Business is nothing but relationship between people, but the fact is business is not possible without communication. Communication is a vital aspect of business management; effective communication is a necessity not only for acquiring and retaining customers but also to improve employee engagement and performance. It is impossible to think about business without communication.

Effective communication with customers, suppliers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders has become vital for sustainable development of any kind of business. There are different ways and methods of communication, however; language plays a major role than any other methods. Language is one of the most common elements on earth as it is in heaven as, human beings and heavenly bodies, both according to the Bible and Quran, as we can speak of. Whereas, language, which expresses human’s humanity varies from species to species. Language is not only the most creative but also the most prolific means of communication. This paper examines how language plays an important role in business communication and its impact on business performance. If Language is considered as a key to the heart of a person then communication is the essence of that language. The substance of communication is, therefore, known as information and access to information it is considered very essential for the establishment, survival and growth of any business entity. Therefore, in this economic-driven world flow of information in the right direction is very crucial to entrepreneurs all over the world. According to the words of Crystal (1987) language is having, perhaps, “magical and mystical” and “unique role in capturing the breath of human thought and endeavours”. Many studies on language and its impact on business led to the noteworthy insights into the relationship between languages and thought and confirmed that “language is the vehicle for thought or business ideas”.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Communication is defined as “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviour” (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2005). There are two aspects to communication they are: - written and verbal. It is suggested that competency in verbal communication is highly essential to excel in any managerial position (Shrivastava, 2012). Companies communicate internally and externally. External communication denotes to relationships with the outsider to the organisation; such as investors, customers and suppliers. On the other hand internal communication refers to communication with the employees; and mainly communication that takes place within an organization. It comprises of formal and informal communication. The former refers to letters, memos, and guidelines whereas the later refers to personal relationships and the exchange of ideas, concepts and opinions. Communication can be represented in two forms, verbal and non-verbal (“Different Types of Human Communication”, 2013). Language is nothing but a system of symbols used to communicate. One is able to express feelings, thoughts and ideas through the use of language. According to the Discovery Channel, there are nearly 6,900 languages spoken throughout the world, out of which, the most widely spoken languages in the world are Mandarin, Spanish, English, Arabic and Bengali (“Linguistic Anthropology,” 2011). English is one of the most widely spoken languages, and is considered as the official corporate language in business (Pikhart, 2011). In an another study by (Charles, 2007) Swedish language was employed as the corporate language, employees felt very confident when they spoke only in business terms (using specific terminology); on the other hand, they felt uneasy in acting emphatically in expressing opinions in meetings, business negotiations and while being able to conduct a casual conversations. It was also found that native English speakers are able to articulate their preferences in business negotiations better than the Non-Native English speakers. Business English Lingua Franca is aimed to provide essential business communication vocabulary, which is considered to be a downfall if the language is incorrectly articulated, which can affect not only business negotiations, but also have a negative impact on employees (Sweeney and Zhu, 2010). Rosetta Stone study (2013) in the study titled “Language Means Business” says that 89% of respondents feel that if the employees communicate with the customers in their native languages it helps increase the customer satisfaction and loyalty level. Moreover 96% of respondents felt that in the current business environment, language skills are one of the most important factors for professional success. Different scholars depending on the areas of interest defined Language differently. Moulton (1974) defines language as “a wonderful and rich vehicle for communication”. Language can be used to covey truths and lies, to express wishes and commands, and it impacts on the listener in many ways. In other words, language is seen as the most flexible, ingenious, and productive means of communication. In fact, communication is too ambiguous to be of much use if it is deprived of a certain language (Wallwork, 1969). Like human beings, animals also use certain type of language for communication. For instance, barking and crying for signal of danger and for presence of strange person or things in their territory respectively. Likewise, according to Moulton (1974) human language can be used to communicate an unlimited number of messages. We are living in a world of words. According to a study by University of Arizona most of the people use approximately 20000 words every day to express themselves to the world. Moreover, women’s speak 13,000 more words than man (Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent, 2013).We often interact with our friends, our family and our business associates at different levels. We frequently use different digital media like telephone, television; radio and internet talk one-on-one and one-to-many. Every entrepreneur being a potential job creator, needs, at least, a language that can be local, national or international to run the business smoothly. The need may also arise to learn two or more languages to operate in the business world and make profits, as there is an intense need to introduce yourself, your business and your products/services and have to interact with other businessmen in a highly competitive business market. On the other hand the business will also receive correspondences through mails or letters etc. if one has replied them appropriately. So there is no escape from languages and communication if one has to run his business successfully and smoothly which ultimately makes entrepreneurs to be efficient and effective enough in business communication. In this era of bitter competition, competitive selling strategies like aggressive advertising of the business, products and even people as a successful businessman as vogue. This necessitates expertise in persuasive language to lure the prospective consumers to purchase something what he may not want. According to Deniel (2015), proficiency in language directly affects the companies’ fortunes. in the research report, captioned “The English Margin”, which is based on a survey of managers and directors of international businesses based in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Middle East, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United States articulates that around 88 percent of international companies would consider paying relatively more for a product or service supplied by a company with a high level proficiency on English language. On average, they would be ready to pay nearly 16 percent more for such products or services. This makes the fact clear, how language proficiency plays a vital role in international business scenario. The same research recorded that there is a steep rise of revenue up to 31 precent in a period of five years by only enabling the staffs’ proficiency in English who are directly in contact with the clients, suppliers and customers. On the other hand, a lack of language proficiency costs the business.

According to the words of Peter Burman, President, EF Corporate Solutions “Good English means good business” whereas Andy Bailey, chief marketing officer at EF Corporate Solutions, says “Poor English can erode brand equity, reduce customer loyalty and cut deeply into a company’s profits”. According to The Guardian, UK lost 48bn pounds in 2013 alone because of the deficit of multilingual people. Even more, in US, only 18% of the population was able to speak a second language, according to Forbes (data valid for 2012), If entrepreneurs want to increase the market share and sales, a team of multilingual people is the best solution. Such people will be able to talk with business partners, convince them your business is powerful and deserves attention. Even more, they will know how to address and attract more attention towards your products or services and the need of such people is in demand not only in US but also in India. Language proficiency is a two-way street: you need multilingual people who also speak English. This will improve the level of communication inside and outside the company. To according to Young Upstarts report, language proficiency is not only helpful in customer retention but also helps in Promote a safe work environment. “Entrepreneurs can run businesses more smoothly with the use of foreign languages” (Peh, 2005). According to Stewart, (1973) though speaking and listening skills play important role in business administration, reading, writing and negotiating is also essential. Language proficiency of the service provider helps the customer to obtain the required appropriate information thereby reducing the communication gap. For instance, at a shopping counter a customer who is communicated with a language in which the customer is familiar with, is getting exactly what he/she orders and the likeliness of satisfaction of the customer is increased. On the contrary, if a gap in communication of language creates lots of confusion and dissatisfaction among customers as they wouldn’t exactly get what they want. This problem may seem small, but it can prove to be disastrous if it happens frequently. Ultimately it can be said that “Language creates customers” because language plays an important role in business administration (Barlas et al., 2002; Batt, 2008; Rasouli, M. et al. 2008). Runnakit, (2007) said that “foreign language proficiency plays an important role in making customers feel comfortable about buying products or services”. Furthermore, learning a foreign language allows the learner to understand foreign culture thereby understanding likes and preferences of people and helps in running business smoothly (Voght and Schaub, 1992). The necessity of foreign language is business communication is prominently mentioned by Pine, (2006) and the same thing confirmed by Cook, (2007). Proficiency in foreign language plays a momentous role in business communication (Cline, 1998; Stone, 2009) and has the capability to unlock different and better business opportunities (Mittlesatnds, 2007; New Zealand Herald, 2007; Odlin, 2007). The success of any business depends on the quality of information it has about the customers, competitors and the market in general and all this can only be achieved by knowing the language, understanding the culture and behaviour of the people or the customers where the business is located.

OBJECTIVE:

Following are the objectives of the study

· To know the importance of knowledge of local language (place where the business is located) and multilingual skill for a non-native entrepreneur.

· To find out whether language proficiency of the entrepreneurs has any impact on their business operation.

HYPOTHESIS:

H₀₁:

There is no significant positive impact of language proficiency of entrepreneurs on their business operation.

METHODOLOGY:

The study is conducted in Vijayawada city. The samples taken for the study are mainly small and medium entrepreneurs and only entrepreneurs who are non Telugu and native of states other than Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. The samples are chosen using judgemental random sampling method. A structured questionnaire is used for the study contains only closed ended questions. The entrepreneurs were visited personally for collecting the data. Out of 200 entrepreneurs only 189 responded and out of those only 184 responses were found valid and complete. The data so collected is analyzed using statistical tool like binary logistic regression analysis. The dependent variables of the study are Impact on Business which includes questions relating to ease of business communication, improvement in the operational efficiency and the like. This variable is categorized in to a two categories (Yes/No) using a score card consisting of few questions in dichotomous form. A cut-off score is setup and the variable is categorized according to that. The independent variables are the language proficiency of the entrepreneur.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

Table-1: Case Processing Summary

Unweighted Cases^a		N	Percent
Selected Cases	Included in Analysis	184	100.0
	Missing Cases	0	.0
	Total	184	100.0
Unselected Cases		0	.0
Total		184	100.0
a. If weight is in effect, see classification table for the total number of cases.

Table-1 represents the total number of samples taken for the study and total number of missing cases in the analysis which is zero.

Table-2 Classification Table^a,b

Observed			Predicted
			Positive Impact on business		Percentage Correct
			No	Yes
Step 0	Positive Impact on business	No	0	74	0.0
		Yes	0	110	100.0
	Overall Percentage				59.8
a. Constant is included in the model.
b. The cut value is .500

Table-2 which is the classification table of beginning block stage, presents the results when the predictor ‘proficiency in telugu’ included and the classification table represents how the classification error rate has changed from the original 59.8% to 70.10%. Now we can predict the variable with 70.1% accuracy (see Table-6).

Table-3: Omnibus Tests of Model Coefficients

		Chi-square	df	Sig.
Step 1	Step	33.530	3	.000
	Block	33.530	3	.000
	Model	33.530	3	.000

Table -3 shows the model chi-square with three degrees of freedom, the chi-square value of 33.530 and a p-value less than 0.001 indicates that the model has a poor fit, with the model containing only the constant indicating the predictor to have a significant effect and create essentially a different model. So we need to look closely at the predictor and from later tables.

Table-4: Model Summary

Step	-2 Log likelihood	Cox and Snell R Square	Nagelkerke R Square
1	214.459^a	0.167	0.225
a. Estimation terminated at iteration number 5 because parameter estimates changed by less than .001.

Table-4 represents the Model Summary. As there is no close analogous statistic in logistic regression to R², the Model Summary Table provides some approximations only. Cox and Snell’s R-Square efforts to replicate multiple R² based on ‘likelihood’, but its maximum value can be (and usually is) less than 1.0, making it very difficult to interpret. Here in our case we can that 16.7% of the variation in the dependent variable is explained by the logistic model. The Nagelkerke modification that range from 0 to 1 is more reliable to measure the relationship. As a rule of thumb Nagelkerke’s R² usually be higher than the Cox and Snell measure indicating a moderately strong relationship of 22.5% between the predictor and the prediction.

Table-5: Hosmer and Lemeshow Test

Step	Chi-square	df	Sig.
1	3.313	2	.191

Table-5 shows the Hosmer and Lemeshow statistic assumes sampling adequacy, have a p value greater than 0.05. Hosmer and Lemeshow statistic has a significance of 0.191 indicating not statistically significant and lets us accept the null hypothesis that there is no difference between observed and model-predicted values, suggesting that the model’s estimates fit the data at an acceptable level. In other words, a well-fitting model shows non-significance on the Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. This anticipated outcome of non-significance indicates that the model prediction doesn’t significantly differ from the observed.

Table-6: Classification Table^a

Observed			Predicted
			Impact on business		Percentage Correct
			No	Yes
Step 1	Positive Impact on Business	No	43	31	58.1
		Yes	24	86	78.2
	Overall Percentage				70.1
a. The cut value is .500

The Table-6 shows the classification table of stage-2 (according to SPSS output), 78.2% were correctly classified for the impact on business ‘Yes’ group and 58.1% for the ‘No’ group. Overall 70.1% were correctly classified. This is a substantial improvement over 59.8% according to Table-2 representing the correct classification with the constant model. So here the model with predictors is a significantly better model.

Table-7 the Variables in the Equation output gives the value Exp(B) called the odds ratio. The Wald statistic provides an index of the significance of each predictor in the equation. The Wald statistic has a chi-square distribution with one degrees of freedom. The Wald statistic is significant if p value less than .05 and thus rejects the null hypothesis as the variable does make a significant contribution. Thus allowing us to say that Proficiency in Telugu contributed significantly to the prediction (p < 0.001). The column Exp(B) in the table represents the extent to which raising the corresponding measure by one unit influences the odds ratio i.e. Exp(B). As a rule of thumb if the value exceeds one then the odds of an outcome occurring increase; on the contrary, if the value is less than one, an increase in the predictor leads to a drop in the odds of the outcome. Here the Exp(B) value associated with proficiency in Telugu is 2.992(≈3). Hence we can say that if proficiency in Telugu of the entrepreneurs is raised by one unit the odds ratio is nearly 3 times as large means it is 3 times more likely to belong to the Positive Impact on Business group.

FINDINGS:

The findings of the study reveal that there is a significant positive impact of language proficiency of entrepreneurs on their business performance. This is supported by the logistic regression indicating that the predictors as a set, reliably distinguished between the existence and non-existence of a positive impact of language proficiency on business (chi square = 33.530, p < .001 with df = 3). Nagelkerke’s R² of .225 indicated a moderately strong relationship between prediction and grouping with an overall prediction success of 70.1% (78.2% for ‘Yes’ and 58.1% for ‘No’). The Wald statistic demonstrated that Proficiency in Telugu has a significant influence on prediction i.e. business operation. The value under Exp(B) indicates that when language proficiency is raised by one unit it is three more times likely to impact business performance positively.

LIMITATIONS:

The limitations of the study are as follows,

· The study is confined to small and medium business owners irrespective of the kind of business they are in.

· The study is limited to Vijayawada city only.

· The entrepreneurs surveyed are chosen without taking the time in business into consideration.

· The impact of other factors which influence the business operation is not taken in to consideration.

· The entrepreneurs chosen for the study are not categorized according to the states/ regions they belong.

· The same study can be done as an experimental research by taking some entrepreneurs and observing their business operation when they not proficient in some local language and after attaining proficiency.

· The Language proficiency of the entrepreneurs are not examined by means of any test (experimental setup) and the proficiency is represented in non-parametric form for the data analysis. If the language proficiency of the entrepreneurs are studied parametrically then the results so derived would be more reliable.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER STUDY:

The same study can be further extended to different cities to get more reliable result. Further the survey can be carried out with large entrepreneurs in different cities, because in case of large entrepreneurs the enterprise setup is different and the involvement of the entrepreneur in communication with local people is less than that of small and medium size entrepreneurs. This difference is likely to give different outcome.

CONCLUSION:

The importance of language, communication and flow of information are no longer uncertain. Thus language proficiency needs to be understood as an essential tool that drive or propel our business activities within and around any organization or entrepreneurial venture. Hence in has become a regular practice in the case of every Business entity all over the world, to take the advantage language proficiency as a tool of communication to achieve organizational goals. The study finding is very much agrees with the literature review allowing us to conclude that language proficiency is a vital skill of an entrepreneur which helps not only improving their business performance but also creates a sense of belongingness between the service provider and customer particularly in Indian context.

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Received on 08.03.2017 Modified on 18.04.2017

Asian J. Management; 2017; 8(3):485-490.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2017.00078.6

		B	S.E.	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)	95% C.I. for EXP(B)
								Lower	Upper
Step 1^a	Proficiency in Telugu	1.096	.220	24.927	1	.000	2.992	1.946	4.601
	Constant	-2.586	.609	18.004	1	.000	.075
a. Variable(s) entered on step 1: proficiency in telugu.