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The Association of Language Excellence Centre (ALEC) is a professional body, forum and information source dedicated to raising the profile and quality of business and vocational language training ALEC′s Guidelines on Good Practice in the Management and Delivery of Foreign Language Training for Business have been written for the benefit of private organizations and educational institutions who intend to provide language services which assist the business community in responding to the opportunities of the Single European Market and beyond. The Guidelines, discussed here, are a statement of the collective views of some 50 Language Excellence (LX) Centres on what constitutes good practice in language training for business, including the step‐by‐step summary of a systematic approach to its management.

If business people are to have the language skills to compete in the Single European Market, these must be taught in further and higher education, along with business and technical skills. The current moves, now strongly supported by several EC initiatives, towards such a proactive policy which will enable the business community to recruit from a growing pool of students in all disciplines, with good language skills are explored. Selected employees must be given access to full‐time language training and there must be partnership between business and education in the design and provision of a linguistic infrastructure for trading in the SEM.

Globalisation has made English today's international business language. This article aims to explore what this means for suppliers of English language training – and how corporate buyers of this training can get value for money from them.

The article outlines research by goFLUENT – a leading provider of Business English training.

Companies are looking for employees who can perform well in today's multi‐cultural, multi‐lingual business environment. For those speaking another language there will be more job opportunities, higher pay and faster careers. Increasingly, companies require or give higher priority to employees who speak a second or even a third language – and that is making language learning essential to one's professional growth.

Because of the variety of products and services available, it is helpful for suppliers to respond to companies' RFP requirements in free form and through their own company brochures and materials. However, in order for respondents to understand these companies' scoring systems ‐ and for suppliers to be able to make equivalent comparisons across criteria – suppliers should ask them to answer specific questions.

Only 400 million or so of the world's seven billion people speak English as their native tongue but, currently, it is the Chinese who are learning English. Despite the rise of India and China as global economic powers, over two billion people speak English in these countries alone ‐ and the demand for English speakers continues to grow. With emerging markets, there is an appreciable influx of speakers of Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish and Portuguese but, for these people to work on an international scale, proficiency in English is the inevitable standard.

This article focuses on a theme for which there is currently little information of any real substance.

Since Britain joined the European Community, there has been growing recognition of the importance of foreign‐language training to help companies make a success of their closer links with Europe. But many British businesses appear to be under‐prepared. Reports on a survey of what 435 universities and colleges across Britain are doing to rectify the situation. The institutions offer business language training in almost 70 languages and a wide range of specialisms. Also provides a checklist, drawn up by the Association of Language Export Centres, which should help businesses to ensure that they get quality language training.

Describes a comprehensive 14‐week predeparture training programme and an on‐location orientation session that companies may find useful when they transfer personnel to foreign assignments. Increasing numbers of Western professionals go to foreign countries on assignment. Their success or failure in these assignments largely hinges upon their adaptation to the new set of living and working conditions. A well designed training programme can enhance the chances for success and minimize failures.

This paper aims to explore the challenges facing Irish organisations in the training and development of non-Irish workers. It analyses the importance of fluency in the host country’s language and the approach taken by organisations in relation to language training. In-depth semi-structured interviews provide significant insights for the policies and practices of multiple stakeholders.

The empirical research comprised 33 in-depth interviews conducted with employers, employees, trade unions and regulatory bodies, and an objective content analysis provided insights into the challenges Irish organisations face in the training and development of non-Irish workers.

The results indicate that Irish organisations are given little advice or support regarding the development of non-Irish workers. The study concludes that organisations should re-consider current approaches to cultural diversity training and development of these workers, prioritising the provision of English language training for these workers. The study maintains that an understanding of cultural differences is a vital component in the training of this cohort of workers.

Further research is required in this area. This could include an investigation into the levels of transfer of learning upon completion of training programmes for non-Irish workers, and an evaluation of the understanding of cultural learning styles among trainers.

Learning and development (L&D) initiatives are dependent on English language supports, which will ultimately be central to the successful training and development of non-Irish workers, and provision of affordable high-quality English language classes is crucial. An understanding of cultural differences, diversity and inclusion is equally important if this cohort of workers is to thrive in an Irish working environment.

The government's role must be considered a priority, assisting organisations in relation to their strategies for L&D.

There has been a paucity of research on the issue of L&D for migrant workers in an Irish context. This paper contributes to the discussion and provides guidelines for employers and opinions for policymakers.

Organisations operate in diverse cultural environment, which is a challenging task due to absence of cultural knowledge and difficulty in adapting the native culture that usually leads to expatriate failure. In this context cultural intelligence plays an important role in the adjustment of employees. The purpose of the study is to examine the mediating role played by cultural intelligence between cross-cultural training and cross-cultural adjustment relationship. It further analyses the moderating role of cross-cultural training and types of expatriate between cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment relationship.

Set in a large culturally diverse emerging economy context, data have been gathered from 530 managers working in banking sector. Data have been duly assessed for reliability and validity.

The results revealed that cultural intelligence mediates cross-cultural training and cross-cultural adjustment relationship. Evidence from the analysis further suggests that cross-cultural training and types of expatriate moderate the relationship between cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment. Lastly, the managerial and theoretical implications have been put forth for practical and academic perusal.

The study is cross-sectional in nature and data have been collected from single source.

Organisations should design such training programmes, which motivate the managers to successfully complete out of home state assignment and help them to adapt in the cross-cultural situations.

Culturally intelligent employees/managers are able to communicate with people belonging to diverse culture, which results in building trust, loyalty and cordial relationship amongst the people. This will create the feeling of unity in the society thereby bringing national as well as global peace.

The study develops the extant literature on cross-cultural training and types of expatriate as effective intercultural instruments to enhance the capability of the managers to interact and adjust in host region environment.

Given the continued globalization of industry, second language (L2) training is becoming more important. However, to assume that all managers who need L2 training are equally trainable or that all respond similarly to traditional L2 training techniques, can be costly errors of judgement. Attempts to address these issues using the results of a 1995 pilot NBA Spanish language training course for middle managers. Provides specific recommendations regarding these two important areas.

Reports on a study of Irish exporting companies aimed at discovering the extent to which they use foreign languages in conducting their export business and discusses the implications of its findings for export‐oriented foreign language training. Concludes that a high level of foreign language skill is not essential for success in exporting to non‐English‐speaking markets, but that some competence in the language of the foreign target market can be immensely valuable in gaining the confidence of prospective customers and in understanding their needs. Training aimed at improving the foreign language skills of exporters should also cover the culture and business practices of the foreign market, and the technical terms used in a particular industrial sector. However the real need is for competence at a relatively low level within exporting companies to enable junior staff to deal effectively with incoming messages. Language training should focus initially on developing reading and basic writing skills rather than seeking to achieve fluency in speaking the foreign language.

The relationship between declining economic performance and the failures of our educational system has been apparent for over a hundred years. One key factor which determines a country′s standard of living is the skills and cumulative learning of its workforce. As a country, we need to improve the knowledge and skills of the average member of the workforce when they finish their education, and to raise the number of young people staying on at school until 18. We also need to redesign the A level system so that students study a wider range of subjects, and to increase over the next decade the number of students going to a university or polytechnic.