Danielle Taylor

Composition of the Jury

Abstract

Managing linguistic diversity in international virtual teams presents a growing challenge for organizations. However, the benefits of these teams far outweigh the difficulties. While linguistic diversity has primarily been viewed in international management literature as an obstacle to communication, it has also been proposed as a source of competitive advantage. Nevertheless, it is essential for international organizations to properly manage linguistic diversity within teams, particularly virtual teams, which must communicate effectively across languages, cultures, and geographical and temporal distances, using various technologies. This thesis analyzes how linguistic diversity influences team processes related to tasks and emotions in the virtual context. Following an exploratory study based on interviews with 20 members and managers of multilingual virtual teams, we developed a mixed-methods research design combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The quantitative phase is based on an innovative experimental methodology that utilizes a serious game developed specifically for this thesis. 311 international participants were presented with a two-hour scenario simulating multilingual virtual teamwork to assess communication behaviors and perceptions of team processes and outcomes. The qualitative methodology consisted of an 18-month organizational ethnography of a team belonging to a European university alliance comprised of institutions from seven countries, including interviews and participant observation. The main findings of this thesis demonstrate that successful management of communication processes in multilingual virtual teams fosters trust and team cohesion, thereby enhancing performance. Theoretically, this thesis contributes to research on the importance of language in international management by examining linguistic diversity in international virtual teams through the lens of team processes. Furthermore, this research proposes an innovative methodology for simulating social interactions and comparing behaviors experimentally. The resulting serious game is also used as a training tool for multilingual communication and teamwork. The managerial recommendations that emerge from the thesis concern the importance of understanding the linguistic diversity of the team, and of choosing the appropriate behaviors and communication channels to develop trust and team cohesion.

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