The Linguistic Construction of Corporate Identity in International Business Communication

Over the years companies have become increasingly aware of the importance of developing and managing a distinct and recognizable corporate identity which, in turn, has to be conveyed to all their stakeholders. Corporate communication functions according to the same mechanisms which apply to interpersonal communication between individuals. A sender, (the company), is supposed to codify a message which will be transferred to an intended receiver. If the company’s message (or in the present study, ‘identity) is clearly perceived by its stakeholders, it will become an essential strategic instrument, differentiating the company within its competitive environment. Nowadays, more and more companies choose English as the lingua franca for corporate communication instead of the headquarters’ language, and use it to convey corporate identity to their multiple stakeholders. The present analysis focuses on a corpus of texts, retrieved from the on-line news archive of an internationally operating company which has chosen English as the lingua franca for corporate communication. This study will argue that, since language is not a neutral vehicle and has far reaching implications on human perceptions, the analysis of the corporate lingua franca can prove particularly meaningful for the purpose of investigating corporate identity and its impact on the intended stakeholders.