Webinar#3 – Heterogeneity within Homogeneity: Language Diversity, Identity and Clustering

For the 3rd GEM&L webinar on language in international business, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Komal Kalra from University of Victoria, Canada.

February 25, 2021, 3pm GMT | 4pm CET| 10 am EST

Komal Kalra received her Master’s in Management from IE Business School, Spain and PhD in International Management and Organization from Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria, Canada and would be joining the Newcastle University Business School, UK as a Lecturer in International Management in 2021. She was the winner of the 2020 Academy of International Business Alan M. Rugman Young Scholar Award. Her research focuses on issues related to language in International Business, multicultural and multilingual teams, and gender diversity, especially in emerging economies. In her doctoral dissertation, Komal employed social identity theory and communication accommodation theory to analyze the impact of within country language diversity on the emergence of linguistic clusters and the implementation of on-the-job training programs. One of the key findings highlights that language diversity and linguistic identity seldom operate in isolation, they often intersect with other attributes of social identity such as gender, education, and regional dialects to influence the emergence of clusters. In this webinar, she will share the findings of her dissertation and discuss why some of the key assumptions related to social identity theory and communication accommodation did not hold true in the Indian context. Komal is a member of the GEM&L scientific committee and board of directors.