Language in International Business

Research program 5: Language barrier and its solutions, language in HQ-subsidiary relationships, language and cooperative vs. competitive behaviour

Anne-Wil Harzing - Sat 6 Feb 2016 16:10 (updated Tue 7 Nov 2023 18:45)

Most of my work in this field has been summarized in these blogposts:

• Language barriers in multinational companies
• Language in International Business: A review and agenda for future research.

One of the first barriers that companies face on the path of internationalisation is difference in natural languages. Surprisingly though, language in international business has long remained an ignored research field. There might be several reasons for this.

Why is this an ignored research field?

• Business researchers and linguists alike may have been deterred by the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject.
• The pre-eminence of Anglophone researchers who may have a reduced perception of the importance of language.
• The enormous influence of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the Kogut & Singh scale for cultural differences, which eclipsed the earlier but more cumbersome cultural measure of Psychic Distance in which language difference was a crucial component.

Late 2017 Helene Tenzer, Siri Terjesen and I published a review of thirty years of language research in International Business, providing many avenues for future research. It became the most read article of the year in Management International Review.

The language barrier and its solutions

Perhaps the most serious barrier to language research in business has been the absence of clear conceptual frameworks that explain how the language barrier actually works and what solutions might be available.

With Alan Feely I published two papers that helped answering these questions, one focusing on the language barrier in HQ-subsidiary relationships and one on language management in MNCs. On a citations per year basis, these two papers have become the most cited papers published in Cross Cultural Management: an International Journal since its inception.

A later interview-based study in Japanese subsidiaries of German MNCs has led to an article with Kathrin Köster and Ulrike Mayer, identifying a range of solutions to overcome the language barrier in HQ-subsidiary relationships.

Scenario-based research: response & leadership styles

In 2005 I started a new project that investigated the impact of language on management practices within MNCs, funded by an ARC Discovery Grant of more than A$190,000, the biggest grant to an individual researcher that year in the field of Management. Part of this project used a critical incident technique to collect data with MBA students in 20 different countries, leading to a systematic comparison of ranking and rating to study cross-cultural differences.

A second paper - published in the Journal of World Business in 2011- examined whether managerial reactions to specific leadership scenario-based situations change as a consequence of the language they use, a topic we revisited in a book chapter on leadership behavior.

English and competitive behaviour

An experimental study with Dirk Akkermans and Arjen van Witteloostuijn showed that language impacts the competitive behaviour of students. A prisoner’s dilemma game played in English lead to significantly more competitive behaviour than when the same game was played in Dutch.

The resulting paper was published in Management International Review in 2010. A book chapter with Shea Fan reviews these and other experimental studies and outlines the potential of experimental research as an alternative to surveys.

Language in HQ subsidiary relationships

A large-scale cross-sectional survey in a wide range of host countries (Australia/NZ, China, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, Spain, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway & Sweden) resulted in an article that proposes four home country clusters (Anglophone, Asian, Continental European and Nordic) that show substantial differences in terms of language competencies, policies, and practices.

A further paper dealing with language and communication was published in The International Journal of HRM, whereas a paper investigating the role of language in knowledge transfer was published in Journal of International Business Studies. 

A paper with Heejin Kim and Sebastian Reiche, published in Journal of International Business Studies demonstrates the process through which inpatriates’ knowledge transfer contributes to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution over time, including the role of language and culture.

Finally, in a paper published in Human Resource Management Journal with Sylwia Ciuk and Martyna Śliwa, we applied an EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) lens to linguistic diversity in multinational companies. We show how the application of key concepts such as fluidity and reciprocity can move us from linguistic exclusion to linguistic inclusion.

Language in teams & expatriate-local relationships

Later research moved my language work from the organizational to the team and dyadic level. Work with Helene Tenzer and Markus Pudelko, published in Journal of International Business Studies in 2014 and the third most cited article in the journal that year, looks at the impact of language barriers on trust in a multinational team context.

Work with Ling Zhang in Journal of World Business looks at the role of the host country language in the interaction between expatriates and local employees in China, culminating in a book on Managing Expatriates in China. 

Publications

Online papers - Full list of publications

1. Ciuk, S.; Śliwa M; Harzing, A.W. (2023) Implementing the EDI agenda in multinational companies: A framework for the management of (linguistic) diversity, Human Resource Management Journal, vol 33, no. 4, pp. 868-888. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access) - Related blog post
2. Kim, H.; Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2022) How does successive inpatriation contribute to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution? An organizational knowledge creation perspective, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 1394-1419. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access) - Related blog post
3. Fan, S.X.; Harzing, A.W. (2020): Moving beyond the baseline: Exploring the potential of experiments in language research, in: Horn, S. , Lecomte, P.  and Tietze, S. (eds) 2020 Understanding Multilingual Workplaces: Methodological, Empirical and Pedagogic Perspectives, Routledge, pp. 9-28. Available online... - Related blog post
4. Śliwa M., Ciuk, S. Harzing, A.-W. (2020) Reframing Our Theoretical Perspectives on Language Differences in IB: Leveraging Fluidity and Reciprocity to Achieve Linguistic Inclusion,  paper presented at the AIB 2020 Virtual Conference, July 1-9, 2020 [nominated as one of the finalists for the Aalto University That’s Interesting! Award].
5. Śliwa M., Ciuk, S. Harzing, A.-W. (2019) From Language Differences to Linguistic Inclusion: Breaking the Native Speaker Stranglehold, paper presented at the 45th EIBA (European International Business Academy) Conference, Leeds, 13-15 December. Presentation slides - Related blog post
6. Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W.; Fan, S.X. (2018) Managing Expatriates in China: A Language and Identity Perspective, London: Palgrave. More about this book...
7. Tenzer, H.; Terjesen, S.; Harzing, A.W. (2017) Language in International Business: A review and agenda for future research, Management International Review, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 815-854.  Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!) - Presentation slides
8. Tenzer, H.; Terjesen, S.; Harzing, A.W. (2017) Language in International Business: A review and agenda for future research, paper presented at the 11th GEM&L International Workshop on Management & Language, 3-5 July, Copenhagen, Denmark. Presentation slides
   
9. Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W. (2017) Language as a Local Practice: Why English as a Corporate Language Won’t Work in China, paper presented at the 16th European Academy of Management annual meeting, June 21-24, Glasgow, UK. [1st runner-up of the Journal of Global Mobility (JGM) Best Paper Award, EURAM 2017 Conference]
10. Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W. (2016) From Dilemmatic Struggle to Legitimized Indifference: Expatriates’ host country language learning and its impact on the expatriate-HCE relationship, Journal of World Business, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 774-786. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!)
11. Harzing, A.W. (2016) Language and thinking in management and OS field: Main findings and challenges, towards a European multilingual field, panel presentation at the 15th European Academy of Management annual meeting, June 1-4, Paris, France. Available online...
    
12. Harzing, A.W. (2016) Babel in Business: The role of language in international business [inaugural lecture at Middlesex University]
13. Reiche B.S.; Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M. (2015) Why and how does shared language affect subsidiary knowledge inflows? A social identity perspective, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 46, no.5, pp. 528-551. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!) [Also incorporated in a JIBS collection on Language and selected as one of 9 articles reprinted in Language in International Business. Developing a Field.]
14. Pudelko, M.; Tenzer, H.; Harzing, A.W. (2015) Cross-cultural management and language studies within international business research: Past and present paradigms and suggestions for future research, in: Holden, N.; Michailova, S.; Tietze, S. The Routledge Companion to Cross cultural management, Routledge. Available online....
15. Terjesen, S., Hinger, J., Tenzer, H. & Harzing, A.-W. (2014): Language in Management research: A review and agenda for future research, Paper presented at the 40th EIBA (European International Business Academy) Conference, Uppsala, 11-13 December.
16. Tenzer, H.; Pudelko, M.; Harzing, A.W. (2014) The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 508-535. Available online... - Publisher's version  [Also incorporated in a JIBS collection on Language] - ESI top 1% most Highly Cited Paper
17. Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M. (2014) Hablas vielleicht un peu la mia language? A comprehensive overview of the role of language differences in headquarters-subsidiary communication, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 696–717. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!)
18. Harzing, A.W. (2013). The language barrier, solutions & its impact on HR policies, Keynote Speech at the 2013 International AHRD Asia Conference, November 5 - 8, 2013, Taipei, Taiwan.
19. Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M. (2013) The relationship between shared language and subsidiary knowledge inflows: A social identity perspective, paper presented at the 11th EIASM Workshop on International Management (formerly International Strategy and Cross-Cultural Management), Berlin, Germany, October 18-19.
20. Reiche, B.S., Harzing, A.W., & Pudelko, M. (2013) The sensitivity of subsidiary knowledge in- and outflows to language proximity, paper presented at the 70th Academy of Management annual meeting, August 9-13, in Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), Florida, USA.
21. Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M. (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, vol 48, no. 1, pp. 87-97. Available online...
22. Tenzer, H.; Pudelko, M. & Harzing, A.W. (2012) Cognition, emotion and identification: The influence of language barriers on trust in multinational teams, paper presented at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) 10th Workshop on International Strategy & Cross-Cultural Management, October 19-20, Reykjavik, Iceland.
23. Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M. (2011). Language policies, competencies, and problems in multinational companies: Comprehensive evidence from nine countries/regions, conference proceedings of the 37th EIBA conference, Bucharest, 8-10 December.
24. Harzing, A.W.; Köster, K.; Magner, U. (2011) Babel in Business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship, Journal of World Business, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 296-304. Available online...
25. Zander, L.; Mockaitis, A.; Harzing, A.W. et al. (2011) Standardization and contextualization: A study of language and leadership across 17 countries, Journal of World Business, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 279-287. Available online...
26. Akkermans, D.; Harzing, A.W.; Witteloostuijn, A. van (2010) Cultural accommodation and language priming. Competitive versus cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma game, Management International Review, vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 559-584. Available online... - Publisher's version (read for free)
27. Harzing, A.W.; Köster, K.; Magner, U. (2010) Babel in Business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship, conference proceedings of the ANZIBA annual meeting, 15-17 April 2010, Sydney, Australia.
28. Zander, L.; Mockaitis, A.; Harzing, A.W. et al. (2009) Don't just say what you mean - contextualize it: A leadership study across 17 countries, paper presented at the 68th Academy of Management annual meeting, August 7-11, 2009 - Chicago, Illinois.
29. Zander, L.; Mockaitis, A.; Harzing, A.W. et al. (2009) Why do leaders do what they do? A 22-country study on leadership behavioral intent, paper presented at the 2009 Academy of International Business annual meeting, June 27-30, San Diego, California.
30. Harzing, A.W.; and 26 collaborators (2009) Rating versus ranking: what is the best way to reduce response and language bias in cross-national research?, International Business Review, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 417-432.
31. Zander, L.; Mockaitis, A.; Harzing, A.W.; et al. (2008) Getting closer to the action: Examining leaders’ behavioral intent with Globe’s leadership dimensions across 22 countries, conference proceedings of the Australian New Zealand Academy of Management, Auckland, 2-5 December 2008.
32. Zander, L.; Mockaitis, A.; Harzing, A.W.; et al. (2008) Explaining cross-national differences in leadership behavior with cultural syndromes: a 22-country study, paper presented at the Academy of International Business annual meeting, Milan, 30 June – 3 July 2008.
33. Akkermans, D.; Harzing, A.W.; Witteloostuijn, A. van (2008) Cultural accommodation and language priming. Competitive versus cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma game, conference proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the UK Chapter of the AIB, Portsmouth, 28-29 March.
34. Harzing, A.W.; Feely, A.J. (2008) The language barrier and its implications for HQ-subsidiary relationships, Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 49-60. Second most cited article (in Crossref) in CCMIJ since its inception. Available online...
35. Harzing, A.W.; and 26 collaborators (2007) Ranking and rating in native-language versus English-language questionnaires: A methodological comparison, conference proceedings of the EIBA annual meeting, 13-15 December, Catania, Italy.
36. Harzing, A.W.; and 26 collaborators (2007) Ranking versus rating: What is the best way to reduce response and language bias in cross-national research?, conference proceedings of the ANZIBA annual meeting, 8-10 November 2007, Newcastle, Australia.
37. Harzing, A.W. (2005) The language barrier and its implications for HQ-subsidiary relationships, paper presented at the third JIBS frontiers conference, Rotterdam, 28-30 September.
38. Feely, A.J.; Harzing, A.W. (2004) The language barrier and its implications for HQ-subsidiary relationships, paper presented at the 64th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, New Orleans, August 6-11. Available online...
39. Feely, A.J.; Harzing, A.W. (2003) Language management in multinational companies, Cross-cultural management: an international journal, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 37-52. Most cited article (in Crossref) in CCMIJ since its inception. Available online...
40. Feely, A.J.; Harzing, A.W. (2002) Forgotten and neglected - Language: The orphan of International Business research, paper presented at the 62nd annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Denver, 9-14 August. Available online...

research interests language hq-subsidiary relationships multinational companies

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