Language competencies, policies and practices in multinational corporations: A comprehensive review and comparison of Anglophone, Asian, Continental European and Nordic MNCs

Anne-Wil Harzing*, Markus Pudelko

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

160 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The importance of language differences in multinational companies (MNCs) can hardly be overlooked. This paper therefore provides the first large-scale quantitative overview of language competencies, policies and practices in MNCs. It is based on data from more than 800 subsidiaries, located in thirteen different countries with headquarters in more than 25 different countries, which were aggregated into four distinct home country clusters. This comprehensive study allows us to differentiate prior conceptual or case-based findings according to home, host and corporate languages and to develop managerial implications which vary according to the different country clusters.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-97
JournalJournal of World Business
Volume48
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Language competencies
  • Corporate language
  • Language policies and practices
  • Multinational corporations
  • Comparative management
  • MANAGEMENT
  • RESOURCE
  • POWER

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