Language and Ethnicity in International Management - Literature review Example

 Language and Ethnicity in International Management Table of Contents Title Page 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Abstract of Assignment 3 Information Regarding Chosen Paper 3 Summary of Paper 4 Introduction 5 Literature Review 5 Aims and Objectives 6 Research Design and Methodology 7 Data 9 Analysis 11 Findings 12 Conclusions and Possible Recommendations 14 Ethics in Research 15 Bibliography 15 Appendices 16 Weakness of the Research Paper 16 Strength of the Research Paper 16 References 17 Introduction The academic study is characterized by a highly structured and demanding investigative procedure that must undergo the scrutiny of peers and colleagues. Its methods, findings and conclusions, if given a positive review by peers, will be emulated and cited by others. International people management is a controversial area of study because of the broad implications involved. This work will thus be reviewed to test whether it meets the standards of an academic study, but with consideration given towards the complexities of the subject matter. Abstract of Assignment The assignment is undertaken with the purpose of providing a critique of an academic article published in a peer-reviewed journal, on the topic of International People Management. It seeks to form a well-founded opinion concerning the structure, content, and validity of the subject matter, methodology, findings and conclusions as embodied in the article. In the course of conducting the assignment, this student was able to determine that while the author of the article chose an appropriate subject matter for research, the proper methodology, and appropriately executed the procedure, there appears to be a misalignment of problem with the findings and conclusion, or if not that the wrong choice of company to conduct such a research in. In either case, because of limitation of respondents to a single company with a particularly distinctive, most likely uncommon, management philosophy, a firm conclusion may not be drawn. Information Regarding Chosen Paper The paper is authored by Jakob Lauring of the Department of Management, Aarhus School of Business, at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. Entitled Language and ethnicity in international management, it was published in the international journal Corporate Communications, appearing in pages 255-266 in the third issue of volume 12, for the year 1997. Summary of Paper The paper’s summary comes in the form of an abstract that precedes the paper’s introduction. The abstract is intended to be “a complete but concise description” of the paper which it is summarizing (Koopman, 1997). The proper abstract should convey the writer’s motivation, the problem statement, the research approach, and an encapsulated statement of the results and conclusion. The abstract should be written in such a way that it is capable of enticing the casual reader to obtain and read a copy of the full research paper. In the article under study, the structure of the abstract is explicitly expounded. The purpose (conveying the motivation and the research objective in lieu of a problem statement) of the author is “to investigate the use of language as related to ethnicity and group formation.” From this, the author signifies that language is central to the structuring of groups within groups, along ethnic lines. Later the paper mentions the various nationalities bound – and separated – by their native dialects. The research design-methodology-approach specifies the use of ethnographic field work methodology, with data gathered through semi-structured interview. The findings (results of the method carried out) indicate that language is a material consideration in social inclusion and exclusion phenomena. Conclusions, which are supposed to be summarised in the abstract, are missing. This detracts from the abstract’s completeness, because while the findings indicate that language is “linked to social strategies of inclusion and exclusion”, it does not go further to explicitly state the nature of that linkage. Instead, the author chose to discuss the practical implications of the findings. The article’s abstract quite usefully includes a section on originality and value, in order to point out to the reader that the new contributions of this article lay as much in the process-oriented perspective and data collection methods employed, as it does the new insights garnered.. Critique of Introduction The first paragraph comprising the body of the research paper, the introduction is necessary to impart the message to the reader concerning the context of the research topic, where the researcher is coming from. The introduction has two parts, namely the general introduction and the thesis statement – that which the paper is expecting to prove. The introduction is important because the “thread of the idea” is initiated in this part of the paper, and the reader will follow this thread throughout the research paper. Since the introduction is just to establish the setting and context of the topic of research, it is not required that too much of the information on the main topic of research by divulged here, only the background material (CRLS, 2009). The introduction , which is rather of considerable length ends with the research objectives. Simply stated, the paper aims to prove that in a multinational corporation: (1) common language forms ethnic groups; (2) language creates and strengthens social structures and power relations; and (3) language shapes expatriate behaviour. Literature Review The contents of a literature review refer to any collection of materials on a topic (UNC, 2007). It explains and presents the writer’s opinions on published information in the subject area of interest, and sometimes during a particular time period. A literature review is comprised of a summary of the material in an organized pattern, and a synthesis wherein the material is reshuffled and viewed from the perspective of the researcher in relation to the objective of the research. In a dissertation, the important consideration is to define the research gap that presently exists in academic literature, that the present dissertation hopes to address. From an analysis of the depth and breadth of the literature review, it is possible to acquire an insight into the writer’s credibility in his or her stated field of expertise. In this paper, the literature review dwelled on ethnicity and the various constructs related to it in the context of cultural groups. From the literature, it appears that previous studies have clearly established that ethnicity, culture, and even nationality are significant factors that drive inclusion and exclusion in informal groups in a multicultural setting. What the writer wishes to point out is that language may be “used also as markers of social differences, and groups tend to cluster together according to the use of language” (Lauring, 2007). However it is also evident from the literature that there are several authors who have stressed the effects of language is already viewed within the context of other forms of social practice (Bourdieu, 1977), that language was not only communicative but was also functional. Aims and Objectives In formulating the aims and objectives of a research project, it is important not only to clearly define the nature of the problem to be addressed by the research, but also to state its known or estimated extent. The aims should locate the research questions in the context within which it is intended to be studied, since a sufficient delineation could materially alter the chances of identifying a successful research design and procedure (Bryan & Bell, 2006). Aims that are too general or broad may involve too many indeterminate or uncertain variables, so that the resulting conclusions may be too vague or unreliable for lack of definition. As mentioned earlier, three objectives underscore the conduct of this research paper, i.e. to prove that in a multinational corporation: (1) common language forms ethnic groups; (2) language creates and strengthens social structures and power relations; and (3) language shapes expatriate behaviour. Research Design and Methodology The section describing the research design and methodology includes a detailed rendition of the actual steps undertaken in order to arrive at the answer to the problem. The conclusion is only as reliable as the research approach is appropriate to the purpose. This section should also describe the measures adopted in the paper in order to ensure sufficient reliability and validity in the findings. By reliability is meant “the consistency of measurement, or the degree to which an instrument measures the same way each time it is used under the same condition with the same subjects” (Colosi, 1997). Reliability is estimated, not measured, and refers to the repeatability of the method to elicit consistent responses. Validity, on the other hand, is the strength of the conclusion, inference or proposition (Colosi, 1997). It is “the best available approximation to the truth or falsity of a given inference, proposition or conclusion” (Cook & Campbell, 1979). This is an important aspect that the researcher should discuss in his paper, in order to ensure the reader that the findings the paper arrives at may be relied upon in the pursuit of higher research, or research founded on the conclusions of this one. The paper describes a qualitative method where its main source of data is the results of exploratory fieldwork conducted in the Saudi Arabian subsidiary of a large multinational firm originally incorporated in Denmark. The article describes the firm’s business through its products and the markets it addresses. It also speaks about the size of the firm’s work force and the number of countries in which it does business. The article then proceeds to describe the respondents of the study who comprise the subjects of research. The various nationalities represented and the number of individuals per nationality was specified. The researcher defined his research method as an ethnographic fieldwork, and cites the advantage of this method for his particular research. He also justifies the use of participant observation in the process of collecting data on the nature of social structures being studied. The longitudinal studies are a particular advantage, and the researcher links this with the nature of the data being studied. This study specifies that is uses the qualitative method in its analysis of the findings arrived at. “Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, reports detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting” (Cresswell, 1998). The major traditions in qualitative research are biography, ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and case study (Caslin & Scott, 2003). Despite its identification of the “ethnographic fieldwork” as the method of research used, for this particular article, it may also be said that the case study method is being used, because it is an investigation of a “bounded system” with the focus being addressed falling within the system – in this case, the Saudi-Arabian subsidiary of the Danish multinational corporation. The case study is “an indepth study of a particular situation rather than a sweeping statistical survey” (CRLS, 2009). The advantage of this method is that it focuses research efforts into a limited area which forms part of a much larger scope. By containing the effort to only one limited concern, the researcher is able to establish more important findings the validity of which is more clearly established. By doing a series of such delimited studies, the bigger picture may be created with a greater confidence of its accuracy. Thus, the ethnographic fieldwork technique was employed in a case study centering on one multinational company. Data A most crucial step in any research is the type of data gathered and the manner by which it is utilized in a study in order to yield the conclusion (Urwin, 2000). Determining the type of data needed in a research may begin with a pilot research, in which the proposed research procedure is tested. If questionnaires to be deployed in surveys is necessary, a pilot research would be useful in telling if respondents will interpret the items in the manner the researcher intended it to be, or if the items have to be reworded or presented in a different way. Sampling. In majority of cases, the population targeted may be too large for the researcher to gather all their responses. Instead, a representative sample could be determined for the purpose of the survey. According to Urwin (2000), a sample is a “small separated part, exhibiting qualities of the mass from which it is taken”, that mass being the targeted population. If the sample is sufficiently representative to counteract any extreme results, then its responses could be taken to represent the response of the entire population. In the article under study, 35 semi-structured interviews were conducted among the Danish expatriates and the employees belonging to the different nationalities. The article states that 16 of the interviews were done in Danish, one was done in the native tongue of the interviewee (which went unspecified), and the rest conducted in English among the other nationalities. While the Danish multinational corporation dubbed Dan Firm (i.e., the company’s true name is concealed for confidentiality purposes) employs upwards of 20,000 people in 20 countries, for the Saudi Arabian subsidiary the population is described thus: “At the time of the fieldwork, the subsidiary employed 470 employees of 13 different nationalities. The employees could be divided into groups of 251 Indians, 80 Egyptians, 45 Saudi-Arabians, 37 Philippines, 26 Pakistani, 16 Danes and 1 Englishman. All employees were men due to Saudi Arabian employment laws” (Lauring, 2007). It may thus be deduced that 35 interviews were conducted over a field of 470 individuals. However, considering that 16 interviews were conducted among all the 16 Danes, then only 19 interviews were conducted in representation of the remaining 454 non-Danish subjects. Assuming that all nationalities were represented in the survey, then that means an average of 1.58 respondents were sourced per nationality – or, putting it a more practical way, not more than 7 nationalities were represented twice and at least 5 nationalities were represented once in the interview. However, 3 or more of the interviewees belonged to one nationality, it means that more nationalities were represented by only one individual. Overall, 19 respondents representing 454 persons is a respondent rate of only 4%. Given the possible high degree of variance (due to the high degree of segregation among the groups), the 4% representation may not be enough, and compared with the interviews done among the Danes, there is obviously a gross imbalance among the strata of the respondents. Access. For the researcher’s proposed source of data to be viable, it is important that he consider whether he will be able to gain access to it or not. There are times when the proposed data would have been excellent for the purpose of analysis; however, during the practical phase of the research it is found that the researcher is denied access to these sources. Thus, resort to proxy data and other indicative sources of information is done. In the case of this study, account by the researcher of the discouragement by the Danish managers in attempting to give indepth interviews with the lower ranks may indicate that there was restriction of access on the part of the researcher to the source of the data. Since management compelled the researcher to frame questions only in simple English and in the imperative, is proof that the free gathering of information was probably impeded by intentional (human) barriers, thereby limiting access. Data Gathering Methods. Various methods of gathering data, the main types of which include questionnaires, interviews, observation, focus groups, and archive or documentary material. In this article, the indepth interviews given in the form of an ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the span of three months provided the information leading to the findings, and thus are considered valid and useful material on which to base the succeeding analysis and conclusion. Analysis As this is a case study it is important to note that extreme care should be taken when interpreting data from a case study. A common mistake is for the conclusions to be too general and broad such that it does not really contribute new or useful research findings to the body of theory. Also, it is possible that while the case study observations are valid and accurate, concluding on the basis of one narrowed case study may be grossly misleading. Another input worth noting is that all 16 Danes lived together in a common compound which the researcher observes contributed to a great extent to an environment of avoidance of other nationalities. Management of the company was comprised purely of Danes (save one English manager on special contract), which was intentional because it is through this way that “the managers felt that they could better understand each other”, facilitating communication and decision-making (Lauring, 2007). Furthermore, the traditional Saudi Arabian organizational form defined the hierarchy and function along ethnic lines: hence, managers must be European, supervisors must be Egyptian. Filipinos were in technical positions or vehicle maintenance. Indians ranked lowest and worked for the most part in production. Segregation according to nationality was intentional, the obvious and immediate reason being improved communication and coordination among people in the same group, but the more surreptitious purpose was to keep information exclusively confined among the Danish managers. According to the researcher’s assessment, despite the other nationalities having a better command of English compared to the Danes, communication downward was largely confined to terse and simplified announcements, and the researcher was even advised to keep interviews among the lower strata confined to short imperative statements. According to the findings, the Danish management intentionally sought to prevent other nationalities from acquiring knowledge of the business, to the point of using Danish even to exclude the English manager from the core group. Findings Within the company that provided the context of the study, the segregation and stratification along lines of nationality was a matter of managerial policy, and the use of language to demarcate the groups was likewise intentionally designed, purportedly to facilitate coordination among functional groups, but apparently designed for exclusionary purposes and reinforcement of the organization’s power structure. Findings are interpretations of data as arrived at by the researcher in the course of carrying out the methodology. This being a qualitative study, and the researcher being a participant in the process, great weight is given to the impressions gathered by the researcher in the formulation of the findings. In this paper, the researcher writes: “Hence, the use of language was strategically applied to fulfil the personal aim of the expatriate managers. Through intensive internal socialization and recruitment of like-minded individuals, the Danes reproduced the social structure of ethnical stratification along with cultural and linguistic exclusion. At least in their opinion this was the most obvious way to run the subsidiary efficiently. Even the managers of the marketing department refrained from communicating with non-Danes, which left the department with very limited knowledge of the customers' and consumers' needs. Instead, a “trial and error principle” was developed to close in on the right campaigns. This approach, among other things, resulted in a million-Euro loss when a commercial film was made showing a young boy and a girl walking hand in hand. The film did not appeal to the Saudi Arabian consumers and had to be withdrawn immediately.” In the foregoing paragraph, the researcher mentions two discrete facts: first, that the management policy fostered language segregation; and second, that the company suffered a million-euro loss due to misappreciation of the market’s preference. The researcher, without explanation as to why the two facts were linked in a causal relationship, merely alleges the relationship and presents it as part of the findings. As readers, we are not provided the source of the fact of the loss nor the circumstances other than a misreading of the market. Inasmuch as the allegation is presented as part of the findings and has a great bearing as evidence of the management’s alleged intention, or rather in refutation thereof, the researcher should detail the reason for arriving at a finding of a causal relationship. Conclusions and Possible Recommendations The conclusion arrived at is that “the field study presented describes the effect of language use in relation to the maintenance of a stratified social structure,” and as recommendation, it stated that “language should not be treated only as a neutral communication device by international corporations when formulating their communication policies.” (Lauring, J, 2007). It should be recalled that at the start of the article, the objectives of the study were to demonstrate that: (1) common language forms ethnic groups; (2) language creates and strengthens social structures and power relations; and (3) language shapes expatriate behaviour. Comparing the aim and the findings and conclusions, it appears that there exists a misalignment. The introduction, aims and objectives, and review of related literature all lead the reader to regard “language” as the first cause, the cause that spontaneously and naturally comes into existence without outside force, and that in turn causes something to exist – thus, the “effect” of language. Language here is taken to be the state or use of language that is not engineered by an external motive force, interest or intention. Then, one may speak of the effect of language as it naturally occurs. However, what we have been presented is the effect of language used as a tool or instrument to advance a specific interest. Management in the Danish company used not only language, but ethnicity and functional segregation, to maintain a power structure that supported an autocratic management style. Language was but an incident of culture, not the cause of the segregation. The withholding of information was not merely due to the use of a particular language, but the very act of exclusion. Should any one of the other employees choose to learn Danish and therefore learn to understand the managers, it would not change his status; he will still be the subordinate, excluded from the managerial position, because the basis for seclusion was not language, but nationality. In order for the objective to be met as presented, there is a need to choose a multinational corporation that has a democratic, people-centric managerial approach, and observe therefrom if the same exclusionary effect as to language could be observed without coercive influence. Ethics in Research The concept of ethics in an undertaking, most especially in research, has undergone repeated redefinition. The ethical issues that must be addressed in the research report should include the principles of voluntary participation, informed consent, risk of harm, confidentiality, anonymity, and the person’s right to service (Trochim 2006). It is not mentioned in the article whether the actions required by the principles of ethics in research were observed at the start of the research – the provision of guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity, signification of voluntary participation and informed consent, and notification of the risk of harm. In the absence of such indication, however, it is assumed that the researcher had complied with these principles, as it is likewise assumed that the respondents answered the interview questions truthfully and openly, and that the data gathered thereby was valid. Bibliography The journal was well supported with appropriate references, however reading through the text punctuated frequently with intext references was difficult, and oftentimes it was confusing to deduce the message being put through. There is a point when the proliferation of intext citations, in comparison with the text, becomes distracting rather than helpful. The works cited should have fewer authors of more solid reputation, rather than many obscure authors. Appendices The article presented no appendices. However, a fieldwork journal summary would have been appropriate. Field works are documented by the use of a log, diary or journal would have been appropriate to provide the reader an idea of how the fieldwork was conducted. Likewise, a copy of the interview questions, and possibly a sample of the answers, inasmuch as it appears that some of the findings proceeded from the narratives in the interview. Weakness of the Research Paper: A Summary of Points Made 1. Misalignment between stated objectives and resultant conclusion. 2. Lack of explanation at arriving at findings of causal relationship (i.e. one million euro loss) 3. Insufficient number of interviews conducted in order to represent the population 4. Possibly the misspecification of the problem statement; or alternatively, the wrong choice of subject firm Strength of the Research Paper: A Summary of Points Made 1. Keen perception of researcher 2. Researcher showed perseverance in the gathering and perusal of academic literature, and the execution of the methodology involved in this research. 3. The topic is a valid area of research 4. The data gathering method is appropriate. References Bryan, A D & Bell A 2006 Research Project Guide. Oxford University Press. Accessed 10 April 2010 Colosi, L 1997 The Layman’s Guide to Social Research Methods. Cornell University. Accessed 10 April 2010 Cook, T D. & Campbell, D T 1979 Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston. Creswell, J W 1998 Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA CRLS Research Guide 2009 Writing an Introduction. Cambridge Rindge & Latin School. Accessed 10 April 2010 Cumberbatch T V 2004 Research methods: Data analysis. Psychology Press Ltd. Accessed 10 April 2010 Experiment-Resources.com 2010 The Scientific Method. Accessed 10 April 2010 Koopman, P 1997 How to Write an Abstract. Carnegie Mellon University. Accessed 10 April 2010 < http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html> Lauring, J 2007 Language and ethnicity in international management, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 255-266 McCaslin, M L & Scott, K W 2003 ‘The Five-Question Method for Framing a Qualitative Research Study’, The Qualitative Report, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 447-461 Trochim, W M K 2006 Research Methods Knowledge Base. 20 October 2010. Accessed 10 April 2010 < http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intres.php> University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill 2007 The Writing Center. Accessed 10 April 2010 Urwin, G 2000 Data Gathering. Coventry University. Accessed 10 April 2010 Read More