12/05/2005 - 12/06/2005

intel making cross cultural knowledge pay

As the world gets smaller, understanding country-specific differences becomes a business imperative. U.S.-based businesses operating on a global scale ramp up training to help employees better comprehend their international co-workers and customers.

At semiconductor giant Intel, the notion that a manager wouldn’t know how to conduct business in a different culture just doesn’t compute.

From its Silicon Valley headquarters, the company reaps 70 percent of its revenue outside the United States. Its 91,000 employees are spread throughout more than 48 nations. In addition, the computer chip maker is trying to become a more customer-focused firm. That means getting a bead on even the emotional needs of potential buyers around the world, making cross-cultural knowledge crucial.

cre to probe positive discrimination case

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is to investigate police recruitment at Avon and Somerset constabulary following reports that candidates are being turned down for being white.

The force is reported to have rejected 186 white applicants because its workforce is "over-represented by white men". Under the Race Relations Act, shortlisting or appointing on racial grounds is unlawful.

end of telegram etiquette in china

China Telecom Corporation Limited and China Network Communications Corporation jointly decided to stop the public etiquette telegram service and the flower etiquette telegram service, saying that alternative and advanced ways of communication, such as telephone, mobile phone and internet, have been replacing traditional telegraphy services.

Etiquette telegrams were traditionally sent to addressees with cards of greetings, condolences and flowers.

tv diversity proving good for business

In the push for diversity in television - the campaign to add people of color to key positions on both sides of the camera - it's not the beauty of the rainbow that ultimately brings the big networks around.

It's the promise of a pot of gold.

``The genesis is good business,'' said Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. ``We're a broadcast network, and you look at the multicultural nature of this country these days and I think you would be making a big mistake as a broadcaster to not recognize that and program for it.''

businesses must demand language skills

According to a statement issues by the National Centre for Languages (CILT), languages must be brought into the vocational curriculum; and employers must use their influence to make sure that this happens.

Speaking on the subject, the Director of CILT Isabella Moore referred to the statements made earlier this year by Sir Digby Jones, the Director General of the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) who stated that languages are crucially important for the future success of the British economy. She said she hoped that the CBI’s Conference’s theme of “the Future of Europe will give business cause for reflection on how it can help drive the campaign to improve the language skills of the UK workforce.�

word of the day: logorrhea

logorrhea \law-guh-REE-uh\, noun:
Excessive talkativeness or wordiness.

By his own measure, he is a man of many contradictions, beginning with the fact that he is famous as a listener but suffers from "a touch of logorrhea." He is so voluble that one wonders how his subjects get a word in edgewise. --Mel Gussow, "Listener, Talker, Now Literary Lion: It's Official." New York Times, June 17, 1997

It's also not good if your date has logorrhea. --Monte Williams, "8 Minutes in the Life of a Jewish Single: Not Attracted? Next!" New York Times, March 5, 2000

new interpreting organisation set up in japan

A shortage of quality interpreters to act as a bridge between non-Japanese residents and judicial, medical and administrative professionals may limit foreign residents' access to public information and threaten their human rights.

In an effort to address the situation, a group of academics and interpreters formed an association in September in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, to study interpretation and translation services. A forum on coexisting with non-Japanese was held to mark the founding of the association.

organisation to audit law firms' diversity

Global Graduates, the organisation that mentors students from disadvantaged and state school backgrounds, has launched a major audit of law firms' diversity policies.

The Diversity Manage-ment Survey (DMS) will look at diversity across the board, including reviewing recruitment practices and whether the processes are equal. Global Graduates chief executive Yolande Beckles stated, "Never before has the City let anybody through their doors in this way."

us tv reflecting cultural diversity

After negative reports of cultural diversity not being reflected in British TV, a survey in the USA shows that network television is reflecting more of the country's racial and ethnic diversity.

The diversity survey, issued annually since 1999 by members of the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition, gave mostly mediocre marks to the major broadcast networks for diversity in front of and behind the camera. The report assigns grades based on figures provided by Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS.

new saudi ruling for expats 60 and above

Professionals such as doctors, university professors, consultants and engineers have been exempted from a new Saudi law which bans the recruitment of expatriate workers aged 60 and over.

Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday issued a decision in this respect, changing a previous instruction given to labor offices across the country. “Professionals required by the country such as doctors, university professors, consultants, engineers, technicians, experts and others in the same category will be exempted,� the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a ministerial decision issued by Gosaibi.

gala invites participation in new blog

GALA, the Globalization and Localization Association, invites translation and localization professionals to participate in the new GALA on Technology Blog (Web log). Developed by GALA members, the new blog is intended to be a non-biased open forum for discussion of the technological resources, new developments and on-going challenges that vendors and clients are facing in the localization and translation industries.

BRIC nations show promise for future

A new report today shows that global internet advertising expenditure is in good health and will show stable growth next year.

Of most interest to our industry is that the hotspots of Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and China will supply some 26% of global ad growth between 2004 and 2008.

word of the day: panache

panache \puh-NASH; -NAHSH\, noun:
1. Dash or flamboyance in manner or style.
2. A plume or bunch of feathers, esp. such a bunch worn on the helmet; any military plume, or ornamental group of feathers.

Dessert included a marvelous bread pudding and a fair bananas Foster, the old-time New Orleans dish, which was prepared with great panache tableside, complete with a flambé moment. --Eric Asimov, "New Orleans, a City of Serious Eaters." New York Times, July 4, 1999

It is... an inevitable hit, a galvanizing eruption of energy, panache and arrogantly sure-footed stagecraft that comes at a time when theatrical dance is in the doldrums. --Terry Teachout and William Tynan, "Seamy and Steamy." Time, January 25, 1999