Language Barriers Blamed for Miscues

跨國公司高管認(rèn)為語言障礙導(dǎo)致重大損失

Nearly half the executives at global companies believe language barriers have spoiled cross-border deals and caused financial losses for companies, says a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, a business research unit of Economist Group, the Economist magazine's parent.

The report, sponsored by language-training company EF Education First, was based on a poll of 572 senior executives world-wide.

Executives at companies based in Brazil and China said they were most affected by misunderstandings, with 74% and 61%, respectively, reporting financial losses as a result of failed international deals.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that misfires in their internal cross-border communications resulted in lost productivity. Among Brazilian managers, the figure jumped to 77%.

To improve communications, many global companies are trying to adopt English as an official language. A multilingual approach 'is inefficient and can prevent important interactions from taking place and get in the way of achieving key goals,' Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley wrote in this month's Harvard Business Review

經(jīng)濟學(xué)人信息部(Economist Intelligence Unit)的一篇報告說，近半數(shù)跨國公司的高管相信，語言障礙曾讓跨境交易流產(chǎn)，給公司帶來經(jīng)濟損失。經(jīng)濟學(xué)人信息部是《經(jīng)濟學(xué)人》(Economist)雜志母公司經(jīng)濟學(xué)人集團(Economist Group)旗下的商業(yè)研究機構(gòu)。

該報告的委托方是語言培訓(xùn)公司英孚教育(EF Education First)，以對全世界572名高管的調(diào)查為基礎(chǔ)撰寫而成。

駐巴西和中國公司的高管受誤會的影響最大，這些人中分別有74%的人和61%的人表示曾因跨境交易不成功而蒙受財務(wù)損失。

接近三分之二的受訪者表示內(nèi)部跨境溝通不暢造成效率低下。在巴西的經(jīng)理人當(dāng)中，這個數(shù)字上升到了77%。

為改善交流，很多跨國公司都在努力采用英語作為工作語言。哈佛大學(xué)商學(xué)院(Harvard Business School)教授尼利(Tsedal Neeley)在本期《哈佛商業(yè)評論》(Harvard Business Review)上撰文說，采用多種語言會降低效率，可能使重要的互動無法進(jìn)行，并阻礙關(guān)鍵目標(biāo)的實現(xiàn)。