Intercultural Communication and Translation News

The use of information technology within human resource (HR) management has increased greatly during recent years, with most organisations now using technology to some extent in their management of HR.

Some believe that HR practitioners have become more focused on adding strategic value within an organisation and becoming a business partner to line managers. A number of authors have suggested that technology may be used within HR to facilitate this shift in the role of the HR function, including Edward Lawler and Susan Mohrman in their 2003 Human Resource Planning article, ‘HR as a Strategic Partner: What Does it Take to Make it Happen,’ and Samir Shrivastava and James Shaw in their 2003 Human Resource Management article, ‘Liberating HR through Technology.’ However, HR functions also have been under pressure to reduce costs and make efficiency savings, sometimes achieved by outsourcing parts of the function, but often through streamlining the transactional aspects of the work by means of call centres, self-service, and a greater use of new technology.

Read more> Expatica 

Just getting set up in your new French office? Nerve-wracking, isn’t it? Here are some tips from Expatica’s Culture Coach Nathalie Kleinschmit to make sure you get off to a good start and read the signals correctly in your new environment.

Let’s see if you recognise yourself in Jason’s tale of his stay at his multinational company’s head office in Paris:

“When I got to the front desk, they told me I had to wait because they hadn’t received my badge yet. Twenty minutes went by before my manager arrived to authorize my entrance. He then walked me to my new office and and told me that a meeting was scheduled with the team at 3pm that afternoon and that, until then, I could read through the files.

I had my own laptop but couldn’t get the Internet connection to work. For the next few hours, I could see people walking by peering into my office but not a single person came in to introduce themselves to me. I went to get a coffee and discovered that the machine wasn’t coin-operated and that I needed a card. For lunch, I had already eaten in the cafeteria on previous trips and had a voucher so I was able to get a platter together. But I remember feeling quite alone and wondering if I was ever going to fit in.

Read more > Expatica

With all the attention given to the Middle East today, it is important that the Western public receives a complete picture in order that their opinions and sentiment toward Arabs and their homeland’s is a responsible one. Much of the history of these countries is left unacknowledged, untaught, and for the most part, completely unspoken. One country in particular, Saudi Arabia, is clouded by mystery and stereotypes regarding the Islamic faith that its population holds. Aramco Brats’ Story is a feature length documentary film depicting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as seen through the eyes of the Western expatriate children who grew up there between 1933 and present day. Aramco Brats were the children of expatriate workers who were employed by Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company) and who spent their childhoods within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The film is an amazing depiction of Saudi Arabia, Arabs, and Islam narrated by nearly 100 average Western citizens of all faiths, who choose not to concentrate on religion, but rather look at the other cultural aspects that many overlook when unfairly judging these people and their nations.

Beginning with the History of Saudi Arabia and its first monarch, King Abdullah Aziz Ibn Saud, The Aramco Brats’ Story mixes old and new media with the stories and commentary of average Western citizens to explore such topics as: Desert Storm, the Royal Family, the discovery of Oil in 1937, expatriate life within the region and the Western Media’s portrayal of Arabs and Islam. Throughout the film, the audience comes to realize that the reporting they have witnessed, the small vignettes of footage they have seen, and the rumors they have heard are not indicative of the overall Arab culture. One of the most interesting facets of the film is found in the understanding these interviewees carry regarding the acclimation of the Islamic world into the new millennium’s Global Village. This privileged group of children and adults have, in their own way, inadvertently developed a Third Culture without denial of religion, race, color, or creed that is representative of the future earth culture, with a goal that is nothing shy of world peace.

The Aramco Brats’ Story is one in the first of a series of films that will, without a doubt change the world. If you’ve ever held an opinion about the events of this day and age, or wanted to know more about the Arab world, this film is a must see. You will leave inspired, humbled, and enlightened.

Visit the Website > ARAMCO Brat’s Story

The North American Free Trade Agreement (Weintraub, 2004) and lower labour costs in Mexico have caused many US companies to move their operations south of the border.  While the majority of the workers in the US-owned plants are Mexican, some of the employees are US workers on temporary expat assignments.

While not randomly selected from a large pool of expat workers, my ten interviewees did hold a variety of jobs.  Several of them were managers and engineers.  Others in the group included a US Air Force officer, an HR representative, a Director of Research and Development, and a missionary.  Two were female and eight were male.  For the vast majority of the group this was their first expat assignment and they considered the assignment a means of advancing their careers and providing their families with a rich cultural experience.  Half of the workers said that they would be interested in doing another expat assignment in the future.

Read more: Expatica 

In the book, “The World is Flat,” By Thomas L. Friedman, the author famously writes, “‘Honey,’ I confided, ‘I think the world is flat.’”

With the onslaught of rapid globalisation, high-quality executive mobility has become more critical than ever for the success of many US companies. Nevertheless, many companies continue to struggle to make their international assignments effective.

A well-developed global mobility program must cover a comprehensive range of complex issues, such as housing, children’s education, and income taxes. In addition, many companies now are investing in family counselling and in cultural and language training with good results. These issues offer many opportunities for continual improvement and, fortunately, experts and service providers now are available to help.

However, while these are important issues for success, in the end, these issues deal with administrative policy, process, and financial costs. They do not address the effectiveness of the assignment. Global mobility programs—and the managers responsible for them—must be aligned with the overall business goals.

Read more: Success Abroad 

Portuguese expat Elizabet Fernandes enjoys the international atmosphere in her multilingual EU company, but finds that people get ‘lost in translation’ and inherit one another’s linguistic mistakes.

Lost in translation

English is the current working language but too often people ‘get lost in translation’ because the level and the knowledge of language amongst us varies from person to person. We also inherit each other’s linguistic mistakes and end up speaking a kind of ‘Euro-English’. I like to speak as many languages as possible so I prefer to speak Spanish, French or Italian depending on the nationality of my colleagues. Besides, with this job I can also use and develop my skills as a translator and that’s perfect.

Unfortunately it’s too hard to use Dutch on a daily basis as the Dutch immediately respond in English to foreigners even to Flemish people!

Culture games

Although Eurojust is a very multicultural environment it is still not very intercultural. My colleagues often don’t understand each other or tend to ‘over-react’. I have been fighting for intercultural training because it helps you to realise that different people (from different cultures) may react differently in similar situations and to respect that. I followed this training myself in Portugal so I know the impact and the benefits.

Read more: Holland 

Changes in the world economy have made many companies change their businesses in an international context. Expatriates are used to share the knowledge from their country and make these businesses a success. Expatriates cost a lot of money, and because of this it is necessary to know who is and who isn’t suited to work abroad. Research has been done to which personality characteristics are important for a good performance by an expatriate, but does this theoretical background suit the reality?

At first four variables used in this research are four of the ‘Big Five personality dimensions’ (Costa & McCrae, 1992): extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Extraversion can be seen in two different dimensions: ambition and social capability. There are different intra individual factors that can be indicative for the emotional stability of a worker. Examples of these are concern, being depressed, anger, embarrassment, emotionality, anxiety and insecurity. Examples of characteristics following agreeableness are courtesy, flexibility, reliability, helping others, soft-heartedness and tolerance. Conscientiousness can be described with thoroughness, responsibility, being organised and the quality of plans.

Read more: Expats 

In today’s digitalised, globalised world, where the words:  ‘cost-effective solutions’ and ‘bottom-line’ are a common language shared across the corporate spectrum.  Finally, issues of families and family support, so long concealed and little discussed within the corporate arena are now enjoying a renaissance.

The focus on maintaining a healthy ‘work/life balance’ is fuelling recognition amongst corporations that revenue is not the dominant factor in achieving the long-term goals of increased productivity and profitability.

Read more: Expats 

Localisation of expatriates is problematic for employers, says ORC Worldwide’s 2007 Survey on International Localisation Policies & Practices for Expatriates.

According to the report, 48 percent of the participants have seen an increase in the use of localisation over the past two years, yet the practice remains tricky.

Obstacles faced by employers when localising – that is, phasing out or removing expatriate assignment terms and conditions – include retirement plans, consistency in developing local pay packages, management preference for individual negotiations, establishing an acceptable local salary in low-salary countries, and employee requests for continuance of coverage for international schools and health care.

Read more: Expatriates 

According to a new survey from Cartus, the premier provider of global mobility management and workforce development solutions, an accelerated shift from long-term to short-term international relocation assignments is expected during the next two years.

The Cartus Emerging Trends in Global Mobility: Policies & Practices Survey also revealed that international assignment volume has grown and is expected to increase in the future. The study also found that the number of assignment destinations is surging. Respondents named 51 different countries in their list of top three destination locations, a 76 percent increase over 2004. The United States continued as the most common destination for relocation assignments, but China overtook the UK for second place while Germany replaced Singapore for fourth place. China is expected to take over the top spot within the next two years, according to the survey.

Read more: Cartus