Research

Language diversity in multinational organizations

Whereas the impact of cultural differences on multinational corporations has attracted a large volume of research for decades, language issues have only recently caught the interest of international business scholars. Given the multilingual nature of global organizations, this is very surprising. We combine theories from management research, linguistics, and organizational psychology to better understand the pervasive influence of language on management processes.

Exemplary topics:

• Symbolic value of language in corporate communication.
• Knowledge management across language barriers
• Linguistic inclusion of employees
• Influence of language diversity on cognitive, affective and behavioral processes in multinational teams

Multinational and virtual teams

In our increasingly globalized business world, multinational teams are of great practical importance and stand in the focus of theory-building management research and organizational psychology. Driven also by the Corona pandemic, these teams are increasingly working virtually. We study collaboration processes in global virtual teams to make sense of the technical and coordination challenges of this organizational form and to develop success factors for global virtual teamwork.

Exemplary topics:

• Influence of language diversity, cultural differences, geographical distance and time difference on virtual collaboration processes.
• Influence of virtuality on team efficiency
• Optimal choice and combination of communication media
• Influence of new media on global virtual teamwork

Leadership in multinational organizations

Our globalized business world is considered to be highly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), placing high demands on leaders. We investigate which personal characteristics a global leader needs and which leadership strategies are most successful in contexts characterized by diversity and dynamism.

Exemplary topics:

• Leadership of multicultural and multilingual work groups.
• Leadership according to agile principles
• Leadership in virtual work environments
• Development of global leadership competencies

International human resource management

Multinational companies are caught between global pressure for standardization and the need to adapt to diverse cultural and institutional conditions in their host countries. The human factor plays a central role in this dilemma. As co-editor of the textbook International Human Resource Management, Prof. Tenzer focuses on recent developments in the field of international human resource management.

Exemplary topics:

• Management of a virtual workforce
• Management of cultural and linguistic diversity
• Management of gender diversity
• New forms of international assignments

Japanese human resource management

For almost fifty years, Japanese human resources management has been defined by its so-called "three pillars": lifetime employment, seniority principle, and company-specific trade unions. In addition to these aspects, another feature has been typical of Japanese organizations: discrimination against women in the workplace. Given the current changes in the Japanese (human resource) management system, we examine the extent to which this discrimination practice still persists.

Exemplary topics:

• Status conflicts of career-minded Japanese women
• Demographic and cultural change in Japanese business
• Diversity management in Japanese and Western companies

Depending on the research question, we use qualitative methods to explore new topics or quantitative methods to consolidate existing knowledge. We cooperate with national and international partners in academia and the private sector.

We are open for further cooperation with international organizations. If you are interested in our research areas, please contact Prof. Tenzer (tenzer@lmu.de),