Anne Kari Bjørge, Alexander Madsen Sandvik and Sunniva Whittaker
The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate values are interpreted by local and international employees in a multilingual organisation that has opted for the local…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate values are interpreted by local and international employees in a multilingual organisation that has opted for the local language, not English, as its corporate language.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a research paper exploring how the recontextualisation and resemiotisation of value terms impact on how corporate values are interpreted, employing triangulation of questionnaire and interview results.
Findings
When values are recontextualised in employee discourse, proficiency in the corporate language and cultural background was found to have an impact on their interpretation. Internationals were found to have a broader and not exclusively professional interpretation compared to the locals. Internationals with a low level of proficiency in the local language were more sceptical than the locals as to whether there was a shared understanding of the values.
Research limitations/implications
The questionnaire yielded fewer respondents than the authors expected, which should be taken into account when interpreting the results.
Practical implications
The paper suggests best practices for communicating corporate values to a multilingual workforce.
Social implications
This paper contributes to the understanding of linguistic challenges in the multilingual work contexts.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, there is little prior in-depth research on how language impacts on employees’ interpretation of corporate values. As values are cohesive devices in organisations, the language used to convey them is worth addressing as the present paper aims to demonstrate.
Details
Keywords
Anne Kari Bjørge and Sunniva Whittaker
The purpose of this paper is to focus on corporate communication issues that arise when a company offshores language-sensitive services to a country which does not have a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on corporate communication issues that arise when a company offshores language-sensitive services to a country which does not have a workforce with the required language skills. It explores the consequences of adopting a total immersion policy and annual testing regime to build and maintain linguistic competence among the workforce, with regard to motivation, challenges and coping strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted was semi-structured interviews with management and employee representatives, interviewed separately. The interviews were transcribed and submitted to content analysis, supported by relevant company information.
Findings
The company’s language policy has generated a user environment where language proficiency is developed in corporate interaction, and where the workforce is motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Strategic decisions relating to language policy need to take the workforce’s input into account to discuss the testing regime with a view to test content and relevance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings relate to a limited material of 6 interviews with 14 interviewees in total.
Practical implications
The paper focusses on how to strike a balance between developing the skills needed to perform job tasks and preparing for new more complex tasks without demotivating the workforce. The conclusion sets out managerial implications.
Social implications
The paper contributes to understanding the dynamics of working in a multilingual context.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge the specificities of offshoring of language-sensitive services with regard to motivation and coping strategies have not been explored previously. The fact that the services in question have to be carried out in a minor language and that a total immersion strategy has been adopted also represents something new.