Development of a Communication Model of International Employees based on the Management-Linguistics Dual Perspective

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26780203
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Management
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Ebisuya Azusa 大阪大学, 経済学研究科, 助教 (90709867)
• Research Collaborator: SEKIGUCHI Tomoki 京都大学, 経営管理大学院, 教授 (20373110) ; Hettiarachchi, Gayan Prasad 大阪大学, 基礎工学研究科付属極限科学センター
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 多国籍人材 / 国際チーム / コミュニケーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was designed for revealing how international employees interact with each other in Japanese companies. With this purpose in mind, several forms of surveys were conducted targeting the headquarters of Japanese companies and branch offices of Japanese companies in foreign countries. Applying the dual perspective of management and linguistics, the study revealed the importance of the role of “bridge individuals (BI).”
BIs have high proficiency of Japanese language and a deep understanding of its culture. The study indicated that hiring BIs can help Japanese companies to cope with the problems caused by the geographical distance and discrepancies in individual understanding. Also, the study discussed that the BIs would play an important role when the multinational team members try to optimize different views regarding their projects. This study suggests that Japanese companies can manage their employees easier and better, by hiring and training specific employees as BIs.

Free Research Field

国際経営