IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-01185822.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

"Not all multilingual teams are created equal " : Conceptualizing language diversity management

Author

Listed:
  • Amy Church-Morel

    (Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Savoie Mont-Blanc)

  • A. Bartel-Radic

    (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Language diversity is an inherent aspect of international work, and multinational companies have been described as multilingual communities by definition. Recent research has made progress in demonstrating the ways in which language diversity can affect teams and organizations by significantly influencing communication and knowledge-sharing, group dynamics, and power relations, all pointing to the necessity of organizations taking a strategic approach to language management. However, current research does not tell us much about which team language management practices are most effective for specific team configurations and organizational contexts. The aim of this paper is to contribute to fill this knowledge gap through a review of literature in order to build a conceptual model which lays groundwork for studying the connections between a multilingual team's characteristics, the processes by which the team overcomes or deals with language barriers, and the team's performance. Language diversity can be compared with other kinds of diversity, differences among individuals which can play a role in organizational outcomes. We first examine the concept of language diversity and language management through the lens of diversity literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Church-Morel & A. Bartel-Radic, 2014. ""Not all multilingual teams are created equal " : Conceptualizing language diversity management," Post-Print halshs-01185822, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01185822
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01185822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01185822/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zander, Lena & Mockaitis, Audra I. & Harzing, Anne-Wil, 2011. "Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 296-304, July.
    2. Ulrike Mayrhofer & Christoph Barmeyer, 2009. "Management interculturel et processus d’intégration : une analyse de l’alliance Renault-Nissan," Post-Print hal-00565486, HAL.
    3. Yadong Luo & Oded Shenkar, 2006. "The multinational corporation as a multilingual community: Language and organization in a global context," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 321-339, May.
    4. Sylvie Chevrier, 2013. "Managing Multicultural teams," Post-Print hal-01126846, HAL.
    5. Harzing, Anne-Wil & Köster, Kathrin & Magner, Ulrike, 2011. "Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 279-287, July.
    6. Peter J. Buckley & Martin J. Carter & Jeremy Clegg & Hui Tan, 2005. "Language and Social Knowledge in Foreign-Knowledge Transfer to China," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 47-65, January.
    7. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Rebecca Piekkari & Risto Säntti, 2005. "Language and the Circuits of Power in a Merging Multinational Corporation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 595-623, May.
    8. Barner-Rasmussen, Wilhelm & Aarnio, Christoffer, 2011. "Shifting the faultlines of language: A quantitative functional-level exploration of language use in MNC subsidiaries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 288-295, July.
    9. Klitmøller, Anders & Lauring, Jakob, 2013. "When global virtual teams share knowledge: Media richness, cultural difference and language commonality," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 398-406.
    10. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Risto Santti & Rebacca Piekkari, 2005. "Language and the Circuits of Power in a Merging Multinational Corporation," Post-Print hal-02311809, HAL.
    11. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13483 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Heikkilä, Jukka-Pekka & Smale, Adam, 2011. "The effects of 'language standardization' on the acceptance and use of e-HRM systems in foreign subsidiaries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 305-313, July.
    13. Helene Tenzer & Markus Pudelko & Anne-Wil Harzing, 2014. "The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(5), pages 508-535, June.
    14. Harzing, Anne-Wil & Pudelko, Markus, 2013. "Language competencies, policies and practices in multinational corporations: A comprehensive review and comparison of Anglophone, Asian, Continental European and Nordic MNCs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 87-97.
    15. Denice Welch & Lawrence Welch & Rebecca Piekkari, 2005. "Speaking in Tongues : The Importance of Language in International Management Processes," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 10-27, January.
    16. Jane Kassis Henderson, 2005. "Language Diversity in International Management Teams," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 66-82, January.
    17. Jean-François Chanlat & Eduardo Davel & Jean-Pierre Dupuis, 2013. "Cross-cultural management: culture and management across the world," Post-Print hal-01656490, HAL.
    18. Tsedal B. Neeley, 2013. "Language Matters: Status Loss and Achieved Status Distinctions in Global Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 476-497, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bartel-Radic, Anne & Reuter, André (ed.), 2020. "Studien zum Strategischen Management und Personalmanagement," EIKV-Schriftenreihe zum Wissens- und Wertemanagement, European Institute for Knowledge & Value Management (EIKV), Luxembourg, volume 35, number 35.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Helene Tenzer & Siri Terjesen & Anne-Wil Harzing, 2017. "Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 815-854, December.
    2. Amy Church-Morel & Anne Bartel-Radic, 2016. "Skills, Identity, and Power: The Multifaceted Concept of Language Diversity [Competencias, identidad y poder: las múltiples facetas del concepto de diversidad lingüística]," Post-Print halshs-01996048, HAL.
    3. Aichhorn, Nathalie & Puck, Jonas, 2017. "Bridging the language gap in multinational companies: Language strategies and the notion of company-speak," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 386-403.
    4. Lauring, Jakob & Klitmøller, Anders, 2015. "Corporate language-based communication avoidance in MNCs: A multi-sited ethnography approach," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 46-55.
    5. Nurmi, Niina & Koroma, Johanna, 2020. "The emotional benefits and performance costs of building a psychologically safe language climate in MNCs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    6. Ting Liu, 2018. "The Review of Language Studies in International Business: Suggestions and Future Directions for Japan," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 18-30, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    7. Tenzer, Helene & Pudelko, Markus, 2017. "The influence of language differences on power dynamics in multinational teams," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 45-61.
    8. Diemo Urbig & Katrin Muehlfeld & Vivien Procher & Arjen Witteloostuijn, 2020. "Strategic Decision-Making in a Global Context: The Comprehension Effect of Foreign Language Use on Cooperation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 351-385, June.
    9. Ahmad, Farhan & Barner-Rasmussen, Wilhelm, 2019. "False foe? When and how code switching practices can support knowledge sharing in multinational corporations," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.
    10. Yamao, Sachiko & Sekiguchi, Tomoki, 2015. "Employee commitment to corporate globalization: The role of English language proficiency and human resource practices," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 168-179.
    11. Zhang, Ling Eleanor & Harzing, Anne-Wil, 2016. "From dilemmatic struggle to legitimized indifference: Expatriates’ host country language learning and its impact on the expatriate-HCE relationship," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 774-786.
    12. Vesa Peltokorpi, 2023. "The “language” of career success: The effects of English language competence on local employees’ career outcomes in foreign subsidiaries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(2), pages 258-284, March.
    13. König, Andreas & Fehn, Angela & Puck, Jonas & Graf-Vlachy, Lorenz, 2017. "Primary or complex? Towards a theory of metaphorical strategy communication in MNCs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 270-285.
    14. Liu, Xiaohui & Gao, Lan & Lu, Jiangyong & Wei, Yingqi, 2015. "The role of highly skilled migrants in the process of inter-firm knowledge transfer across borders," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 56-68.
    15. Latukha, Marina & Doleeva, Anna & Järlström, Maria & Jokinen, Tiina & Piekkari, Rebecca, 2016. "Does corporate language influence career mobility? Evidence from MNCs in Russia," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 363-373.
    16. David P. Kroon & Joep P. Cornelissen & Eero Vaara, 2015. "Explaining Employees’ Reactions towards a Cross-Border Merger: The Role of English Language Fluency," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(6), pages 775-800, December.
    17. Peltokorpi, Vesa, 2015. "Corporate Language Proficiency and Reverse Knowledge Transfer in Multinational Corporations: Interactive Effects of Communication Media Richness and Commitment to Headquarters," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 49-62.
    18. Michalski, Marina P. & Śliwa, Martyna, 2021. "‘If you use the right Arabic…’: Responses to special language standardization within the BBC Arabic Service’s linguascape," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(5).
    19. Navío-Marco, Julio & Solórzano-García, Marta & Matilla-García, Mariano & Urueña, Alberto, 2016. "Language as a key factor of long-term value creation in mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1052-1063.
    20. Konara, Palitha & Wei, Yingqi, 2019. "The complementarity of human capital and language capital in foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 391-404.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01185822. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.