Title: Foundations of innovativeness in the international arena: foreign language use and creative performance

Authors: Noreen Y.R. Geenen; Katrin Muehlfeld; Diemo Urbig

Addresses: FB IV - Department of Business Administration, Trier University, Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; Rhineland Palatinate Statistical Office, 56130 Bad Ems, Germany ' FB IV - Department of Business Administration, Trier University, Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; Utrecht University School of Economics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands ' Institute of Business and Economics, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany; Institute for Development Strategies, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA

Abstract: Individuals' creativity is a key resource underlying organisations' innovativeness. With workplaces becoming increasingly multilingual, a question of growing relevance concerns whether using a native versus a foreign language affects individuals' creativity. This study integrates research on foreign language in international business and on determinants of individual creativity with cognitive psychological research. Experiments suggest a detrimental effect of foreign versus native language use on creative performance, which is stronger in verbal tasks. Subjectively perceived foreign language proficiency appears to mitigate this negative effect. In tasks framed in figural terms, foreign language use even seems to stimulate creativity compared to a native language setting. This finding implies a potential lever for organisations seeking to stimulate employees' creativity to deliberately use a foreign language context to encourage 'thinking outside the box', particularly when using nonverbal creativity tools. Important implications arise for future research and practice in international management and creativity and innovation management.

Keywords: foreign language use; foreign language proficiency; foreign language anxiety; creativity; creative performance; divergent thinking; innovativeness.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2026.155575

European Journal of International Management, 2026 Vol.30 No.1, pp.80 - 125

Received: 06 Oct 2020
Accepted: 12 Sep 2021
Published online: 06 Aug 2026 *

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