Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

The language barrier and its implications for HQ‐subsidiary relationships

The language barrier and its implications for HQ‐subsidiary relationships Purpose – This paper intends to open up the debate on the influence of language on the way multinational companies manage their subsidiary operations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors explain the importance of the field and expose a dearth of prior research. Subsequently, they define the “language barrier” and elaborate on the causes underlying this barrier, drawing on social identity theory. Findings – The authors we propose an integrative model that consists of two coupled vicious cycles: the communications cycle – composed of the eight aspects of the language barrier – and the management cycle. Research limitations/implications – This contribution to an otherwise ignored field of business study should be considered only a first step in opening up a new research agenda. Specialists in each of the fields touched upon are invited to make a contribution to the debate. Practical implications – The management cycle suggests implications of the language barrier for various aspects of the HQ‐subsidiary relationship: strategic decision‐making, organization and personnel selection, global integration strategies, and autonomy and control procedures. Originality/value – This paper uses socio‐linguistic theory to define and elaborate on the construct of the language barrier, a construct which is believed will be helpful in furthering research on the impact of language‐difference on multinational management. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal Emerald Publishing

The language barrier and its implications for HQ‐subsidiary relationships

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/the-language-barrier-and-its-implications-for-hq-subsidiary-oisWp9kmr6
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1352-7606
DOI
10.1108/13527600810848827
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – This paper intends to open up the debate on the influence of language on the way multinational companies manage their subsidiary operations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors explain the importance of the field and expose a dearth of prior research. Subsequently, they define the “language barrier” and elaborate on the causes underlying this barrier, drawing on social identity theory. Findings – The authors we propose an integrative model that consists of two coupled vicious cycles: the communications cycle – composed of the eight aspects of the language barrier – and the management cycle. Research limitations/implications – This contribution to an otherwise ignored field of business study should be considered only a first step in opening up a new research agenda. Specialists in each of the fields touched upon are invited to make a contribution to the debate. Practical implications – The management cycle suggests implications of the language barrier for various aspects of the HQ‐subsidiary relationship: strategic decision‐making, organization and personnel selection, global integration strategies, and autonomy and control procedures. Originality/value – This paper uses socio‐linguistic theory to define and elaborate on the construct of the language barrier, a construct which is believed will be helpful in furthering research on the impact of language‐difference on multinational management.

Journal

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal – Emerald Publishing

Published: Feb 8, 2008

Keywords: Communication; Business environment; Multinational companies

References

  • The local selves of global workers: the social construction of national identity in the face of organizational globalization
    Ailon‐Souday, G.; Kunda, G.
  • Social identity theory and the organization
    Ashforth, B.E.; Mael, F.
  • Surmounting interunit barriers: factors associated with interunit communication intensity in the multinational corporation
    Barner‐Rasmussen, W.; Björkman, I.
  • The logic of global business
    Barnevik, P.; Taylor, W.
  • Language and social knowledge in foreign‐knowledge transfer to China
    Buckley, P.J.; Carter, M.J.; Clegg, J.; Tan, H.