fundamental to our success.

Knowing how to give our customers what they expect

consistently, wherever we operate, regardless of local conditions is our challenge.
13
He sees language study as opening the door to deeper cultural understanding, that
speech patterns, thought patterns, and behavior patterns (for example, of customers)
are interlinked. And, therefore, language study is a link to better understanding
(and interacting with) the customer.
Indeed, the ability to speak two or more languages (a skill held by many Europeans,
for example), is nally being seen as important enough, in at least some American
rms, that some chief executives are even working on learning a second language.
For example, Du Pont chief executive Edgar S. Woolard, Jr, took a crash course in
Japanese and a number of his executive colleagues (at Du Pont and at other rms
such as Eastman Kodak, Citicorp, and General Electric) are also taking cram courses
in second languages. French, German, and Japanese still appear to be the favorites
among Americans attending major language schools, but Spanish probably maintains
a lead in secondary school and university-level language courses and in the number of
Americans that speak it as a second language (and probably second in number of
Americans who speak it as a rst language). In addition, Chinese (particularly
Mandarin) has become more popular as rms send increasing numbers of employees
on assignment to China.
John Reed, former CEO of Citicorp, explains this issue from the perspective of
Citicorp, one of the most successful global banks:
There are few companies in the world that are truly global . . . Our most important
advantage is our globality. Our global human capital may be as important a resource, if not
more important, than our nancial capital. Look at the Policy Committee, the top thirty or
so ofcers in the bank. Almost seventy-ve percent have worked outside the United States;
more than twenty-ve percent have worked in three or more countries. Half speak two or
more languages other than English. Seven were born outside the United States.
14
Training everyone in a common language, usually English, has also become popular,
at least in some rms. Such programs (usually referred to as ESL, English as a
Second Language, or ESOL, English for Speakers of Other Languages, programs) not
only help new employees adapt (in the case of recent immigrants into an English-
speaking country, for example) but also help others do their jobs better and increase
worker loyalty and improve customer relations.
15
To the extent possible, language
lessons should be presented in terms of workplace situations, which enhances the
trainings immediate usefulness.
Another area of primary concern relates to the language of the training itself. Global
enterprises must make difcult decisions about whether to translate training materials
into the languages of the local (foreign) workforces and whether to provide the
training, itself, in the language of the local workforce (either through the use of
local trainers or through translators, if the trainers come from regional or corporate
headquarters training groups and they dont speak the local language). If the
decision is taken to provide the training through translators, then the selection of
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