Guro Sanden, Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School, researches language in business.
For over 12 years, Guro has been examining the role of language and communication in multinational corporations, and the relationship between national language policies and corporate law.
Guro’s research has been published in top international journals such as Applied Linguistics, European Journal of International Management, and Nordic Journal of Linguistics, and she is a sought-after speaker who has presented her research at more than 50 conferences worldwide.
Guro’s research emphasizes the societal context in which company-specific language policies are implemented. At the same time, by drawing on real life case companies, her findings provide insights into pressing issues of linguistic diversity in corporate communication.
Guro has spoken at conferences worldwide, including conferences held in less common locations like Siberia and South Africa. Read more about the topics she can lecture about and opportunities for collaboration.
Storytelling: How to use storytelling techniques to persuade your audience
Storytelling is the act of telling a story. It involves recounting specific actions, occurrences, or events through textual or artistic forms. While storytelling can be used as a presentation technique in a wide variety of contexts, the focus of this talk is on corporate storytelling, which is the process of developing and delivering an organization’s message through the use of narration. Corporate storytelling has been proven to be a useful method of communication due to its entertainment value which has the potential to engage audiences coming from many different backgrounds. In this talk, you will learn more about why storytelling works, and how organizations can develop impactful stories that persuade their audiences.
The power of language: Challenges for international business
Ever since the invention of language, its use has been associated with power, prestige, ability to obtain and act on knowledge, negotiations over status, reputation and identity. In essence, the evolution of language is a story of power. This talk focuses on power struggles around language use in multilingual organizations, particularly multinational corporations. By drawing on theory and empirical evidence from existing language-sensitive research in international business and management, the talk examines the power of language, and the ways in which language can be misused in organizational contexts. Based on the publication “Ten reason why corporate language policies can create more problems than they solve” (Sanden, 2020), we shed light on critical language policy challenges faced in international business and management.
Language management: How to manage multilingualism in the workplace
As businesses expand internationally, the challenge of managing linguistic diversity within the workplace becomes increasingly significant. This talk examines the strategic importance of efficient language management in multinational corporations and multilingual organizations. Adopting appropriate language management tools is crucial in addressing both existing and future language needs. Practical insights will be shared on how these tools should be supportive for employees, enhancing their daily communication and operations rather than hindering them. This talk will provide valuable perspectives for optimizing language management to turn linguistic diversity into a strategic asset in the global business environment.