Summary We propose that the differences in competitiveness of companies from different countries is not just a question of the adoption of 'better' management models, as conventional wisdom would have us believe; rather, we contend that national competitiveness can change radically over time...

This article adopts a cognitive neuroscience perspective to develop theory about the consequences of foreign language use in organizational settings. In contrast to previous work that has focused on the interpersonal effects of foreign language use, we focus on intra-personal, cognitive...

This study systematically investigates how language barriers influence trust formation in multinational teams (MNTs). On the basis of 90 interviews with team members, team leaders and senior managers in 15 MNTs in 3 German automotive corporations, the authors show how MNT members’ cognitive...

The importance of language differences in multinational companies (MNCs) can hardly be overlooked. This paper therefore provides the first large-scale quantitative overview of language competencies, policies and practices in MNCs. It is based on data from more than 800 subsidiaries, located in...

This paper demonstrates that American and Japanese HR managers hardly perceive German human resource management (HRM) as a role model from which they might wish to learn. As will be shown, the reason for this attitude is that American and Japanese HR managers have barely any knowledge about...