Language Policies and Practices in Wholly Owned Foreign Subsidiaries: A Recontextualization Perspective

As organizations expand internationally and their foreign operations become more dispersed, differences in “natural” languages start to influence communication within and beyond their boundaries. In order to cope with these challenges, multinational companies (MNCs) have implicit or explicitly formulated language policies for corporate communication, documentation, and interaction (Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, & Welch, 1999). Empirical research on MNCs has highlighted various communication, staffing, and training-related challenges that accompany language policies (Tietze, 2008). However, less is known about the implementation of language policies and practices in foreign subsidiaries (Kingsley, 2010; Sharp, 2010). In particular, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which contextual factors affect this implementation and the associated dynamics.