Language in International Business: The Multilingual Reality of Global Business Expansion

Responding to the growing interest in the role of language in international business, this book presents language as a critical management challenge for the internationalizing firm. Several perspectives are explored, including the individual, the firm and the broader society in which language use is embedded. Empirical examples of language roles are identified through examining human resource management, international marketing and foreign operation modes and networks in business. Language in International Business reveals a fresh understanding of the complexity of the multilingual reality that internationalizing firms face.

Students from undergraduate to PhD level studying international business and management, sociolinguistics or international business communication will benefit from the rich source of new research questions ascertained in this book. Business practitioners will find the book insightful, managerially-oriented, and easily accessible.

Contents: 1. Language and Global Business Expansion 2. Translation 3. Confronting Language: The Individual in the Organisational Context 4. Language and International Management 5. Language and Networks 6. Language and Human Resource Management 7. Language and International Marketing 8. Language and Foreign Operation Modes 9. Language Strategy and Management 10. Conclusion Index