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For nearly three decades, English has been the lingua franca of cross-border organizations, yet studies on corporate language strategies and their importance for globalization have been scarce. In The Language of Global Success, Tsedal Neeley provides an in-depth look at a single organization-the high-tech giant Rakuten-in the five years following its English lingua franca mandate. Neeley's behind-the-scenes account explores how language shapes the ways in which employees who work in global organizations communicate and negotiate linguistic and cultural differences.Drawing on 650 interviews conducted across Rakuten's locations in Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States, Neeley argues that an organization's lingua franca is the catalyst by which all employees become some kind of "expat"-someone detached from their mother tongue or home culture. Through her unfettered access to the inner workings of Rakuten, she reveals three distinct social groups: "linguistic expats," who live in their home country yet have to give up their native language in the workplace; "cultural expats," or native speakers of the lingua franca, who struggle with organizational values that are more easily transmitted after language barriers are removed; and finally "linguistic-cultural expats," who, while native to neither the lingua franca nor the organization's home culture, surprisingly have the easiest time adjusting to language changes. Neeley demonstrates that language can serve as the conduit for an unfamiliar culture, often in unexpected ways, and that there are lessons to be learned for all global companies as they confront language and culture challenges.Examining the strategic use of language by one international corporation, The Language of Global Success uncovers how all organizations might integrate language effectively to tap into the promise of globalization.

International business enterprises --- Organizational behavior. --- Corporate culture. --- Communication in organizations. --- Communication in management. --- Intercultural communication. --- English language --- Social aspects. --- Rakuten Kabushiki Kaisha. --- Denice Welch. --- International Management and Language. --- Language and International Business. --- Lawrence Welch. --- Rakuten. --- Rebecca Piekkari. --- Susanne Tietze. --- The Multilingual Reality of Global Business Expansion. --- communication. --- cultural difference. --- diffusion. --- employee relations. --- global business. --- global mindset development. --- global organization. --- global teams. --- industrial sociology. --- integration barriers. --- labor relations. --- labor studies. --- language and globalization. --- language implementation. --- language mandate. --- language strategy. --- lingua franca implementation. --- lingua franca. --- linguistic difference. --- linguistic expat. --- linguistic relativity. --- linguistic-cultural expat. --- mother tongue. --- multinational. --- national identity. --- organization science. --- organizational behavior. --- organizational culture. --- organizational studies. --- social constructivism. --- team structure.