Making sense of language management in Danish international companies: A strategic view
Abstract
The chapter first explores the concept of strategy and considers how insights from the field of strategic management might inform approaches to language management. Then conceptual insights from the strategy as practice approach together with organizational sensemaking, are applied to the analysis of interview data gathered from the head offices of two Danish multinationals. Both these companies had introduced English as a corporate language during the first decade of the 21st century. The argument is that understanding strategy as the activity of strategizing can contribute to corporate language management by making relevant a greater range of actors to strategic processes, and incorporating production of, and reception to, strategy within strategic practices. In particular, the concept of strategic ambiguity, which relates to ambiguity concerning the communication of goals, seems useful in relation to English as a corporate language as this provokes strategic sensemaking on the part of organizational members. It is within these sensemaking practices that language management ultimately gets articulated.
Abstract
The chapter first explores the concept of strategy and considers how insights from the field of strategic management might inform approaches to language management. Then conceptual insights from the strategy as practice approach together with organizational sensemaking, are applied to the analysis of interview data gathered from the head offices of two Danish multinationals. Both these companies had introduced English as a corporate language during the first decade of the 21st century. The argument is that understanding strategy as the activity of strategizing can contribute to corporate language management by making relevant a greater range of actors to strategic processes, and incorporating production of, and reception to, strategy within strategic practices. In particular, the concept of strategic ambiguity, which relates to ambiguity concerning the communication of goals, seems useful in relation to English as a corporate language as this provokes strategic sensemaking on the part of organizational members. It is within these sensemaking practices that language management ultimately gets articulated.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Series preface V
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Contributors XI
- Sociolinguistic perspectives on English in business and commerce 1
-
Part I: Ideologies and discourses on English in the business sphere
- Language standardization in sociolinguistics and international business: Theory and practice across the table 19
- A language ideological landscape: The complex map in international companies in Denmark 46
- Managing, interpreting and negotiating corporate bilingualism in Wales 73
- “English is the language of business”: An exploration of language ideologies in two European corporate contexts 96
-
Part II: The management of English in business and organizational contexts
- Making sense of language management in Danish international companies: A strategic view 119
- The management of everyday English interactions in the Japanese branches of European multinationals 149
- On the non-use of English in a multinational company 172
- The linguistic landscape of a Czech heritage site: Recording and presenting the past and present of Hrubý Rohozec 194
-
Part III: The position of English and other languages on local and international labor markets, implications for language and education policy
- The value of foreign language skills in international business for native English speaking countries: A study on Ireland 231
- “It’s good to have a language under your belt”: The value of foreign languages in the Greek job market 256
- Qual der Wahl, or spoiled for choice? English and German as the subject of decisionmaking processes in the Czech Republic 276
- Creating the international managers of tomorrow, today? Stakeholder perspectives on English-medium business education 310
- Linguistic diversity and languagein- educational practices in Kenya and South Africa: Challenges and responses 335
- Index 361
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Series preface V
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Contributors XI
- Sociolinguistic perspectives on English in business and commerce 1
-
Part I: Ideologies and discourses on English in the business sphere
- Language standardization in sociolinguistics and international business: Theory and practice across the table 19
- A language ideological landscape: The complex map in international companies in Denmark 46
- Managing, interpreting and negotiating corporate bilingualism in Wales 73
- “English is the language of business”: An exploration of language ideologies in two European corporate contexts 96
-
Part II: The management of English in business and organizational contexts
- Making sense of language management in Danish international companies: A strategic view 119
- The management of everyday English interactions in the Japanese branches of European multinationals 149
- On the non-use of English in a multinational company 172
- The linguistic landscape of a Czech heritage site: Recording and presenting the past and present of Hrubý Rohozec 194
-
Part III: The position of English and other languages on local and international labor markets, implications for language and education policy
- The value of foreign language skills in international business for native English speaking countries: A study on Ireland 231
- “It’s good to have a language under your belt”: The value of foreign languages in the Greek job market 256
- Qual der Wahl, or spoiled for choice? English and German as the subject of decisionmaking processes in the Czech Republic 276
- Creating the international managers of tomorrow, today? Stakeholder perspectives on English-medium business education 310
- Linguistic diversity and languagein- educational practices in Kenya and South Africa: Challenges and responses 335
- Index 361
