The emotional benefits and performance costs of building a psychologically safe language climate in MNCs

Niina Nurmi and Johanna Koroma

Journal of World Business, 2020, vol. 55, issue 4

Abstract: How employees cope with the requirement to work in a foreign language has received little scholarly attention. To narrow this gap, we conducted an ethnographic study at KONE and NOKIA, companies using English as a lingua franca. Results indicate that employees who are non-native lingua franca speakers may cope collectively with the language demands by building a psychologically safe language climate. Although benefitting them emotionally, psychologically safe language climate may simplify the lingua franca and, in turn, decrease innovative performance. Our findings contribute to research on language-coping mechanisms and psychological safety in adding language as a potential barrier to innovativeness.

Keywords: Lingua-franca mandate; Stress; Coping; Psychological safety; Communication climate; Psychologically safe language climate; Global teams; Innovativeness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101093

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