82 European J. International Management, Vol. 12, Nos. 1/2, 2018 Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. ‘It crosses all the boundaries’: hybrid language use as empowering resource Claudine Gaibrois Research Institute for Organizational Psychology, University of St. Gallen, Girtannerstrasse 6, CH-9010 St. Gallen, Switzerland Email: claudine.gaibrois@unisg.ch Abstract: This study contributes to language-sensitive International Business research by examining forms of language use other than monolingual conversations in national languages. It focuses on hybrid languages that are derived from heterogeneous language sources. Based on modern linguistic research, the study conceptualises multilingualism as joint mobilisation of linguistic resources. Adopting a discursive approach, it empirically investigates the positive and negative effects of hybrid language use for individuals and teams in two companies in Switzerland. The findings show that users of hybrid language are positioned as being able to exchange information more effectively, feeling more comfortable in interactions as well as having more possibilities to express voice and participate. At the same time, hybrid language use is described as having limiting effects in certain contexts. The study therefore suggests to integrate hybrid languages in definitions of individual and organisational language capital, and to strategically address it on the top management and human resources management level. Keywords: multilingual organisations; hybrid language use; multilingualism as joint linguistic resources mobilisation; linguistic research; participation; expressing voice; improved communication; efficiency; information exchange; knowledge transfer; individual and organisational language capital; translingual communicative competence; discursive study; Switzerland. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Gaibrois, C. (2018) ‘“It crosses all the boundaries”: hybrid language use as empowering resource’, European J. International Management, Vol. 12, Nos. 1/2, pp.82–110. Biographical notes: Claudine Gaibrois is a Lecturer in Culture, Society and Language at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and an External Lecturer on Managing Multilingual Companies at St. Gallen University and at EM Strasbourg Business School. She received her PhD from St. Gallen University for her thesis on the discursive construction of power relations in multilingual organisations. Her research interests include linguistic and cultural diversity, communication in organisational contexts, intercultural communication and power relations. This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Turning away from national languages: How hybrid forms of language use affect communication in multilingual organizations’ presented at the ‘10th International GEM&L (Groupe d’Études Management et Langage) Conference’, Paris, 17–18 March 2016.