmetriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differences in rule-implementation across teams can be further illustrated with the example of asides in French, i.e., code-switching (Brett et al, 2006;Hinds et al, 2014;Tenzer and Pudelko, 2015;Tenzer et al, 2014;Vigier and Spencer-Oatey, 2017 In Team C, the one non-French-speaker felt it was natural for the others to migrate to French, and French-speakers were careful to avoid exclusion: Thus, while members of Teams B and C managed switches to French constructively, Team A's members expected strict adherence to their written rules, which they even read out loud at the start of Tasks 3 and 4.…”

Section: Team Data Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interplay of rules, asymmetries in language fluency, and team dynamics in culturally diverse teams

Vigier¹,

Spencer‐Oatey

2017

CCSM

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore how newly formed culturally diverse project teams develop and implement rules, and how these processes may be affected by language-fluency asymmetries. Design/methodology/approach -Using a case-study research design, the authors investigated three multicultural project teams within a management integration program in a multinational company in France. Their complete data set includes 37.5 hours of observations and 49 hours of semi-structured interviews. Findings -Findings revealed that subgroups formed on the basis of language-fluency and this affected the development and implementation of rules. While rule-setting mechanisms emerged across teams, they varied in form. On the one hand, tightly structured rules emerged and rules were rigidly applied when there were greater language inequalities. In contrast, implicit behavior controls guided interactions when language-fluency subgroupings were less salient. The findings also revealed that the alignment of other individual attributes with language fluency reinforced subgroup divisions, further impacting the rule development and implementation processes.Practical implications -Understanding rule development and implementation in culturally diverse teams and how these processes are impacted by language disparities enables managers to help members develop more successful behavioral patterns by keeping language-fluency (and other) attributes in mind.Originality/value -The study extends and complements previous team research by providing in-depth insights into the process of rule development and implementation. It demonstrates the impact of languagefluency asymmetries and subgroup dynamics on these processes. The authors propose a model to capture the processes by which culturally diverse teams create rules, and how the rule-setting mechanisms might be moderated by faultlines such as language-based disparities.

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