Intercultural Communication and Translation News

A true story: when a US telecoms giant decided to replace its manager in Thailand several years ago, it chose an ABC - American-born Chinese - in the belief he would be more culturally attuned to doing business in Asia.

He was not shy about telling his colleagues how to behave and one evening berated a couple of European rivals who had been caught engaged in financial shenanigans.

They decided to play a joke on the new arrival. They told their driver to follow him and tell him he was going to be killed. A crude jest, but the young manager was panicked into ringing his head office saying his life was in danger.

The head office told him to stay calm, stick to the business district and take precautions.

What they did not tell him was that they had hired a security firm that uses ex-CIA agents - at some considerable cost - to watch his back.

When the security outfit made its report to the conglomerate a week or so later, it turned out the first-time-in-Asia manager was doing lots of cultural homework - spending every night in at least one bordello. His career wilted.

The conglomerate had made a mistake. The manager may have been competent, but - appearances notwithstanding - showed no special talent or experience for operating in Asia.

Read more > FT.com

Google looks set to launch a beta test of a document translation service, a new move in the company’s efforts to break down language barriers.

With the service, the company will connect people who need documents translated with humans who will be paid to do so, according to the Google Translation Center information page. The site was spotted by sharp eyes at the Google Blogoscoped blog.

“Google Translation Center is the fast and easy way to get translations for your content. Simply upload your document, choose your translation language, and choose from our registry of professional and volunteer translators. If a translator accepts, you should receive your translated content back as soon as it’s ready,” the site said.

Google prefers to rely on computer algorithms rather than humans, so at first glance the Google Translation Center looks somewhat anomalous, even though Google is only playing a middleman role. But it’s possible that the human translators might be gradually improving Google’s machine translation technology as they work, in effect helping to put themselves out of a job.

Read more > Google

Commerce has historically been a force for cultural cross-pollination. From Marco Polo’s tales of the Chinese court to the CocaColanisation of the world by American exporters, the flow of trade has promoted cultural insight and understanding between the people of the world.

Today business is more international than ever before, with not only goods but business processes and IT systems effortlessly crossing national and continental borders.

But the globalisation seen in the past two decades has been so rapid and on such a scale that the concomitant cultural familiarisation has been unable to keep pace. While technological developments have overcome the geographical distances between workers on different sides of the planet, in many cases the cultural distance is still pronounced.

And that has a genuine impact on performance. Not only is a lot of communication lost if the subtleties of intonation and reference in speech are not understood, it is also nigh-on impossible to manage individuals without understanding their attitudes towards work, towards each other and towards their managers.

Read more > Outsourcing

The level of globalisation seen in the last 20 years is not going to go away. Companies need to operate worldwide businesses, and they will continue to do so. Because so many multinational companies receive substantial revenues outside their home country, they cannot withdraw their current management, operations and resources without huge consequences. Substantial planning and structural changes are necessary before such decisions can be made.

In the short term, some companies might retrench and repatriate their people early. But with the current economic downturn, there may be no job opportunities back home! Other companies may choose to move their people out of ‘risky’ areas and relocate them to perceptibly ’safer havens’.

Twenty years ago employees were expatriated primarily to export their knowledge and skills to other countries. In today’s environment, fewer expatriates are needed because companies have built up capabilities in production, marketing, technology, and management, to serve a global network which no longer has a specific home location.

As a result, the number of expatriates represents the core number of employees needed to support globalisation on a worldwide basis. Terrorist threats will not change the need for the development, exchange, and placement of key personnel globally.

The argument for increased intercultural understanding has never been greater. Working successfully in/or managing multicultural teams is a growing focus, along with long-distance management and effective communication strategies.

Read more > Expatica

Regional Language Network (RLN) London has launched a toolkit to share motivating activities and ideas with businesses and schools interested in working in partnership to encourage language learning.

The toolkit includes samples of activities carried out by recognised Business Language Champions, together with supporting materials and advice which can help in building long-term partnerships between schools and businesses.

The toolkit is the latest addition to the Business Languages Champions programme, which highlights the value of language skills in the workplace for young people. The programme recently earned praise from Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who invited a group of pupils and teachers from Hornsey School for Girls in North London to meet with him to share their experience of working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Business Language Champions organiser, Pinky Sidhu, said ‘With our toolkit and future activities we expect to inspire and motivate more and more partners to get involved and make a difference.

Read more > CILT