A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Zum Deutschbedarf in finnischen Unternehmen: Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der LangBuCom-Studie
Authors: Margit Breckle, Joachim Schlabach
Editors: Mia Raitaniemi, Hanna Acke, Irmeli Helin, Joachim Schlabach, Christopher Schmidt, Doris Wagner, Jana Zichel-Wessalowski
Conference name: Finnische Germanistentagung
Publishing place: Berlin
Publication year: 2019
Journal: Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik
Book title : Die vielen Gesichter der Germanistik: Finnische Germanistentagung 2017
Series title: Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik
Volume: 37
First page : 15
Last page: 30
Number of pages: 16
ISBN: 978-3-631-76382-7
eISBN: 978-3-631-77777-0
ISSN: 1436-6169
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3726/b15195
Web address : https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/68173?tab=toc&result=1&rskey=ket7Ot
This paper addresses language needs and use in Finnish companies from the perspective of internationalization. It presents the selected results of a survey, which was carried out within the research project LangBuCom. The questionnaire was answered by 272 employees who have business contacts with German-speaking partners. The paper focuses on the requirements in terms of languages and communication that the respondents need to meet in their workplace. It considers the possibilities and challenges concerning contacts with partners in German-speaking countries, the importance of German in business contexts and those factors which promote efficient communication in international business communication. The study shows that most of the respondents have language skills in five or more languages. The respondents see both the possibilities and the challenges in their communication with partners in German-speaking countries and they perceive that the importance of German will increase. They also name several key factors for efficient communication.