ABSTRACT
International alliances have to cope with divergent communication schemes that can cause misunderstandings. Previous research has stressed that misunderstandings have dysfunctional effects in international alliances. However, a part of linguistics points out that misunderstanding is a common phenomenon of a communication process that leads to a shared understanding. That is why this paper takes a closer look on the effects of divergent communication schemes in international alliances. We develop a conceptual framework that explains under which contextual factors divergent communication schemes lead to dysfunctional and beneficial effects.
Keywords
communication schemes, joint sensemaking, misunderstanding