How non-native English-speaking staff are evaluated in linguistically diverse organizations: A sociolinguistic perspective

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of evaluations of non-native speaking staff?s spoken English in international business settings. We adopt a sociolinguistic perspective on power and inequalities in linguistically diverse organizations in an Anglophone environment. The interpretive qualitative study draws on 54 interviews with non-native English-speaking staff in 19 UK business schools. We analyze, along the dimensions of status, solidarity and dynamism, the ways in which non-native speakers, on the basis of their spoken English, are evaluated by themselves and by listeners. We show how such evaluations refer to issues beyond the speaker?s linguistic fluency, and have consequences for her or his actions. The study contributes to the literature on language and power in international business through offering fine-grained insights into and elucidating how the interconnected evaluative processes impact the formation and perpetuation of organizational power relations and inequalities. It also puts forward implications for managing the officially monolingual, yet linguistically diverse organizations

Language in international business: a review and agenda for future research

A fast growing number of studies demonstrates that language diversity influences almost all management decisions in modern multinational corporations. Whereas no doubt remains about the practical importance of language, the empirical investigation and theoretical conceptualization of its complex and multifaceted effects still presents a substantial challenge. To summarize and evaluate the current state of the literature in a coherent picture informing future research, we systematically review 264 articles on language in international business. We scrutinize the geographic distributions of data, evaluate the field’s achievements to date in terms of theories and methodologies, and summarize core findings by individual, group, firm, and country levels of analysis. For each of these dimensions, we then put forward a future research agenda. We encourage scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to draw on, integrate, and test a variety of theories from disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to gain a more profound understanding of language in international business. We advocate more multi-level studies and cross-national research collaborations and suggest greater attention to potential new data sources and means of analysis

The power of Web 2.0 storytelling to overcome knowledge sharing barriers

Through a narrative review of the literature, this paper seeks to explore the importance of Web 2.0 Storytelling for overcoming barriers to knowledge sharing. While storytelling has been traditionally addressed as a valuable lever for many knowledge sharing issues, more recently, Web 2.0 technologies are becoming essential in enabling employees to participate in the creation, sharing and diffusion of knowledge. However, the link between Web 2.0 Storytelling and barriers to knowledge sharing behavior remains quite unexplored in the extant literature. By filling this gap, we pose the first pillars to explain this connection. Overall, our conceptual framework reveals that, since knowledge is something that resides in people, the extensive use of ICT tools may be not sufficient to capture the organizational advantages of knowledge sharing, if the human dimension is neglected. With this in mind, the twofold nature of Web 2.0 storytelling emerges as a powerful tool to manage the most important barriers to knowledge sharing. Such evidence may have meaningful implications for both theory and practice