From a distance and generalizable to up close and grounded: Reclaiming a place for qualitative methods in international business research

Birkinshaw, Julian; Brannen, Mary Yoko; Tung, Rosalie L.

doi:10.1057/jibs.2011.19

Cited by 466 publications

(339 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…Birkinshaw, Brannen and Tung (2011) identified multicultural teams as a particularly complex phenomenon, which should be newly conceptualized and interpreted through qualitative studies. We argue that the same is true for multilingual teams.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

2013

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AcknowledgementsWe thank Sebastian Reiche for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We are very grateful for the constructive and thoughtful guidance by special issue editors Rebecca Piekkari and Mary Yoko Brannen, as well as three anonymous reviewers. MNTs in three German automotive corporations, we show how MNT members' cognitive and emotional reactions to language barriers influence their perceived trustworthiness and intention to trust, which in turn affect trust formation. We contribute to diversity research by distinguishing the exclusively negative language effects from the more ambivalent effects of other diversity dimensions. Our findings also illustrate how surface-level language diversity may create perceptions of deep-level diversity.Furthermore, our study advances MNT research by revealing the specific influences of language barriers on team trust, an important mediator between team inputs and performance outcomes. It thereby encourages the examination of other team processes through a language lens. Finally, our study suggests that multilingual settings necessitate a reexamination and modification of the seminal trust theories by Mayer, Schoorman (1995) andMcAllister (1995). In terms of practical implications, we outline how MNT leaders can manage their subordinates' problematic reactions to language barriers and how MNT members can enhance their perceived trustworthiness in multilingual settings.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

2013

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“…In this regard, this special issue reflects different research paradigms and approaches, while drawing them together thematically around the topic of language. Given the dominance of quantitative research in IB (Birkinshaw, Brannen, & Tung, 2011), language has historically been researched from an etic perspective, for example, measuring and quantifying language difference in terms of distance (Dow & Karunaratna, 2006;West & Graham, 2004). These contributions have advanced our understanding of language influences from a bird's eye view of macro-organizational outcomes such as trade flows between countries.…”

Section: Defining Language As a Multifacetedmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multifaceted role of language in international business: Unpacking the forms, functions and features of a critical challenge to MNC theory and performance

2014

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Language lies at the heart of international business (IB) activities, yet language as a key construct in the field of IB has not been sufficiently articulated or theorized. Language presents itself in forms such as national, corporate, technical or electronic, in functions in terms of defining hierarchies, exercising power or facilitating integration and in features such as the use of mixed syntax or gendermarking. Understanding the complex interplay between the multiple facets of language and how they affect day-to-day operations is becoming increasingly critical to global business effectiveness. The purpose of this special issue is, therefore, to catalyze and set a course for the development of a new domain in IB scholarship originating from an explicit focus on language.

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“…Many of these activities can only be understood properly through multiple lenses and levels of observation, and they are often embedded in multifaceted contexts with economic, cultural, legal and political elements (Birkinshaw, Brannen, & Tung, 2011;Cheng, Henisz, Roth, & Swaminathan, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing interdisciplinary research: Insights from the JIBS special issue

Cheng

Birkinshaw

Lessard³

et al. 2014

J Int Bus Stud

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Twenty-five years ago, Dunning articulated a vision for greater interdisciplinary grounding in international business (IB) research. Motivated by his foresight, this special issue aims to encourage research that explicitly combines ideas from different disciplines, with a view to creating new integrative theories with greater explanatory power than those based on a single discipline. Five articles selected from a pool of 60 submissions are presented in the special issue, each with its own distinctive interdisciplinary contribution to expanding our knowledge about an important IB phenomenon. In editing the special issue, the editors developed a new understanding of the opportunities and challenges in conducting interdisciplinary research. These insights are reported in the current editorial essay. We conclude by discussing four approaches to interdisciplinary inquiry observed across the five accepted papers: (1) addressing a new phenomenon, (2) asking a fresh question, (3) finding a better answer and (4) contributing to a base discipline.

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From a distance and generalizable to up close and grounded: Reclaiming a place for qualitative methods in international business research

Cited by 466 publications

References 33 publications

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

The multifaceted role of language in international business: Unpacking the forms, functions and features of a critical challenge to MNC theory and performance

Advancing interdisciplinary research: Insights from the JIBS special issue

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