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Language Fluency, Socialization and Inter-Unit Relationships in Chinese and Finnish Subsidiaries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen  and
Ingmar Björkman
Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen
Affiliation:
Swedish School of Economics, Finland
Ingmar Björkman
Affiliation:
INSEAD Euro-Asia and Comparative Research Centre, France
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Abstract

High levels of trust and shared vision contribute to collaborative behaviour among units belonging to the same corporation. We examined the relationship of language fluency and socialization mechanisms to inter-unit shared vision and trustworthiness, using a sample of 310 inter-unit relationships involving subsidiaries of multinational corporations located in China and Finland. Results show that language fluency related significantly to shared vision and perceived trustworthiness in both the Chinese and Finnish subsidiaries. We also found socialization mechanisms to have a positive relationship to shared vision in the Chinese but not the Finnish sample, and no significant relationship to perceived trustworthiness in either sample. The interaction effects of language fluency and socialization mechanisms produced different results in the Chinese and Finnish samples. The study confirmed the importance of language fluency for inter-unit relationships and offered several suggestions for future research.

Keywords

languagemultinational corporationsshared visionsocializationtrustworthiness语言，跨国公司，社会化，共同愿景，可信赖性
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , March 2007 , pp. 105 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2007

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