Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs

The rise in cross-border business in recent decades has led to changes in corporate and working languages and a corresponding surge in research. At the same time, the field of strategic and global talent management has also developed rapidly, but to date has not included language. This paper calls...

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Main Authors: Francesca De Caro, Miya Komori-Glatz
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Aarhus University 2024-01-01
Series:Hermes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://tidsskrift.dk/her/article/view/133658
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author Francesca De Caro
Miya Komori-Glatz
author_facet Francesca De Caro
Miya Komori-Glatz
author_sort Francesca De Caro
collection DOAJ
description The rise in cross-border business in recent decades has led to changes in corporate and working languages and a corresponding surge in research. At the same time, the field of strategic and global talent management has also developed rapidly, but to date has not included language. This paper calls for the integration of language training as a key element of strategic talent management in MNCs. A small-scale interview study with employees from three large Italian companies reveals a broad range of approaches to language and talent management, suggesting there is an urgent need for further cross-case research. The results also show that (a) while English is gaining rapidly in importance, especially at corporate/senior management levels, Italian still plays a central role in some companies; (b) language skills are perceived as bringing added value to employees and companies and can be seen as crucial to the expansion process; and (c) talent management plays an important role in attracting and retaining excellent employees but appears to still be in its infancy in Italy. We therefore argue that strategic talent management urgently needs to be better understood and implemented, and should include proactive language training.
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spelling doaj.art-fe31576275ac4ffaa0252ff3aad1df442024-01-09T01:03:02ZdeuAarhus UniversityHermes0904-16991903-17852024-01-016310.7146/hjlcb.vi63.133658Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs Francesca De CaroMiya Komori-Glatz0WU Vienna The rise in cross-border business in recent decades has led to changes in corporate and working languages and a corresponding surge in research. At the same time, the field of strategic and global talent management has also developed rapidly, but to date has not included language. This paper calls for the integration of language training as a key element of strategic talent management in MNCs. A small-scale interview study with employees from three large Italian companies reveals a broad range of approaches to language and talent management, suggesting there is an urgent need for further cross-case research. The results also show that (a) while English is gaining rapidly in importance, especially at corporate/senior management levels, Italian still plays a central role in some companies; (b) language skills are perceived as bringing added value to employees and companies and can be seen as crucial to the expansion process; and (c) talent management plays an important role in attracting and retaining excellent employees but appears to still be in its infancy in Italy. We therefore argue that strategic talent management urgently needs to be better understood and implemented, and should include proactive language training. https://tidsskrift.dk/her/article/view/133658English as a business lingua franca (BELF)language in international businessmultilingualismtalent managementItaly
spellingShingle Francesca De Caro
Miya Komori-Glatz
Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs
Hermes
English as a business lingua franca (BELF)
language in international business
multilingualism
talent management
Italy
title Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs
title_full Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs
title_fullStr Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs
title_full_unstemmed Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs
title_short Language and talent management: perspectives from Italian MNCs
title_sort language and talent management perspectives from italian mncs
topic English as a business lingua franca (BELF)
language in international business
multilingualism
talent management
Italy
url https://tidsskrift.dk/her/article/view/133658
work_keys_str_mv AT francescadecaro languageandtalentmanagementperspectivesfromitalianmncs
AT miyakomoriglatz languageandtalentmanagementperspectivesfromitalianmncs