Harvard University’s Tsedai Neeley, assistant professor in Organizational Behavior, says multinational companies are making English their first language – Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Fast Retailing, Nokia, Renault, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft in Beijing, to name a few – in order to improve communication and performance across far-flung global operations.

Neely says that adopting a global language policy isn't easy - and employees aren't always happy about the new demands on their performance. Like it or not, however, English is the new lingua franca. To survive and thrive in a tough global economy, corporate employees need a common language. 

Neely discusses an adoption framework she’s developed to help international companies create “English-only” policies.

Read the Harvard Business Review article...