Language policy evaluation in business settings

Globalisation and internationalisation are important considerations for companies. If they want to increase their export, recruit foreign employees or start a foreign subsidiary, they will need to think about a suitable language policy to establish an effective and efficient communication with and between their employees. In this article, we discuss recent research related to language policy in multinational companies. First, we list several language management strategies used in companies based on the research of Harzing, Köster and Magner (2011). We illustrate this list with recent case studies, which articulate a range of problems and situations that companies are confronted with. In the following section, we discuss the need for an evaluation of language policies within a business setting. We focus on the analytical framework of François Grin and Michele Gazzola, who have written several articles and books about this need. We connect these ideas to recent case studies in a business setting. We conclude our article with the suggestion that there is a research gap concerning the evaluation of language policies, especially in the context of multinationals.Globalisation and internationalisation are important considerations for companies. If they want to increase their export, recruit foreign employees or start a foreign subsidiary, they will need to think about a suitable language policy to establish an effective and efficient communication with and between their employees. In this article, we discuss recent research related to language policy in multinational companies. First, we list several language management strategies used in companies based on the research of Harzing, Köster and Magner (2011). We illustrate this list with recent case studies, which articulate a range of problems and situations that companies are confronted with. In the following section, we discuss the need for an evaluation of language policies within a business setting. We focus on the analytical framework of François Grin and Michele Gazzola, who have written several articles and books about this need. We connect these ideas to recent case studies in a business setting. We conclude our article with the suggestion that there is a research gap concerning the evaluation of language policies, especially in the context of multinationals.A