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The purpose of this conceptual literature review is to investigate how language factors have been studied in the expatriate literature, and how cross-fertilisation with the broader language-sensitive international business and management field may facilitate integrated research of language in global work.

This paper is based on a thematic review of expatriate research and international business and management literature. The findings are structured through Reiche et al.'s (2019) three-dimensional conceptualisation of global work, after which two frameworks are developed to conceptualise how language connects the three dimensions – actors, structures and processes.

The literature review demonstrates that language-related topics are yet to gain status in the expatriate tradition, and the majority of studies, which do consider linguistic factors appear largely dissociated from the growing community of language research in the broader international management and international business fields. However, once consolidated, the literature reveals that language is present in all dimensions of global work. A processual view of corporate language management highlights the central role of human resource management (HRM), while a dynamic multi-level perspective indicates that language may form bidirectional relationships between the three dimensions of global work.

Due to the segmentation between language-sensitive research in the expatriate and international business/management traditions, few studies have considered the HRM implications of global mobility and the multifaceted nature of language at work. This conceptual literature review brings both perspectives together for a more contextualised and holistic view of language in international workforces.

Offers a response to a discussion of the language of change, which appeared in an earlier issue of JOCM (Vol. 14, 2001).While applauding any attempt to develop an appreciation of the fluidity of the processes and politics of organizational change offers a critical response to the account of the language of change, which was prepared by Butcher and Atkinson. This critical response argues that Butcher and Atkinson's attempt to adjust and correct the language of change produces a rather conservative modelling of both management and organizational dynamics. Taking issue with this analysis argues that: Butcher and Atkinson continue to impoverish our understanding of organizational dynamics because they mix (and muddle) opposing and contradictory accounts of language in an attempt to refine an essentially managerialist change agenda; and their account of organizational dynamics produces a fixed and overly‐stabilized appreciation of change, which restricts and diminishes our understanding of the processes of change.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the consequences of globalisation in the area of corporate communication, and investigate how language may be managed as a strategic resource.

A review of previous studies on the effects of globalisation on corporate communication and the implications of language management initiatives in international business.

Efficient language management can turn language into a strategic resource. Language needs analyses, i.e. linguistic auditing/language check-ups, can be used to determine the language situation of a company. Language policies and/or strategies can be used to regulate a company’s internal modes of communication. Language management tools can be deployed to address existing and expected language needs. Continuous feedback from the front line ensures strategic learning and reduces the risk of suboptimal outcomes.

Offers a review of the relevant literature and provides a simple four-step model to make language a more important priority on the corporate agenda.

The purpose of this article is to reassert the status of language as a topic of major interest to researchers in the light of the rise of the transnational corporation.

This article reviews recent literature and case study evidence in order to track an important shift taking place in the status of language management.

The emergence of the transnational corporation transforms the nature and significance of language from a minor issue into one that impacts on a company's core competencies.

The literature remains sparse and case studies limited in number. In depth investigation into the language management practices of transnational corporations is called for in order to test the hypotheses of this paper.

Language will generate greater interest as a research topic as the transnational model is implemented, and more sophisticated language management practices will emerge as a result, with the promise of delivering a competitive advantage.

The inter‐relationship between language management and the transnational model of global corporations has not been asserted in the literature up to this point.

The purpose of this paper is to describe linkages between the techniques of poetical expression and the language used by scholars to communicate management practice.

The approach is to consider the stylistic perspective of the language used for management theorising or research, viewing the documents produced by management researchers as communicating devices and cultural products which contribute to the creation or construction of the reality that they seek to describe and analyse.

The paper uncovers the poetic aspects buried – often deeply – in the language of management studies through which the concepts of, and ideas about, management are expressed.

The links between ways of saying usually considered to be in opposition are made known, and enjoyed.

This study aims to investigate the treatment of translation within the international business and management (IBM) literature to highlight colonialist assumptions inscribed in this treatment as a result of the hegemonic status of English.

This investigation takes the form of a systemic literature review to examine the treatment of translation in the IBM literature through a postcolonial lens.

The findings demonstrate that despite growing interest in language in international business, matters of translation have received comparatively little attention. However, those articles that do address translation matters tend to do so in five key ways, including epistemological/methodological considerations, exploring translator agency, the investigations of the discursive void/conceptual fuzziness between languages, and approaches that discuss translation as social practice.

Despite the authors’ critique of English-language hegemony, this literature review is restricted to English-language journals, which the authors acknowledge as problematic and discuss within the article.

In exposing the limited treatment of translation within the literature, the authors provide a call to action for IBM scholars to be more explicit in their treatment of translation to ensure representation of cultural and linguistic Others, rather than providing domesticated accounts of multilingual research.

Although there have been other articles that have examined translation in the past, this paper is the first to do so through a postcolonial lens, demonstrating from a linguistic perspective the colonialist assumptions that are still prevalent in IBM knowledge production, as evidenced by the treatment of translation in the field.

The importance of language management in multinational companies has never been greater than today. Multinationals are becoming ever more conscious of the importance of global coordination as a source of competitive advantage, and language remains the ultimate barrier to aspirations of international harmonisation. The article reviews the solutions open to multinational companies in term of language management. Before that, however, it discusses the aforementioned trend to globalisation outlines the dimensions of the language barrier and illustrates its consequences.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual and linguistic challenges that French business schools face when preparing for international accreditation and to shed light on the different ways in which experts facilitate these accreditation processes, particularly with respect to how they capitalize on their contextual and linguistic boundary-spanning competences.

The authors interviewed 12 key players at four business schools in France engaged in international accreditations and in three specific categories: senior management, tenured faculty and administrative staff. The interview-based case study design used semi-structured questions and an insider researcher approach to study an underexplored sector of analysis.

The findings suggest that French business schools have been particularly impacted by the colonizing effects of English as the mandatory language of the international accreditation bodies espousing a basically Anglophone higher education philosophy. Consequently, schools engage external experts for their contextual and linguistic boundary-spanning expertise to facilitate accreditation processes.

The authors contribute to language-sensitive research through a critical perspective on marginalization within French business schools due to the use of English as the mandatory lingua franca of international accreditation processes and due to the underlying higher-education philosophy from the Anglophone academic sphere within these processes. As a result, French business schools resort to external experts to mediate their knowledge and competency gaps.

This paper intends to open up the debate on the influence of language on the way multinational companies manage their subsidiary operations.

The authors explain the importance of the field and expose a dearth of prior research. Subsequently, they define the “language barrier” and elaborate on the causes underlying this barrier, drawing on social identity theory.

The authors we propose an integrative model that consists of two coupled vicious cycles: the communications cycle – composed of the eight aspects of the language barrier – and the management cycle.

This contribution to an otherwise ignored field of business study should be considered only a first step in opening up a new research agenda. Specialists in each of the fields touched upon are invited to make a contribution to the debate.

The management cycle suggests implications of the language barrier for various aspects of the HQ‐subsidiary relationship: strategic decision‐making, organization and personnel selection, global integration strategies, and autonomy and control procedures.

This paper uses socio‐linguistic theory to define and elaborate on the construct of the language barrier, a construct which is believed will be helpful in furthering research on the impact of language‐difference on multinational management.

Managing people in a multinational corporation most often means, communicating across cultural as well as linguistic boundaries. Through the study of Danish expatriates in Saudi Arabia this paper sets out to investigate the use of language as related to ethnicity and group formation.

Investigating the use of language in international settings, an ethnographic fieldwork methodology relying on longitudinal participant observations and semi‐structured interviews is applied.

The relation between language usage and ethnicity is discussed with regard to cross‐cultural management. Based on a case of Danish expatriates, language can be identified as linked to social strategies of inclusion and exclusion.

The analysis indicates that language use should be conceived as a dynamic process linked to social strategies facilitating categorization of groups in the struggle for resources and recognition. It is recommended that the character of language as linked to social strategies is taken into account in international business. Ignoring the important role of language in multinational corporations may lead to loss of resources and hindrances to organizational and managerial development due to the lack of communication and knowledge sharing.

By applying a process‐oriented theoretical perspective combined with an iterative data collection, new insights into the social dynamics of language use in multinational corporations are provided.