The Multifaceted Role of Language in International Business: Unpacking the Forms, Functions and Features of a Critical Challenge to MNC Theory and Performance

Language lies at the heart of international business (IB) activities. It is a necessary constituent of ongoing sequences of decisions and resource commitments that characterize day-to-day organizational life. Such decision making draws on extensive discussion and debate that is framed, formulated and articulated in language developed and, to a certain extent, shared by corporate, functional and other in-group users. As firms internationalize and enter new markets, whether as “born globals” or more traditionally, they must navigate across countless language boundaries including national languages. Operating internationally means having to interact with transcontinental intermediaries, distinct government agencies and foreign institutions, which reside in different language environments. Yet language as a key construct in the field of IB has not been sufficiently articulated or theorized to reflect the particularity of the field. Forms of language such as national, corporate, technical or electronic, its functions in terms of defining hierarchies, exercising power or facilitating integration, as well as its features such as the use of mixed syntax or gender-marking are emerging as critical phenomena for global business.