08/03/2005 - 08/04/2005

the consequences of poor cross cultural awareness

Having a poor understanding of the influence of cross cultural differences in areas such as management, PR, advertising and negotiations can eventually lead to blunders that can have damaging consequences.

It is crucial for today’s business personnel to understand the impact of cross cultural differences on business, trade and internal company organisation. The success or failure of a company, venture, merger or acquisition is essentially in the hands of people. If these people are not cross culturally aware then misunderstandings, offence and a break down in communication can occur.

The need for greater cross cultural awareness is heightened in our global economies. Cross cultural differences in matters such as language, etiquette, non-verbal communication, norms and values can, do and will lead to cross cultural blunders.

Teacher pay problems for ethnic minorities

Teachers from ethnic minority groups and those active in trade unions are less likely to move up the pay scale, according to newspaper reports.

Documents seen by the Guardian newspaper show that union officials and teachers from some ethnic minority communities are less likely to pass the performance threshold - a key standard awarded by school principals which allows teachers to progress up the pay scale.

Work permits for expats over 60 in UAE

Expatriate workers over 60 will be able to apply for labour permits and renew expired ones from next week in the UAE.

A host of official transaction charges have been put in place at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Labour officials had temporarily stopped some transactions after newly-introduced laws increased fees for some official transactions and created new fees.

Ahmad Kajour, Assistant Undersecretary for Planning at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said he expected proper mechanisms to be in place by next week to collect fees. Expatriate workers over the age of 60 applying for labour permits or renewing them at a cost of Dh5,000 will do so by Saturday, "if all goes well", he said.

English proficiency a major hurdle in patient comprehension

Limited efficiency with the English language is a barrier to medical comprehension and increases the risk of adverse medication reactions, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

The UCSF study, which appears in the online version of the Journal of General Internal Medicine on August 1, is the first multilingual, population-based study to focus on the impact of English proficiency and physician language on medical comprehension.

"Looking at a broad population of respondents with various native languages, we found English proficiency is an independent risk factor for difficulty in understanding medical situations and reporting problems with medications," said lead author Elisabeth Wilson, MD, MPH, research fellow and clinical instructor of medicine at UCSF.

pirate translations losing rowling millions

JK Rowling is set to lose millions of pounds of royalties because rogue translations of her books are appearing on the internet months before the official editions are printed.

Strict secrecy surrounding the latest Harry Potter book, meant that official translators did not get hold of the new volume until the English edition was published, meaning that millions of Potter fans must wait until next year to obtain official copies of the book in their first language.

Lawyers for Rowling and her publishers across the globe have been taking legal action to force websites offering the pirate translations to remove the offending documents, and they have warned those downloading the bootleg editions that they may contain viruses and offensive material.

Zamil steel website goes multilingual

In a reflection of the internationalism of its business Zamil Steel has launched versions of its English language website in Arabic, French, Vietnamese, Spanish and German. Japanese and Polish versions are also planned for launch later this year.

This initiative provides greater levels of local customer services for non-English speakers in the more than 70 countries across the world where Zamil Steel operates or conducts business.

'The decision to create our website in multiple languages is driven by fact that we are becoming increasingly active in the countries where these languages are spoken. Providing information in the native languages of our customers helps in demonstrating the value offered by Zamil Steel solutions, and brings us closer to our customers, partners and suppliers,' said Fadi Mujahed, Marketing Manager, Zamil Steel.

word of the day: affable

affable \AF-uh-buhl\, adjective:
1. Easy to speak to; receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner.
2. Gracious; benign.

Nonetheless, in view of the fact that Leon stated in the warrant that I was good-looking, cheerful and affable, they exhorted me to make myself appear to be taciturn, melancholy and ugly. --Susana Rotker (Editor), The Memoirs of Fray Servando Teresa De Mier

Johnny's father, while strict with his children, usually was affable and relaxed. --Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams