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The Competitive Advantage of Foreign Languages and Cultural Knowledge
Author(s) -
Grosse Christine Uber
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.00234.x
Subject(s) - graduation (instrument) , foreign language , competitive advantage , value (mathematics) , international business , work (physics) , psychology , sociology , pedagogy , medical education , business , political science , marketing , medicine , engineering , computer science , mechanical engineering , machine learning , law
This study presents the results of an electronic survey of 2,500 randomly selected alumni from the graduating classes of 1970 through 2002 of Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. Of the 2,500 alumni, 581 responded. Thunderbird required a minimum of 4 semesters of foreign language for graduation. The survey concerned whether or not the alumni had received a competitive advantage in their careers from their foreign language skills and cultural knowledge. The vast majority of the respondents acknowledged that both foreign language skills and cultural knowledge had benefited them in their professional lives. Slightly more of them reported receiving an edge from their cultural skills (89%) than from their foreign language abilities (82%). The research results provide empirical data on how members of the U.S. and international business communities perceive the value of foreign language and cultural knowledge to their work.