@article{FleischmannFolterAritz2020, author = {Fleischmann, Carolin and Folter, Laura-Christiane and Aritz, Jolanta}, title = {The Impact of Perceived Foreign Language Proficiency on Hybrid Team Culture}, series = {International Journal of Business Communication}, volume = {57}, journal = {International Journal of Business Communication}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1177/2329488417710440}, pages = {497 -- 516}, year = {2020}, abstract = {This study examines the impact of perceived foreign language proficiency on hybrid culture building in multicultural teams. Hybrid culture includes a mutually shared set of norms, communication patterns, problem-solving approaches, and synergistic task coordination that result from the diverse cultural backgrounds of the team members. Language is the main vehicle for communication and plays a major role in social interaction and therefore hybrid culture building. We argue that the level of perceived language proficiency of multicultural team members influences hybrid culture building; consequently, adequate language skills lead not only to an efficient task solution but are also an important factor in creating interpersonal relationships and building a shared culture. Our empirical analysis supports the positive influence of language proficiency in hybrid teams; however, foreign language proficiency is more influential on cognitively oriented areas of multicultural teamwork than on affective ones.}, language = {en} }