Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship☆
Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship☆
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.005
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发表时间：
2011-07
影响因子：
8.9
通讯作者：
Anne-Wil Harzing;K. Köster;Ulrike Magner
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Anne-Wil Harzing;K. Köster;Ulrike Magner
我们使用来自8家德国和日本企业总部及其在日本或德国的子公司的经理的访谈数据，首次对语言障碍及其解决方案进行了大规模的实证分析。我们发现，语言是一个重要的障碍，减缓和增加决策的成本。我们的研究提出了12种不同的解决方案，从非正式的日常解决方案，如改变沟通模式和语码转换，到更结构化的解决方案，如语言培训和共同的企业语言。我们确认和扩展以前的研究，并得出结论，未来的研究应该更明确地考虑总部和子公司经理的语言技能的不同配置。
Using interview data from managers in eight German and Japanese corporate HQs and their subsidiaries in Japan or Germany, we provide the first large-scale empirical analysis of the language barrier and its solutions. We found that language is an important barrier, slowing down and increasing the cost of decision-making. Our research suggests twelve different solutions, ranging from informal day-to-day solutions such as changing communication patterns and code-switching, to more structural solutions such as language training and a common corporate language. We confirm and extend previous research and conclude that future research should more explicitly consider the different configurations of language skills for HQ and subsidiary managers.