Strategic Decision-Making in a Global Context: The Comprehension Effect of Foreign Language Use on Cooperation

Artikel

With increasing globalization comes an increasing number of people communicating in foreign languages when making strategic decisions. We develop a theoretical model in which comprehension constitutes an essential mediator for the effects of using a foreign language on cooperation in global business contexts. To resolve conceptual ambiguities, we separate information processing leading to comprehension from decision-making employing the previously comprehended information. For the first step, we demonstrate how using a foreign language can, depending on individuals’ foreign language proficiencies, trigger both lower and higher comprehension. Variation in comprehension is, as a second step and independent of its cause, negatively associated with individuals’ tendencies to cooperate. Our experimental results support our theorizing. This study provides new micro-foundations for strategic decision-making and discusses unreliable cooperation as a potentially destructive managerial group dynamic within foreign language contexts.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Management International Review ; ISSN: 1861-8901 ; Volume: 60 ; Year: 2020 ; Issue: 3 ; Pages: 351-385 ; Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: Foreign language use ; Information comprehension ; Judgment and decision-making ; Strategic decision-making ; International management

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Urbig, Diemo ; Muehlfeld, Katrin ; D. Procher, Vivien ; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Springer
• (where): Berlin, Heidelberg
• (when): 2020

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1007/s11575-020-00412-z
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET