Recensione del volume Intercultural and International Business Communication. Theory, Research and Teaching. 2nd printing di Juan Carlos Palmer-Silveira, Miguel F. Ruiz-Garrido e Inmaculada Fortanet-Gómez, eds.

This volume, edited by Juan Carlos Palmer-Silveira, Miguel F. Ruiz-Garrido and Immaculada Fortanet-Gómez, contributes to the ongoing debate concerning the multifaceted relation between business and communication. The editors introduce the volume by listing the viewpoints adopted in the publication as a whole. First, they clarify that their conception of English stems from a Lingua Franca research perspective, while still underlining lights and shades of the worldwide use of English – from competence gap to colonial heritage. They also specify that intercultural and international business communication are the main concern of the essays collected in this volume. The importance of including the cultural factor lays in the fact that cultural boundaries do not necessarily coincide with national boundaries, so the authors’ aim is “to get an overview of the relations established both between cultures and nationalities” (11). Another crucial premise to the volume is the interdisciplinary approach required in the field, integrating linguistics with sociology, economics and business organisation. In fact, not only does a complete perspective require several points of view, but communication may also have a significant impact of the overall company performance.