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

Guro Refsum Sanden

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Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2015
Number of pages32
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event9th International GEM&L Workshop: Language in Global Management and Business: Theoretical, Methodological and Empirical Advances - Aalto University, School of Business, Helsinki, Finland
Duration: 10 Jun 201512 Jun 2015
Conference number: 9
http://geml.eu/en/call-for-papers-2015/

Workshop

Workshop9th International GEM&L Workshop
Number9
LocationAalto University, School of Business
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityHelsinki
Period10/06/201512/06/2015
Internet address

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