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; Axéle 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, Axéle 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 › peer-review

55 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

Keywords

Context
Cultural accommodation
Culture
Language
Leadership
Multinational company

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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., Leiba O'Sullivan, S., Kumar Palaniappan, A., 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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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 = "Context, Cultural accommodation, Culture, Language, Leadership, Multinational company",

author = "Lena Zander and Mockaitis, {Audra I.} and Harzing, {Anne Wil} and Joyce Baldueza and Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen and Cordula Barzantny and Anne Canabal and Anabella Davila and Alvaro Espejo and {Fernandes Ferreira}, Rita and Ax{\'e}le Giroud and Kathrin Koester and Liang, {Yung Kuei} and Morley, {Michael J.} and Barbara Myloni and Odusanya, {Joseph O. T.} and {Leiba O'Sullivan}, Sharon and {Kumar Palaniappan}, Ananda and Paulo Prochno and {Roy Choudhury}, Srabani and Ayse Saka-Helmhout and Sununta Siengthai and {Uzuncarsili Soydas}, Ayda 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, AW, Baldueza, J, Barner-Rasmussen, W, Barzantny, C, Canabal, A, Davila, A, Espejo, A, Fernandes Ferreira, R, Giroud, A, Koester, K, Liang, YK, Morley, MJ, Myloni, B, Odusanya, JOT, Leiba O'Sullivan, S, Kumar Palaniappan, A, Prochno, P, Roy Choudhury, S, Saka-Helmhout, A, Siengthai, S, Uzuncarsili Soydas, A & 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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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, Axéle

AU - Koester, Kathrin

AU - Liang, Yung Kuei

AU - Morley, Michael J.

AU - Myloni, Barbara

AU - Odusanya, Joseph O. T.

AU - Leiba O'Sullivan, Sharon

AU - Kumar Palaniappan, Ananda

AU - Prochno, Paulo

AU - Roy Choudhury, Srabani

AU - Saka-Helmhout, Ayse

AU - Siengthai, Sununta

AU - Uzuncarsili Soydas, Ayda

AU - Viswat, Linda

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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.

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KW - Cultural accommodation

KW - Culture

KW - Language

KW - Leadership

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ER -

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

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Keywords

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