Communication Accommodation and Organizational Legitimacy of Former Colonial Firms in the Sovereign Country

Attaining organizational legitimacy in a host environment can mitigate the liability of foreignness. Research has examined many factors that affect legitimacy; however, the role of language has remained unexplored. Corporate language reflects the language environment in a firm’s home environment, but its use may converge/diverge with a host environment’s language. We view corporate language as an important component in determining a firm’s legitimacy in a host environment. In this light, our paper examines the influence of language convergence on former colonial firms’ legitimacy in the sovereign country. We premise our core arguments on communication accommodation theory in sociolinguistics. In addition, we posit that organizational identity affects a firm’s likelihood of accommodating its language, and organizational image influences the relationship between communication accommodation and organizational legitimacy.