Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries

Lena Zander; Audra I. Mockaitis; Anne-Wil Harzing; Joyce Baldueza; Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen; Cordula Barzantny; Anne Canabal; Anabella Davila; Alvaro Espejo; Rita Fernandes Ferreira; Axele Giroud; Kathrin Koester; Yung-Kuei Liang; Michael J. Morley; Barbara Myloni; Joseph O. T. Odusanya; Sharon Leiba O'Sullivan; Ananda Kumar Palaniappan; Paulo Prochno; Srabani Roy Choudhury; Ayse Saka-Helmhout; Sununta Siengthai; Ayda Uzuncarsili Soydas; Linda Viswat

doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009

Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries

Lena Zander^*, Audra I. Mockaitis, Anne-Wil Harzing, Joyce Baldueza, Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen, Cordula Barzantny, Anne Canabal, Anabella Davila, Alvaro Espejo, Rita Fernandes Ferreira, Axele Giroud, Kathrin Koester, Yung-Kuei Liang, Michael J. Morley, Barbara Myloni, Joseph O. T. Odusanya, Sharon Leiba O'Sullivan, Ananda Kumar Palaniappan, Paulo Prochno, Srabani Roy ChoudhuryAyse Saka-Helmhout, Sununta Siengthai, Ayda Uzuncarsili Soydas, Linda Viswat

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

With multinational corporations increasingly adopting English as a corporate language, the issue of language management and the pros and cons of language standardization have been widely debated in the literature. Our 17-country study considers whether the use of English as a common corporate language causes difficulties. We empirically examine whether managerial reactions to specific leadership scenario-based situations change as a consequence of the language they use. Our results show that the choice of language (native or English) does not matter much for the studied leadership scenarios. Instead, leadership decisions and reactions depend more on cultural and situational context.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	296-304
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of World Business
Volume	46
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009
Publication status	Published - Jul 2011
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Language
Leadership
Context
Culture
Multinational company
Cultural accommodation
ATTITUDE SCALE TRANSLATIONS
CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION
CHINESE BILINGUALS
ETHNIC AFFIRMATION
CROSS-LANGUAGE
HONG-KONG
COMPANIES
RESPONSES
VALUES

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Zander, L., Mockaitis, A. I., Harzing, A.-W., Baldueza, J., Barner-Rasmussen, W., Barzantny, C., Canabal, A., Davila, A., Espejo, A., Fernandes Ferreira, R., Giroud, A., Koester, K., Liang, Y.-K., Morley, M. J., Myloni, B., Odusanya, J. O. T., O'Sullivan, S. L., Palaniappan, A. K., Prochno, P., ... Viswat, L. (2011). Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries. Journal of World Business, 46(3), 296-304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009

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title = "Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries",

abstract = "With multinational corporations increasingly adopting English as a corporate language, the issue of language management and the pros and cons of language standardization have been widely debated in the literature. Our 17-country study considers whether the use of English as a common corporate language causes difficulties. We empirically examine whether managerial reactions to specific leadership scenario-based situations change as a consequence of the language they use. Our results show that the choice of language (native or English) does not matter much for the studied leadership scenarios. Instead, leadership decisions and reactions depend more on cultural and situational context.",

keywords = "Language, Leadership, Context, Culture, Multinational company, Cultural accommodation, ATTITUDE SCALE TRANSLATIONS, CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION, CHINESE BILINGUALS, ETHNIC AFFIRMATION, CROSS-LANGUAGE, HONG-KONG, COMPANIES, RESPONSES, VALUES",

author = "Lena Zander and Mockaitis, {Audra I.} and Anne-Wil Harzing and Joyce Baldueza and Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen and Cordula Barzantny and Anne Canabal and Anabella Davila and Alvaro Espejo and {Fernandes Ferreira}, Rita and Axele Giroud and Kathrin Koester and Yung-Kuei Liang and Morley, {Michael J.} and Barbara Myloni and Odusanya, {Joseph O. T.} and O'Sullivan, {Sharon Leiba} and Palaniappan, {Ananda Kumar} and Paulo Prochno and Choudhury, {Srabani Roy} and Ayse Saka-Helmhout and Sununta Siengthai and Soydas, {Ayda Uzuncarsili} and Linda Viswat",

year = "2011",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009",

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Zander, L, Mockaitis, AI, Harzing, A-W, Baldueza, J, Barner-Rasmussen, W, Barzantny, C, Canabal, A, Davila, A, Espejo, A, Fernandes Ferreira, R, Giroud, A, Koester, K, Liang, Y-K, Morley, MJ, Myloni, B, Odusanya, JOT, O'Sullivan, SL, Palaniappan, AK, Prochno, P, Choudhury, SR, Saka-Helmhout, A, Siengthai, S, Soydas, AU & Viswat, L 2011, 'Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries', Journal of World Business, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 296-304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009

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T1 - Standardization and contextualization

T2 - A study of language and leadership across 17 countries

AU - Zander, Lena

AU - Mockaitis, Audra I.

AU - Harzing, Anne-Wil

AU - Baldueza, Joyce

AU - Barner-Rasmussen, Wilhelm

AU - Barzantny, Cordula

AU - Canabal, Anne

AU - Davila, Anabella

AU - Espejo, Alvaro

AU - Fernandes Ferreira, Rita

AU - Giroud, Axele

AU - Koester, Kathrin

AU - Liang, Yung-Kuei

AU - Morley, Michael J.

AU - Myloni, Barbara

AU - Odusanya, Joseph O. T.

AU - O'Sullivan, Sharon Leiba

AU - Palaniappan, Ananda Kumar

AU - Prochno, Paulo

AU - Choudhury, Srabani Roy

AU - Saka-Helmhout, Ayse

AU - Siengthai, Sununta

AU - Soydas, Ayda Uzuncarsili

AU - Viswat, Linda

PY - 2011/7

Y1 - 2011/7

N2 - With multinational corporations increasingly adopting English as a corporate language, the issue of language management and the pros and cons of language standardization have been widely debated in the literature. Our 17-country study considers whether the use of English as a common corporate language causes difficulties. We empirically examine whether managerial reactions to specific leadership scenario-based situations change as a consequence of the language they use. Our results show that the choice of language (native or English) does not matter much for the studied leadership scenarios. Instead, leadership decisions and reactions depend more on cultural and situational context.

AB - With multinational corporations increasingly adopting English as a corporate language, the issue of language management and the pros and cons of language standardization have been widely debated in the literature. Our 17-country study considers whether the use of English as a common corporate language causes difficulties. We empirically examine whether managerial reactions to specific leadership scenario-based situations change as a consequence of the language they use. Our results show that the choice of language (native or English) does not matter much for the studied leadership scenarios. Instead, leadership decisions and reactions depend more on cultural and situational context.

KW - Language

KW - Leadership

KW - Context

KW - Culture

KW - Multinational company

KW - Cultural accommodation

KW - ATTITUDE SCALE TRANSLATIONS

KW - CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION

KW - CHINESE BILINGUALS

KW - ETHNIC AFFIRMATION

KW - CROSS-LANGUAGE

KW - HONG-KONG

KW - COMPANIES

KW - RESPONSES

KW - VALUES

U2 - 10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009

DO - 10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.009

M3 - Article

SN - 1090-9516

VL - 46

SP - 296

EP - 304

JO - Journal of World Business

JF - Journal of World Business

IS - 3

ER -

Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries

Abstract

Keywords

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