Nordea Revisited: The ‘Nordic Idea’ and the Language Policy that Came With It

The financial service company Nordea was formed as a merger of several independent Nordic banks in 2000. Over the years, international business and management scholars have taken a great interest in studying Nordea and its language policy decisions, including the predecessor MeritaNordbanken. This paper is a single case study of present-day Nordea which examines the status of the company’s language policy 15 years after it was first implemented. Based on interview data and written documentation, this ‘revisited’ case finds that Nordea’s previous exposure to language and communication issues has played a key role in the development of the company’s formal language policy as it exists today. The language policy furthermore reflects the company’s economic geography, need for local responsiveness and regulatory compliance, while accommodating employees’ language skills and language needs in relation to global strategic activities, in addition to language policy pressures emanating from the company’s high degree of corporate governance and post-merger corporate culture. The case of Nordea therefore illustrates that language needs may arise from both company-external and company-internal factors.