Foreign language management in Lazio SMES.

This paper investigates the foreign language management strategies ofsmall- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lazio, Italy. Based on empirical datafrom a questionnaire survey and ethnographic interviews, it also aims to validate thehypothesis that macro-level language planning (on a national scale) may not reflectlanguage problems occurring in the micro-dimension of a company or region, givingrise to discrepancies in the language education system. Using this approach, I haveattempted to build on the Language Management Theory framework proposed byJ. Nekvapil and M. Nekula [Current Issues in Language Planning,7(2&3):302–327,2006] in their study of Czech multinationals. There will be a high price to pay forcompanies that fail to have the linguistic competence to play a full part in a competitiveglobal market increasingly centred on English as the lingua franca as well as onmultilingual communication. This leads to the need to carefully observe therelationship between macro- and micro-level language planning and reconsidernational education policies.