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Issues of language in international business have been the focus of a growing body of theoretical and empirical work. This paper aims to contribute to this literature, focusing specifically on issues of translation. The role of translator will vary depending on the language strategy adopted, with strategies linked to differing perspectives on language in international business – mechanical, cultural and political. The paper examines these perspectives through the lens of a specific problem for transnational communication – “untranslatable” words and concepts.

Interviews were conducted with professional linguists (translators and interpreters) to explore how they dealt with issues of untranslatable but cultural salient words in their day‐to‐day work with international businesses, using the problems of translating the Farsi word tarouf into English as a case in point.

The linguists agreed that tarouf was an untranslatable word, and described their strategies to deal with this problem. The commonest strategy was avoidance, stemming from linguists' concern to maintain their professional standing with clients, a finding which reflects an emerging emphasis on the importance of context and relationships for understanding inter‐cultural communication.

The study highlights the crucial role of the translator in international business, and draws attention to the potential for cross‐cultural communication problems arising from mutual lack of awareness of culturally‐salient but inherently untranslatable words or phrases.

Effective inter‐cultural communication is an issue of great importance to wider society, and business has historically been the commonest site of such communication. The study highlights an issue of considerable importance for improving inter‐cultural communications, contributing to a growing inter‐disciplinary literature in this area.

Much of the research on language in international business has focused on the emergence of English as a lingua franca, but the present study focuses on specific issues of translation and does so in an under‐researched location, Iran. It draws attention to a problem of translation not widely discussed, and shows how important this issue can be for international business.

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the lack of fairness in the international trading system, including the HR policies in the WTO which have wider implications on the participation of developing countries in the multilateral trading system.

The main research methodology undertaken for this paper is based on the quantitative approach, predominantly from sources such as books, articles and WTO reports.

There is a correlation between the HR policies employed by the WTO and the usage by developing countries of the WTO DSU.

The implications of the research/paper indicate that discrimination against developing countries in the international system goes beyond their inherent weakness as poorer members of the international order. Such discrimination is deep rooted within the institutional governance of the system.

The need to re‐evaluate policies practices by international institutions in the light of the developments of the twenty‐first century.

There has been no work undertaken in relation to the use of language as a criterion for job selection and its implications on the participatory value of developing countries in the WTO DSU.

The purpose of this extended editorial is to reflect on the journey of critical perspectives on international business over the past seven years and to look forward to future issues and potential concerns of the journal. In addition, the contents of the current issue are introduced.

Using the form of a conversation between the journal's co‐editors, the development of the journal and features of its content over the last seven years are discussed, and related to the ever changing external context. The current trends and concerns emerging in the field of international business are used to speculate on the future direction of the journal and its prospective content.

By tracing key points and features of the development of the journal over the past seven years, this paper identifies a growing need for critique of international business in all its various forms, and, especially from inter, multi and trans‐disciplinary perspectives.

This is the first attempt to evaluate critical perspectives on international business. As such, it offers a foundation from which to speculate on the future development of both the journal and the field of critical studies on international business.