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a language affords competitive advantage
with respect to the strategic environment
within which the multinational corporation
operates. Or else, it may be something such as
which of alternative languages should be
adopted for cross-subsidiary communication
that does not involve the home office.
2 What are the key factors that influence the
variable to be assessed or managed
Identify the factors for which the policy
must account. Ideally, the set of factors
identified should be mutually exclusive
and collectively exhaustive.
Now suppose the management of this firm
has revealed its priorities relative to the functions
to be fulfilled by the second working language
as follows: The function of the language
as a medium of communication is twice as
important to the firm as each of the remaining
two functions, which in turn are equally
important.
3 What relative emphasis or weight is indicated
for each of the factors identified in
item 2 To indicate this, distribute 100
points among each factor in such a way
that the points assigned to each factor
indicates the relative importance of that
factor in your assessment of the criterion
variable. Then normalize the scores to relative
weights by dividing the points
awarded by 100.
4 On what scale could each of the factors be
measured Factors that are a physical variable
may be measurable in terms of physical
dimensions such as length, weight,
etc. Factors that are not physical may be
measurable on a scale ranging from a low
of X, to a high of Y, where a measure of X
for a factor would indicate that the degree
to which that factor is present in the particular
language is extremely low, and a
measure of Y would indicate that the
degree to which that factor is present in
the particular language is extremely high.
5 For each factor, does an increase in the
factor change the criterion variable Is the
change an increase or a decrease In fact,
this change also could be linear or nonlinear.
For the purpose of this illustration,
we assume that the change is linear. For
treatment of non-linear changes, see Dhir
and Savage (2002).
Let us say that the firm’s strategy analysts have
determined that, in the context of the firm’s
markets in England, Germany and Spain, the
functionalities of the alternative languages, as
they affect the firm in question, rate as shown
below. Assume that all ratings are on a scale
ranging from a low of 1 to a high of 10, where
a measure of 1 for a functionality would indicate
that the level of that functionality offered
by the language in question (Table 25.1) is
extremely low, and a value of 10 would indicate
that the level of that functionality offered
by the language in question is extremely high.
6 What language would you recommend as
the additional working language for the
firm in question
Answers
1 The question may be answered variously.
For instance, the purpose of the language
policy may be said to be to enhance the
firm’s competitive advantage with respect
to the strategic environment within which
it operates. Let us say that the criterion
variable in the present case is the firm’s
competitive advantage measured on a
scale from 1 to 10, where a measure of
1 indicates an extremely low advantage,
and a measure of 10 indicates an extremely
high advantage.
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors