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their products. In testimony before the US
Congress, lobbyists seeking increased funding
for foreign language instruction explained
that the most frequent reason cited by those
not exporting was a lack of background knowledge
and language skills required to understand
foreign markets (Peterson, 2002). This is
by no means a uniquely American problem.
In a recent survey of 1,000 German smallto
medium-sized exporters, 60 per cent of
those interviewed have no business connections
with enterprises in the United Kingdom,
but if they were to establish them, 80 per cent
would prefer to correspond in German. Only
20 per cent would even be prepared to use
English. Of those who trade with the United
Kingdom in English, half said that they would
definitely prefer to use German and look more
favourably on UK companies that have made
the effort to learn German (Coleman and
Cree, 2002).
When a person comprehends the socioeconomic
culture of a market, that person is
able to engage and participate in what
Gadamer refers to as the ‘art of conversation’
(Gadamer, 1975). Knowledge and understanding
become possible when a person
overcomes prejudices that prevent new
understanding, and allows transformation
through whatever is revealed through the
course of conversation (Zeddies, 2002). The
same may be said for a group of people, or an
organization. An organization must be willing
to participate in the socio-economic culture of
the local market, and through adaptation, be
transformed by the socio-economic realities it
encounters. Language is the fundamental
medium through which culture, tradition
and custom are transmitted. Moreover, the
capacity of language is not limited to designation,
discovery, reference, or depiction of
situations. Language also is used to carry out
or perform actions and to reveal how things
are presented to us as we deal with them
(Schwandt, 1999; Zeddies, 2002). Darlingtonbased
Adrenalin-Moto is a small firm in the
United Kingdom with three staff members,
supplying motorbike parts and accessories. Its
owner, Debbie Purdy says: ‘France is our
second-biggest market, and when the French
are selling to us, language isn’t a problem.
When we are selling to them, however, it is a
different matter. It can be frustrating. We
knew that unless we addressed the problem
we would miss out on a lot of trade.’
Adrenalin-Moto set up a second, French-language
website at a cost of £2,000. Almost
immediately, online enquiries began to arrive
(Coleman and Cree, 2002).
Globalization of business
Even as corporations are adapting to the
evolving knowledge economy, business and
economy are becoming increasingly globalized.
In response to this trend, corporations
bring together people with different cultural
orientations, who are educated differently,
operate in different political environments
with different levels of industrial development,
and do not all speak the same language.
Nevertheless, they work toward a
common organizational mission. Language
affects the ability of multinational organizations
to function in the global market.
However, the need for corporate language
policies has not been adequately explored in
the strategic management literature. Also, the
issue has not been discussed in the broader
communication literature (Dhir and Goke-
Pariola, 2002). In the following sections, we
examine some of the factors that would
define the development of a corporate language
policy in a global market. We begin
with a brief literature review.
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors