"I am Associate Professor at EM Strasbourg – University of Strasbourg, France and member of the Research Lab Humanis. I teach and conduct research in the field of intercultural management, linguistic diversity and expatriates’ adjustment. I started my career in human resources in an international audit and advisory firm in Luxembourg and Berlin where I recruited and managed international mobility. I experienced the crucial role of language for business encounters in this Multinational Company.
This sensitivity to language issues naturally leads me to join the board of the GEM&L (Groupe d’Etudes en Management et Langage). With the GEM&L we advocate for the importance of language within international business contexts, we encourage interdisciplinary exchanges between international business and language to understand multilingual practices in business contexts. I am member of the GRETI (Groupement de Recherches Transfrontalières et Interdisciplinaires), a stimulating interdisciplinary research team focusing on multilingualism in cross-border contexts.
This year we have the pleasure to welcome the annual GEM&L colloquium at EM Strasbourg from 4 to 6 May 2020 on “Global working and language: towards an understanding between global-local interplay”. Strasbourg is the ideal place to discuss global working, language and global local interplay, located in France at the German border and hosting European institutions. The University of Strasbourg as well is a laboratory for the development of European programmes between France, Germany and Switzerland like with the program EUCOR."
"My name is Philippe Lecomte, president and founder of the GEM&L (Groupe d’Etudes en Management et Langage). GEM&L is a scientific association of professors, scholars and professionals focused on issues of language and communication in the world of business and organizations. As an interdisciplinary endeavor, GEM&L brings together academics from various fields including linguistics, communications, and management sciences as well as consultants, trainers, and managers working in multilingual contexts. GEM&L is member of the EFMD (European Fondation for Management Development and of the FNEGE (French Foundation for Management Education). GEM&L aims to strengthen the connections between research, education and the professional world in a way that informs management education in today’s academic institutions.
I have been Associate Professor at Toulouse Business School (TBS), France, for over 30 years. I was head of the Language Department of TBS and co-director of the Major in International Management at TBS. I have co-edited two special issues on language and management in leading international management journals and more recently a book on "Understanding multilingual workplaces: empirical, methodological and pedagogic persepectives". My current research interest is on language in international business and management education."