06/07/2006 - 06/08/2006

Employment, Equal Opportunities and Diversity

Despite much talk, the social and ethnic make-up of the UK’s leading law firms has changed little in recent years. But is the root of the problem the quality of the candidates that want to enter the profession? Charlie Wright looks at the educational debate surrounding diversity

It is ironic that the promotional material used by law firms to differentiate themselves from one another is so often as formulaic as it is contrived. Alongside the usual bluster about seamless international service and uncompromising client focus can invariably be found kaleidoscopic images of multi-racial staff, replete with heart-warming mission statements and worthy declarations of beneficent intent.

liberal democrats launch diversity push

Local Lib Dem parties who select women or ethnic minority candidates could get extra support in the form of cash and visits from high profile politicians.

The radical proposal is to be unveiled by Sir Menzies Campbell in a speech to mark his 100 days as Lib Dem leader. He is writing to local branch chairmen saying their choice of candidates will be a "significant factor" in determining central support.

expat kiwis missing home

A survey of expatriate New Zealanders shows about half expect to come back but 20% plan to stay away. The online survey was run by Kea, the Kiwi expat association, with 18,000 respondents living in 155 countries.

The survey also found almost a third of respondents aged between 25 and 44 earned more than $NZ100,000, compared with about 3% in the New Zealand population as a whole.

new spanish-basque translation tool

Three computer companies and four universities in the Spanish State have designed the first automatic translation system for texts, documents and Web sites from Spanish into Basque, Catalan and Galician.

The translator, available in Opentrad.com, is already working and can be used for free.

google may reverse decision to allow censored chinese site

The co-founder of Google has acknowledged that the internet search giant compromised its principles by agreeing to Chinese censorship demands and says it may reverse its decision.

During a visit to Capitol Hill, Sergey Brin said the company's much-criticised deal to allow politically sensitive information to be filtered from web searches in China was struck only after Beijing blocked its main service.

schools should teach non-traditional languages

Language educators are now calling to strengthen provisions for non-traditional languages such as Turkish, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali and Mandarin in British schools. Many regard foreign language teaching as being synonymous with learning French or German and often make an unnecessary distinction between European and non-European languages. A tendency in British schools to favour French and German over non-European languages still exists and stems from issues of practicality in finding resources and the availability of teachers. Despite this, there is still a growing desire to learn Asian languages.

world cup 2006: phrase of the day - surprise package

Always nice to have in major tournaments as it provides a talking point, the surprise package refers to the club/country that no-one expected anything from but go on to deliver great performances and results.

Please note: as the World Cup starts tomorrow this will be the last World Cup 2006 phrase of the day! Good to luck to all teams and we look forward to a fantastic competition to to England bringing home the trophy!

word of the day: arbiter

arbiter \AR-buh-tuhr\, noun:
1. A person appointed or chosen to judge or decide a dispute.
2. Any person who has the power of judging and determining.

There was no shortage of such socially knowing, good-natured, and adaptable folk among the charter members of the Institute, especially in its department of literature, where a sizable number were not really literary practitioners but instead high-quality magazine editors, professors, and other well-settled arbiters of taste. -- John Updike (Editor), A Century of Arts & Letters

Justin had a way of making people want to do things for him; of all the kids he had made himself the arbiter of cool. -- Rebecca Chace, Capture the Flag

global managers need cultural awareness

Despite nearly two decades of corporate globalization efforts, many organizations still struggle to find managers who are comfortable and effective in the increasingly global economy. Most suffer both from a lack of cultural awareness when dealing with employees and partners overseas and from a lack of experience managing increasingly complex processes over long distances.

Though a few insightful corporate giants such as General Electric, Cisco Systems, and Intel have made strides in developing successful global managers, many human resources leaders and senior executives continue to be frustrated with the available skills and resources.

But why is it so difficult to develop effective global managers? The answers are as complex as the world's geographies. Each company has its own specific needs and challenges, and every country presents a unique and rapidly changing landscape in which work must be accomplished.

lenovo vp praises hr for cross cultural synergy

Lenovo, a China-based computer company, has praised the key role played by HR in bridging cultural differences after its acquisition of IBM's PC division.

Robert Gonzales, vice-president for global HR operations at Lenovo, told delegates at the congress of the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations how it successfully integrated IBM employees into the firm following the takeover in 2004.

Having agreed to offer comparable benefits to all employees from IBM who made the transition, Lenovo had to reconcile the different practices of the countries in which they had been based. Despite the difficulties, it retained 96 per cent of staff across 66 countries, but it was no easy task.

business lose revenue from lack of language skills

A study that has been funded by the European Commission seems set to lift the lid of obscurity on the language skills debate.

The survey will look at the true economic cost of an absence of language skills in a business in today’s marketplace. The study has some predecessors, which seem to show that languages are crucial to the economic prosperity of a business. Companies both within the United Kingdom and beyond have been found to lose business and opportunities in the market through poor communication in previous studies. This research project will seek to identify the exact cost in financial terms, and could make for startling reading for many company executives.

doing business in vietnam? get ready for karaoke!

In Vietnam, where karaoke is not only recreational but also business etiquette, failing to show your talent can cost you dearly.

Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper reported Wednesday that state oil monopoly Petrovietnam's financial arm PVFC ordered 21 officials to make "self-criticism" reports for not singing karaoke at a contract-signing ceremony near Hanoi Saturday.

Ethnic minorities face discrimination at interviews

Employers are discriminating against jobseekers from ethnic minority backgrounds at the interview stage, according to a report. A number of interview practices were found to disadvantage ethnic minority candidates, including assessing work experience and language skills.

The Talk on Trial study, based on 60 interviews for basic roles, carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions and Kings College, London (KCL), showed that foreign work experience was frequently ignored.

aol target indian sms market

Tegic, the wholly owned subsidiary of America Online Inc (AOL), is aiming to capture India's growing market of short message services (SMSs) in regional languages.

The company, engaged in developing embedded software that enhances communication in small mobile devices, is looking at the potential SMS market in the semi-urban and rural India, Mridul Srivastava, senior country manager of AOL's wireless division, said here Wednesday.

the wondeful world of signs in foreign languages

No matter if you've packed a map, read your guidebook or listened to your language tapes, sooner or later every traveler looks to signposts for help.

But rather than point you on the right path, some may lead you deeper into the woods -- albeit with a smile on your face. Doug Lansky has been collecting photographs of bizarrely written signs for five years. Lansky, a travel writer based in Stockholm, Sweden, takes submissions from amused globetrotters via his Signspotting Web site.

merrill lynch diversity lawsuit continues

Talks between Merrill Lynch & Co. and a group of black brokers suing the firm for discrimination have broken down, after both sides failed to agree on the size of a financial settlement, Merrill Lynch said Tuesday.

The brokers will continue their lawsuit, claiming discrimination against former and current Merrill Lynch employees, according to the brokers' attorney. The brokers say they want the company to adopt stronger diversity initiatives, as well as compensation to make up for the alleged discrimination, according to Linda Friedman, an attorney at Stowell & Friedman Ltd.

world cup 2006: phrase of the day - route one stuff

Route one stuff describes a style of play that bypasses the midfield by simply smashing (or "hoofing") long balls from the defence to the strikers. Not the best football to watch but can be deadly with the correct strike force in place.

word of the day: paucity

paucity \PAW-suh-tee\, noun:
1. Fewness; smallness of number; scarcity.
2. Smallness of quantity; insufficiency.

The relative paucity of documents from this period may help to explain why no mention of David was found for such a long time. -- Steven L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography

Just three bishops? was a regular observation made on the paucity of episcopal presence at the new dean's installation. -- "Swiftian bite in Dean's sermon sets an agenda", Irish Times, September 13, 1999