When can resistance to a standardization policy result in destandardization? The case of corporate language implementation
通过两年追踪一家丹麦企业推行英语作为公司语言的过程，发现员工因能力或岗位要求与政策不匹配而抵制，并利用外部要求与政策间的差异来合法化对政策的重新解释，最终导致语言去标准化。
The implementation of corporate language policies is widely regarded as a strategy for improving communication and coordination across globally dispersed organizations. However, employees who experience a mismatch between the corporate language and their competencies or job requirements may resist the policy or attempt to change it, as documented in existing language-sensitive international business research. Nevertheless, the long-term effects of resistance against a language policy initiative have yet to be explored. We applied a two-year qualitative study following the top management’s decision to use English as a corporate language in a Danish organization. Results showed that discrepancies between external job requirements and policy directions were used by employees as a source of power to legitimize reinterpretations of the policy leading to a language destandardization process with important consequences for the organization. These findings contribute to literature on language policy implementations by describing how negotiated reactions change the practice of a policy.