Knowledge management, agile management, and the use of foreign languages—A theoretical analysis illustrated with the cases of Russia and Portugal

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the link between knowledge management and the use of foreign languages. In a globalized world, the mastery of foreign languages is a factor of business creation and business success. Of course, not all the national languages have the same international importance, and this is a double-edge relation. In this context, we relate foreign languages, business, KM, productivity, and agile business. After a theoretical analysis, we address two different countries—Portugal and Russia. We conclude that investment in foreign languages is higher in Portugal than in Russia, probably due to the fact that Russia still sees itself as a superpower, whereas Portugal, (even if Portuguese is a language spoken worldwide), sees itself as a European Union member. As a consequence, and particularly in the last decade, Portugal has become more international (business is done in Portuguese, English, French, or Spanish), whereas in Russia, the language is still seen as a big barrier to entry. In accordance with this situation, Portugal saw its level of knowledge-related activities to grow more than Russia. This increase in turn led to a higher increase in economic and social standards and a higher increase in the level of agile related activities. These results mean that even when a country has as large a continental dimension, as Russia, it is useful to become global in linguistic terms.