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Abstract
This article addresses the role of language use in international business. It argues that the impact of linguistic differences on the daily workings of international business activities and communication is shaped by the way in which these differences intersect with the social and professional structures of international firms. Thus, the analysis of management across linguistic variation requires an understanding of the character of the social and professional ties in which international business is embedded. The intensity of cross-linguistic challenges in international management is not given by the formal character and structure of linguistic differences only. While the daily practices of language use in an international firm are shaped by its social and professional structure, linguistic practices may also strengthen the social and professional ties shaping the dissemination of information. The role of linguistic differences in everyday business communication both shapes and is shaped by the character of social and professional groupings and networks in an international firm. For management, this means that handling linguistic variation and challenges also requires a consideration of the specific social as well as professional structure of a given international firm. The dynamics between language use and the social structures in which information and resources are embedded and communicated are multidirectional. This is especially clear in an international context. The article is informed by material obtained through an ethnographic fieldwork in a Saudi-Arabian subsidiary of a multinational corporation.
Highlights
The business environment of today has changed in a number of ways
By basing our study on anthropological theories proposing that language use is linked to social structure, we suggest that the social dynamics of language use is highly important to the practice of international management
In this article we have argued that formal structures of language and linguistic differences do not account for the role of language use in shaping communication in multilingual firms
Summary
The business environment of today has changed in a number of ways. First of all, it has become increasingly global through the gradual dismantling of trade barriers leading to the formation of multinational corporations and joint ventures. Hermes – Journal of Language and Communication Studies no 38-2007 become increasingly more competitive leading to market expansion across the globe (Bhatia and Lung 2006) Thanks to these recent developments in the business world, according to Palmer-Silveira et al (2006) cross-cultural communication and language use have become one of the most important research fields. When managing across cultural and linguistic boundaries, communication difficulties related to language have a great probability to weaken cross-cultural understanding in multinational organizations (Feely and Harzing 2003; 2004) This could be problematic since the personal and organizational developmental potential of cross-cultural communication is generally conceived as being crucial in the present globalized business environment (Harris and Kumra 2000; Beamer and Varner 2001; Harzing 2001). Our main argument is that the social structure of the subsidiary shapes how employees use and perceive language in daily communication
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