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CHAPTER 25
Language as a corporate asset
Krishna S. Dhir
With corporations operating in an increasingly globalized environment, many are paying
attention to the languages in which they conduct their business. This chapter introduces
the concept of language as corporate asset. Analogies between money and message and
between, currency and language, form the basis of the ideas developed here. The role of
language in emerging knowledge economies, globalization of business and workforce
diversity is examined while the economics of corporate vocabulary and language is discussed
from the perspective of corporate planners. Finally, an example illustrates how a
global corporation may formulate its language policy.
Introduction
With increased globalization, corporations are
paying attention to the languages in which
they conduct their business. Businesses that
operate globally bring together people from
different cultures and traditions, who were
educated through different learning processes,
and who operate in different political systems
in regions with different levels of industrial
development. Language affects the ability of
multinational organizations to function in the
global market. Yet, the need for corporate language
policies has not been adequately recognized
in strategic management literature or
communication literature. Research in the
field of the economics of language was rare
prior to the 1960s. Until the mid-1960s the
concept of the economics of language was not
well understood or articulated. Since the mid-
1960s, however, linguists have begun to pay
attention to the link between language and
economics. As of 1996, there were reportedly
just more than a hundred academic articles
and books published by economists on language
matters. Interestingly, a majority of
these works had the specific focus of exploring
the evolution of language status and language
use in business organizations within Quebec,
Canada (Grin, 1996: 18; Dhir and Savage,
2002). Although the business of foreign language
education continues to thrive today
due to growth in international trade, scientific
co-operation, tourism and the increasing
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors