Language and identity in the shadow: A multi-case study of a Japanese multinational corporation |
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| Institution: | 1. Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada;2. International Business School, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, No. 1900 Wenxiang Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, 201620, China;1. Department of Business Administration, National Taiwan University of Science & Technology, 43, Keelung Rd., Sec.4, Taipei City 106335, Taiwan;2. Department of Management and Global Business, Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University, 1 Washington Park, Newark, NJ 07102, United States;3. College of Management, Yuan Ze University, 135, Yuan-Tung Rd, Tao-Yuan City, 320, Taiwan;1. University of Exeter, UK;2. Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Sweden;3. City University of Hong Kong, China;4. University of Leeds, UK;1. CARME, School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic of Leiria, CSG/ADVANCE, Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, 2411 - 901 Leiria, Portugal;2. CSG/ADVANCE, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua Miguel Lupi, no. 20, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal;1. National Research Base of Intelligent Manufacturing Service, Chongqing Technology & Business University, Chongqing 400067, China;2. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA 19131, USA;1. School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, LE11 3TT, United Kingdom;2. University of Strathclyde, G1 1XQ, United Kingdom;3. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, University Post O?ce, Kumasi, Ghana; Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, 26 Melville Rd, Illovo, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa |
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| Abstract: | This paper explores how different organizational identities can be constructed by the use of multiple languages within a multinational corporation’s (MNC) subsidiaries. Scholars are increasingly interested in the importance of language in international business but little is currently known about how identities interact with language across an MNC’s subsidiaries. Applying language and social identity theory, this paper analyses the interactions between organizational identity and the use of multiple languages within the lines of communication in the Thai, Taiwanese and US subsidiaries of a Japanese MNC, focusing especially on communications with customers and headquarters. The findings reveal the range of uses of different languages in the lines of communication and the attendant sharing and shaping of social identities in each subsidiary, thus highlighting the importance of the contexts of subsidiaries. In addition, in a sharp contrast to the approach to linguistic identity assumed in the current literature, the findings reveal how national identity can be sustained independently of the use of language. Moreover, the findings also reveal that perceived identity is influenced not only by actors’ language abilities and ethnicity, but also by their post-colonial views on both parent and host countries, and how this underpins shadow organizational structures. |
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| Keywords: | Linguistic identity Organizational identity Social identity Language and communication Shadow organizational structures Post-colonial views |
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