magazine for international information management
news
challenge
collaboration
solutions
business culture
community
directory
70906
July/August 2007
Is there one Spanish for all your needs?
Which Spanish localization effort is really worth the trouble
Between traditional values and modern
standards
A guide to Korean business culture
Prepare yourself for the
international challenge!
Interview with international Public Relations specialist
Thorsten Luetzler
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 1
05.07.2007 11:17:44 Uhr
VAW-arvato
... the spirit of information
The challenge of global business
needs more than just products
VAW-arvato is a global technical information services company and part
of Bertelsmann international media corporation. We create, manage and
deliver product information to your global audience in the right language,
the right media and right on time.
VAW-arvato
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Fon: +49 (0) 21 58-91 97-0 | Fax: +49 (0) 21 58-12 11
www.vaw-arvato.com | [email protected]
Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Czech Republic, Brazil, South Africa, China
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 2
05.07.2007 11:17:47 Uhr
imprint
editorial
publisher
TC and more GmbH
in collaboration with tekom,
Europe’s largest association for
technical communication
managing director
Dr. Michael Fritz
Rotebühlstraße 64
70178 Stuttgart
ph: +49(0)711-6 57 04-0
fax: +49(0)711-6 57 04-99
www.tekom.de
[email protected]
advertising
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Rotebühlstraße 64
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ph: +49(0)711-6 57 04-44
fax: +49(0)711-6 57 04-99
www.tekom.de
[email protected]
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ph: +49(0)451-70 31-0
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[email protected]
tcworld is published every two
months. Subscriptions can
be ordered at the publishing
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the price for the tcworld
magazine is included in the
membership fee.
editor
TC and more GmbH
Corinna Ritter
Rotebühlstraße 64
70178 Stuttgart
ph: +49(0)711-6 57 04-41
fax: +49(0)711-6 57 04-99
www.tekom.de
[email protected]
magazine for international
information management
“The medium is the message”.
Marshall McLuhan’s famous book
title has been the subject of many
discussions. The media, so the
simplified meaning of the book,
have reached such power, that
they no longer deliver messages,
but are the messages themselves.
What has been almost forgotten, is
that when the book first appeared,
the title didn’t read “The medium
is the message”. The alteration
of just one letter – by mistake or
deliberately – changed the meaning tremendously: “The medium is
the massage”. Yes, massage. Aiming at people’s senses, kneading
them, forming them. Whether a
typesetting mistake as McLuhan’s
son claimed or the intention of
the author who loved the pun:
both meanings seem to reflect
some truth of the communication
society.
Just like the media, organizations
also need to gently rub in their
messages, in order to reach their
customers. The more emotions
they arouse, the better the chances
that they will get their message
across. But rousing the emotions
of people from different cultures
requires a slight variation of the
massaging technique. In other
words: A campaign that drives
sales up in one country might have
close to no effect in another.
Varying the messages to best suit
the target group is the everyday
business of localization experts.
But when is this adaptation really
worth the money and time you
spend on it? Is there a need for
localization even when there is no
translation needed, for example,
when trying to launch a Spanish
product in the Latin American
market? Gabriela Morales discusses whether one version of Spanish
is really all you need (page 22).
Aiming at people’s senses and
turning the shopping tour into a
family-adventure, has been the
recipe for success for Swedish furniture retailer IKEA. But can this
formula be applied in the virtual
world? John Yunker explains why
the IKEA webpage has kept itself
on top of global website rankings
(page 14).
The importance of the media for
messages designed to reach local
markets, is confirmed by Thorsten
Luetzler, chairman of the international chapter of the German PR
association. In an interview with
tcworld he tells us to be aware
that journalists and media work
differently in other countries and
advises us to get to know our target markets thoroughly in advance
(page 10).
Sung Cho gives an insight into
the business culture of Korea, a
country that has maintained its
traditional values and a surprisingly unified identity despite any
external influences (page 26).
Aidan Collins shows how a new
regulation in the chemical industry raises the demand for professional translation services.
Susan Totman advises us to keep
cultural discrepancies in mind
even when communicating over
the internet (page 26). Sometimes
it might just be a little detail that
makes the difference – like the
alteration of a single letter.
Corinna Ritter
3
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 3
05.07.2007 11:17:53 Uhr
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05.07.2007 11:17:56 Uhr
content
Prepare yourself for the
international challenge!
How important is information for
international companies? How can you
design messages to suit several target
markets? And how can you maintain national
values in a global world? tcworld asked
the international Public Relations specialist
Thorsten Luetzler.
page 10
6
news
business culture
26
challenge
10
A guide to Korean business
culture
Prepare yourself for the
international challenge!
Interview with international PR specialist
Thorsten Luetzler
29
IKEA: behind the best global
retail website
Some simple but brilliant concepts that
have kept IKEA’s internet presence on top
of the best global website rankings
solutions
20
Is there one Spanish for
all your needs?
O
One simple rule applies to all Spanishspeakers regardless of their country of origin:
They all want to communicate in Spanish. But
where does language end and culture begin?
Gabriela Morales tells us, which Spanish
localization effort is really worthwhile.
page 22
Preparing your chemical
products for international
markets
Cultural differences making it work virtually
Communicating with people from
around the globe
collaboration
14
Between traditional values
and modern standards
community
31
Localization World Berlin
32
tcworld calendar
33
directory
3 editorial
3 imprint
A new regulation in the chemical industry
creates a demand for expert translation
services
22
Is there one Spanish for all
your needs?
Which Spanish localization
effort is really worthwhile?
Between traditional
values and modern
standards
Despite of many external influences,
the people of Korea have maintained a
surprisingly homogeneous identity with a
common pride in the country’s culture and
a thoughtful openness towards modernity.
Sung Cho gives an insight into Korean
business culture.
page 26
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 5
5
05.07.2007 11:17:59 Uhr
news
LANGUAGE WEAVER SHIPS 4.3
Language Weaver, a developer of software for
the automated translation of human languages, has announced the release of version 4.3 of
its statistical machine translation software. This
version provides better functionality for translators, localization service providers and IT administrators of the translation workflow proc-
Survey reveals widespread lack of communication
and data sharing
ess. In addition, Language Weaver introduces
an expanded list of Asian languages, including
Korean and Traditional Chinese, with Japanese
soon to follow.
KILGRAY MEMOQ V2.1
Kilgray, a developer of translation productivity tools, has announced the release of version
2.1 of the integrated localization environment
Global collaboration and
knowledge sharing still a
myth – not a reality
MemoQ. The new version offers productivity
boosters for both corporations and freelance
translators and subscribes to the documentcentered approach. The translation memorydriven segmentation enables the automatic
adjustment of segment boundaries. Upgrades
are free of charge for registered users.
According to a survey conducted by SDL, 68
percent of US businesses report that lack of
managing multi channel content into multiple
languages across the global enterprise represents a key problem.
LINGOBIT LOCALIZER 5.1
Lingobit Technologies has launched the newest version of Lingobit Localizer. Version 5.1 extends the company’s commitment to the .NET
framework by offering improved support. This
includes an enhanced parser capable of extracting many properties. Another improvement is
the form editor that utilizes a new mechanism
to display .NET forms. Localizer 5.1 has a carefully redesigned spell-as-you-type SpellChecker that supports over 80 languages and has a
Custom Pseudo Translate function that can
simulate translation into any language.
MUALIMI V4.3
FOR WINDOWS XP AND VISTA
Pearlink Software, a developer of business applications, utilities and educational software,
has released Mualimi v4.3 for Windows XP
and Vista. The new version offers compatible
features with My Arabic Teacher’s Macintosh
v2.1.2 along with updates and interface upgrade. It is designed for both Arabic-speaking
natives as well as English-speaking students.
Two new versions of Mualimi, French-Arabic
and Russian-Arabic are planned for release in
The survey found that US businesses encounter
significant difficulties as they attempt to get
their products into global markets quickly. In
fact, 50 percent of respondents cite the simultaneous delivery of content in multiple languages
as their biggest task when disseminating product information across multiple markets.
“The fast pace of globalization has compelled
organizations to break down traditional
departmental silos,” said Chris Boorman,
chief marketing officer for SDL International.
“It’s imperative that different divisions within
companies, as well as offices scattered across
the globe, utilize technology to help them share
knowledge created in one language, globally
ensuring the consistency of content and messaging. This is the only way for an organization
to protect its brand integrity as it expands its
global footprint.”
The study also concluded that translation
and terminology management are a key focus
area for US businesses with over 40 percent
of respondents saying that they need to make
improvements in this area.
In addition, 40 percent of those surveyed
consider their biggest branding challenge making their content culturally and linguistically
relevant to new target markets.
The SDL survey also confirms that US businesses – particularly their marketing departments –are dealing with a diverse set of issues
in their quest to manage brand consistency in a
wide array of languages.
the fall of 2007.
Photo: Kirill Zdorov
6
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 6
www.sdl.com
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:02 Uhr
news
Taking Software to the
World: China Edition
The Localization Industry Standards Association
LISA has announced its report Taking Software
to the World: China Edition, an update to its largescale examination of the factors that influence
business users’ purchase and use of localized
software.
LISA’s managing director, Michael Anobile,
explained: “Our updated research in China
reconfirms that the quality of a company’s localized software has a measurable business impact.
This is one area where companies entering the
Chinese market can differentiate themselves.”
In Taking Software to the World: China Edition,
410 people in 51 countries substantiate the issues
faced by business users of localized software and
link them to their ability to conduct internal business operations and to support their customers.
The results present a very clear roadmap for end
users who purchase localized software and for
software developers who want to know exactly
where to spend their localization development
budgets to sell more products.
The report features 94 pages of in-depth analysis,
with 54 charts illustrating trends and 84 tables
presenting data from the survey. Among the
significant findings are:
- There are some dramatic differences between
Chinese business users and the rest of the
world regarding the impact of translation-related problems on software quality perception.
- An exhaustive ranking of software applications and their localization priorities.
- How internal business processes affect global
product purchases.
- How developers should invest their global
product development dollars
www.lisa.org
Microsoft to
open up Welsh
Vista version
Microsoft and the Welsh Language Board have
teamed up to deliver free downloads which will
transform some of the world’s most popular
software into Welsh.
In six months time interface packs for Windows
Vista and Office 2007 will be available.
The announcement follows the renewal of the
long-standing partnership between Microsoft
and the Welsh Language Board.
A memorandum of understanding has been
agreed which builds on a working relationship
which began with the launch of Office 2003 in
Welsh three years ago.
A spokeswoman said, “Microsoft’s investment in
developing software to provide Welsh language
IT goes hand in hand with the Welsh Language
Board’s efforts to mainstream the Welsh language
as a part of everyday life – making it all the
more relevant to the people of Wales in the 21st
century.”
Stuart Aston, government programs manager at
Microsoft, said, “Microsoft is committed to making
our software accessible to everyone, across an
increasing number of languages.
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#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 7
05.07.2007 11:18:04 Uhr
news
OASIS standard assures authenticity of data for web services
Members of OASIS, the international standards consortium, have
approved Digital Signature Services
(DSS) version 1.0 as an OASIS standard, a status that signifies the highest
level of ratification. DSS defines an
XML interface to process digital
signatures for web services and other
applications, enabling the sharing of
digital signature creation, verification and other associated services,
without complex client software and
configuration.
“DSS makes it easy to use digital
signatures because it lets companies
control their signature applications
on an organizational basis through a
network-based server,” said Juan Cruellas of Centre d’aplicacions avanades
d’Internet (CANET), co-chair of the
OASIS DSS Technical Committee.
“Instead of being managed individually, signing keys are maintained on
a secure server with controls that
minimize the risk of compromise.
Signatures can still be created by
authorized individuals, but instead of
requiring specialized signing equipment for each person, DSS allows
organizations to use their existing
authentication mechanisms, such as
passwords, two factors, biometrics,
etc.”
DSS describes two XML-based
request/response protocols, one for
signatures and a second for verification. Using these protocols, a client
can send documents to a server and
receive back a signature on the documents; or send documents and a
signature to a server and receive back
an answer on whether the signature
verifies the documents.
“A DSS signature secures an organization’s documents efficiently
and effectively while maintaining
accountability down to the individual
level,” said Nick Pope of Thales eSecurity Ltd., co-chair of the OASIS DSS
Technical Committee. “What’s more,
DSS allows sensitive signing keys to
be protected by using tamper-proof
signing devices and by locating
the server in a room with control-
led access. Costs are reduced with
DSS, because security can be highly
localized.”
DSS supports a range of signature
formats including XML and CMS. It
is designed around a core set of ele-
ments and procedures which can be
profiled to support specific uses such
as time-stamping (including XML
structured time-stamps), corporate
entity seals, electronic post marks
and code signing.
TRANSLATIONS.COM AND
ISP MERGE
MCNEIL MULTILINGUAL
NOW PART OF TIINC
Translations.com, a provider of web-
Translations International, Inc. (TIINC),
site and software localization and
has completed the acquisition of Mc-
Globalization Management System
Neil Multilingual, Inc., a provider of
products has completed a merger
translation and interpreting services
with European localization provider
to commercial companies and the
International Software Products B.V.
US government. The McNeil project
(iSP). Financial terms of the deal were
management team will remain intact
not disclosed. Amsterdam-based iSP
and continue to serve clients as part
will become a division of Translations.
of TIINC. McNeil’s translators will also
com. The transaction expands Trans-
become a part of TIINC.
lations.com’s software localization capabilities in Western Europe and Asia.
ASTORIA AND IDIOM INTE
GRATE TECHNOLOGY
ENLASO CREATES “INTO
ENGLISH” DEPARTMENT
Astoria Software and Idiom® Technol-
Enlaso, a provider of localization and
tegration and marketing agreement.
translation solutions, has created a
Under the deal, the companies will
dedicated “Into-English” translation
use Web 2.0 technologies to integrate
and localization department. Services
Astoria On-Demand, Astoria’s SaaS
from the new department include
solution for structured content man-
translating and localizing documen-
agement, with Idiom WorldServer™
tation, web sites, software, marketing
On-Demand, the company’s compre-
collateral, patents and other intellec-
hensive, online globalization man-
tual property documents, legal and
agement system (GMS). In turn, For-
contractual content, medical & bio-
tune 2000 global manufacturers will
technology content, financial services
gain seamless access to WorldServer
content, government regulations and
On-Demand globalization solutions
legislative content, and more.
through the Astoria On-Demand in-
ogies, Inc. have announced a joint in-
terface.
Photo: Valentino Sani
8
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 8
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:05 Uhr
news
Photo: Stephen Coburn
New research:
„He Said, She Said,
About Translation“
Research firm Common Sense Advisory’s latest translation industry
research report detailing what’s important to both buyers and suppliers
of language services is now available.
Findings include a significant divergence on the perceived importance
of automation, and that buyer attitudes on pricing remain inscrutable
to the vendor community. The report,
entitled „He Said, She Said, About
Translation,“ examines the data from
an online survey of „MultiLingual“
magazine’s readers, which included
responses from 236 language service
suppliers and 56 buyers.
Key findings include:
- Nearly 86 percent of buyers outsource most or all of their translation work to external agencies; the
report also lists the most common
titles for buyers of language services
- Buyers are moving increasingly toward centralization of translation
procurements
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 9
-
The report found limited growth
since 2005 in reverse online auctions and conclude that auctions
will not play a major role in language procurement
- Use of the consensus ratio to determine whether buyers and suppliers agree on whether an issue is
important or not important, and
the positive intensity ration to determine the strength, or intensity,
of each group’s agreement
Adds report analyst Ben Sargent, “We
found much overlap between buyer
and supplier responses, and a great
deal of consistency with our research
from the last four years on these topics. The exceptions included stated
perceptions about what’s important
to buyers and what technologies they
use to manage workflow.” “He Said,
She Said, About Translation” is available to members of Common Sense
Advisory’s Research.
www.commonsenseadvisory.com
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9
05.07.2007 11:18:07 Uhr
challenge
Prepare yourself for the
international challenge!
What is the true value of information? Is it a “soft” resource for a company, data imbued with meaning that
can support decision-makers? And is information able to generate any value-added for the company?
Thorsten Luetzler, chairman of the international chapter of the German PR Association claims that a lot of
companies underestimate the business benefits of a clear information strategy. tcworld spoke to him about
the challenges of implementing such a strategy internationally.
Photo: Sebastian Kaulitzki
10
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 10
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:10 Uhr
challenge
Interview: Corinna Ritter
How important is communication for international companies?
Communication is of vital importance for both,
national and international companies. As traditional domestic markets seem to be saturated,
there is a growing need for companies to find
further growth in foreign countries. As this is
not their home territory, the companies might
not be well-known and trusted. Communication is therefore necessary in order to ensure
that the potential customers in the new markets
learn more about the companies’ activities and
products.
What are the foundations for successful communication within an international organization?
First of all, it is important to accept the role of
communication at senior level. Only if the communication department has the full support
of the board, can activities be successful and
implemented with due force. Communication
people need to have the appropriate budgets
and resources at hand – some companies have
clear restrictions here. Another important factor is
the ability of the people in charge of communication to run international campaigns. Many things
– especially details – are different from pure national activities. Communication is closely linked
to culture – and culture differs from country to
country. Even countries with the same, or similar
languages can be very different in the way media
relations work for example.
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 11
Do you think that international communication is
underestimated in global companies?
There are many companies that do a great job in
their international communication. Nevertheless,
there are also examples of companies, in which
the staff is not prepared and trained for international pitfalls. Communication in those companies could be way better if only the teams were
up for the task. Not to forget: There are many
international companies that clearly underestimate the business benefits a clear international
communication strategy can bring.
What should a company consider before entering
a foreign market?
Do your homework! I can only advise everyone
who thinks about going abroad, to check the
target country with due thoroughness. There is
nothing worse than an international campaign,
run from the home country, in x markets, without
really knowing them. It is a bit like those folks
going abroad for vacation, without reading a
good travel book beforehand. Once they are in
the country of destiny, it is simply too late to find
out that they need different money or different
plugs. So, be prepared to spend some time – and
money – on proper research, counsel or partners
in the markets concerned. Serious businesses
should not run into trouble because the executives in charge were too ignorant to analyze the
new markets in depth.
Check the competition in order to assess the
likely efforts to make your voice heard in this
particular country. Especially in heavy industries,
huge plants are build before the companies start
communicating. In some cases this is a mistake.
Opposing groups may form before the company
has reached a stage where it can actually sell the
first products. So my advise is to start early with
communicating who you are, what you do, what
your plans are for this country, and why you think
it is good for you – and for the people living in
this country – to have your business there. Also,
consider meeting national or local politicians and
other important decision-makers prior to investing in the country.
Also, try to find out what kind of media your
potential clients use, how journalists work in the
country, what professional standards there are,
how the country handles bribery or fraud, and
think about the effects the culture might have on
communication.
What are the main challenges for major enterprises in their international operations?
You will not believe how challenging different
time zones can be. It might well happen that
you have various conference calls during the day,
in order to reach all your global teams. I know
European managers who check emails early in
the morning at home and have their first calls
with Asia directly after getting up. Then they
go to work, and after work, when they are back
home, they will have the last calls and emails with
the US. This is just something you need to know
when taking on a global role. You cannot ask your
teams around the world to stay awake until two
in the morning.
Other challenges may be – and some would not
believe this – different languages. There are coun-
11
05.07.2007 11:18:19 Uhr
challenge
tries, such as France or Italy, where the command
of spoken English is sometimes rather limited,
even in global companies.
Another challenge is the concept of culture. Some
countries, even if they are quite distant from each
other, might be more similar than neighboring
markets. Culture here refers to all those stereotypical things you may have heard of: being on time
or being late, accepting young superiors, working
with women, working in teams or individually,
sticking to your opinion or not, etc. Very often, it is
all about finding a good compromise. When you
are working in a culture where everything needs
to work as soon as possible, but you have a team
of people from a culture where everything is a bit
slower, do not rush them and do not try to force
your style on them. They might not feel comfortable and even work against you.
What are the main challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their approach to
reach international markets?
A very simple challenge for SMEs is the – sometimes – limited budget for international communication. If you spend a certain sum in your
domestic market, and you want to have a similar
market share elsewhere, you may want to invest
a fair amount of money. Most companies do not
do this. They invest only a fraction and then want
to see the results. Other challenges – for example,
the staffing issue – applies to SMEs as well. Many
SMEs choose the option of having local consultants to do the work for them. This concept works
fine as long as you have someone in your communication team who can manage well these
various partners around the globe. It is important
to build a good level of trust between the headquarters and the national partners. You are well
advised to visit them from time to time and to not
only rely on email and telephone. What has also
been useful in international teams is to summarize
phone conversations in a short email. This helps to
ensure that everyone has the same understanding and all the discussed points at hand.
How can a corporate identity (CI) be communicated across borders?
After you have checked that your name, logo,
company color etc. is accepted everywhere, apply your CI in all markets. I know companies that
have made very positive experiences with this
universal approach. Train your national teams and
external agencies on how to use your guidelines
on Corporate Design.
12
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 12
It is important to ensure proper use of the right
colors everywhere – and to check that they are
still the same after printing. There are interesting
variants out there.
How global can information be and how local
does it have to be?
Professional communicators will always differentiate between local and global messages. Global
companies might have overarching themes that
are the same everywhere. This might be the
company slogan or vision/mission/values.
In addition, there may be national messages
that are tailor-made for particular markets. These
might deal with certain products or services
especially designed for specific countries. Deciding which information customers will accept
depends on the cultures of the target markets.
There are various differences when working with
international media as well. Some journalists
might only be interested in facts, whereas others
would like to get more emotional backgrounds
for their story. In some countries, paying a
journalist to write a story is necessary, whereas
this practice might be dangerous for your relation
with journalists in other countries. When producing an employee magazine for an international
workforce, it is also important to take into consideration the different cultural backgrounds and
local interests of your target group.
Can companies with a long national tradition
allow themselves to keep their national values
when entering foreign markets?
Yes. There are numerous examples of companies
that have kept their national values, and even
used it to their benefit. For example, there are
many European or German companies with
a long tradition in their industry. They use this
tradition and the associated values to communicate their experience, to build up trust in
the company, to prove the high quality of the
products etc. This approach might not work with
all companies though. Regarding these things
it is important to consider that there is not just
one concept for international communication.
What might work well for one company might be
completely unacceptable for another.
who thought they can buy coverage in leading
German business magazines. Clearly this is not
the case and it was not easy to explain to them
that this is not a common practice in Germany.
They then left with their suitcases full of money
and had difficulties explaining their failure to their
bosses back home.
In Asian countries where you have a strong
group-orientation, I have heard of big lunches
that companies organized for journalists, only to
build rapport and to establish a strong relation
with them. From a Western perspective, it sounds
unacceptable to spend a lot of money on pure
entertainment, without having the objective to
get at least a bit of coverage. In Eastern Europe, it
might happen that you have 100 people attending a big company’s press briefing, which at first
looks like a big success. However, afterwards you
realize that there are only a few minor articles
as a result of this major conference. What has
happened? Well, the journalists invited friends to
come along to the press briefing, in order to have
a good time and delicious food. So only half of
the people in the room were actually journalists.
And those who really were journalists, expected
to get money from the company to cover their
story. Since this didn’t happen, the articles failed
to appear.
In advertising, be aware of the different meanings
of colors in different countries. The color white,
for example, stands for death and mourning in
the orient and other countries. So if you think
about picturing a woman wearing a white dress
in a print add – better think again for this part of
the world.
contact
Thorsten Luetzler is chairman of the international
chapter of the German
PR Association DPRG. He
spent years working on
international accounts for
German consultancies and
in international affairs. Today he manages the
international communications department of a
Have you experienced cultural difficulties
in international communication that you can
tell us about?
When it comes to media relations, I have met
several PR colleagues from Russia, for example,
global company. He is a PhD student in international Public Relations.
[email protected], www.dprg.de
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:21 Uhr
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#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 13
05.07.2007 11:18:26 Uhr
collaboration
IKEA: behind the best
global retail website
IKEA (www.ikea.com) is one of the world’s most successful retailers, with more than 220 stores spanning 35 countries.
Founded in Sweden more than 50 years ago, IKEA stores last year collectively saw more than half a billion visitors
and brought in more than $22 billion in business. What makes these statistics particularly impressive is that they’re
generated by a truly global customer base. Consider the locations of the most recent IKEA store openings: Bucharest,
Romania (March 2007); Frankfurt, Germany (March 2007); Bari, Italy (February 2007); St. Petersburg, Russia (December
2006); Round Rock, Texas, U.S.A. (November 2006); and Chengdu, China (November 2006).
By John Yunker
And yet IKEA, with only 29 locations in the United
States, is really just getting started.
Each year, I benchmark hundreds of global
websites for The Web Globalization Report Card,
and for the past three years, IKEA has dominated
these rankings as the best “bricks and mortar”
retail website. It emerged on top of its industry
again for The 2007 Web Globalization Report
Card, placing twenty-third out of 200 websites.
This article explains why IKEA is the global retail
website to beat – and what companies in other
industries can learn from the retailer.
Retailers have generally been slow to develop
multilingual websites simply because they’ve
been slow to expand outside of their domestic
markets. According to a Deloitte study of the
world’s top 250 retailers, 104 retailers have no
international operations at all.
But IKEA has an advantage over its competitors
because it built its business not only through
store expansion but through a hugely popular
mail order catalog. Now printed in 27 languages
and distributed in 34 countries, the catalog
provides IKEA with the local-market intelligence
it needs to identify where to open stores next,
what products will be most successful, and what
unique local challenges the company will face.
For retailers, going
global isn’t easy
Going local while
staying Swedish
As one retailer told me a few years ago, the world
may be flat for Amazon.com, but for bricksand-mortar retailers, the world is still very much
round. That’s because many retailers must open
local stores before they can succeed in new markets. A localized website might be a great way
to test market potential, but for a company that
specializes in, say, furniture, giving customers the
opportunity to touch and sit on the merchandise
can make all the difference.
Despite locating its headquarters in The
Netherlands, IKEA actively promotes its Swedish heritage. The company’s blue-and-yellow
color scheme echoes the colors of the Swedish
national flag.
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#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 14
Figure 1a (above): The Stefan chair for sale
on the France site; Figure 1b (below): The
same chair on the US site.
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:27 Uhr
collaboration
IKEA’s product designs are clean and minimalist
in nature; the product names – such as Norden,
Sommar and Stefan – are of Scandinavian origin;
and the stores themselves include restaurants
that serve Swedish meatballs.
But while IKEA may benefit from its perceived
Swedishness in each new market it enters, the
products themselves must be relevant to the local market – that is, customers will only purchase
products that fit their homes and lifestyles. And
this is where the localization of IKEA comes into
play, both in the stores and on the web. IKEA
aims to develop products that will be relevant in
as many markets as possible, such as the Stefan
chair shown in Figures 1a and 1b. But even if the
same product can sell in many markets, variables
must be localized, such as measurements and
currencies.
That said, IKEA does a very good job of minimizing the number and complexity of these variables, which is a general lesson in web globalization. The art of successful global web design is
about less design, not more, as you’ll see with
IKEA’s global design template.
Now let’s visit www.ikea.com
Figure 2: The splash global gateway with locale selection.
At IKEA, .com means
global
When you visit www.ikea.com, you arrive at a
splash global gateway. This page allows you to
self-select your locale.
The first thing to note about this page is that it is
country agnostic. Sweden gets no higher billing
than any other country. Furthermore, each of the
country websites is hosted in its relevant twoletter country domain, such as www.ikea.de for
Germany and www .ikea.fr for France. The US site
is hosted at www.ikea.us
Volvo takes a similar approach, hosting its US site at
the .us domain. It is no coincidence that these two
companies did not originate in the United States.
American companies and American customers
have historically viewed .com as the US domain,
which has prevented them from taking the approach used by Volvo and IKEA, for now at least.
While this may sound like a minor detail, a
number of multinationals are struggling with the
confusing nature of the .com address. As companies expand their reach around the world, they
find that users from around the world initially
visit the .com address looking for local content.
That’s why the splash global gateway is such a
valuable device.
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 15
Figure 3: From the gateway to a country page.
IKEA’s splash global
gateway
Back in 2003, IKEA was one of only a handful of
companies that used a splash global gateway.
IKEA was ahead of its time.
More than 25% of the 200 websites analyzed in
The 2007 Web Globalization Report Card now
use splash global gateways, including companies
such as Caterpillar, Air France and Patagonia
(which launched its global gateway only a few
months ago).
For some country websites, IKEA presents more
than one landing page, thereby allowing users
to drill down to specific regions or towns within
their country. No matter where the user is within
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05.07.2007 11:18:30 Uhr
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 16
05.07.2007 11:18:31 Uhr
collaboration
Figure 4: Users in some
countries can select
country, region and
town pages.
Figure 5: Country names in non-Latin scripts are presented as graphics.
the IKEA website, however, the current locale is
prominently indicated at the top of the page, a
nice way to gently remind users as to where they
are exactly within the site. It’s important to stress
that as companies localize their websites into
more and more locales across more and more
brands, the odds of their customers and potential customers getting lost only increase.
IKEA does a number of things well with its
splash gateway. As shown in Figures 4 and 5,
the gateway is careful to include country names
in the dominant native language. You’ll notice
that multiple scripts are displayed. Although
Unicode allows for a web page to display
more than one script, if the user’s computer
does not have a Unicode-friendly font, many
of these scripts will appear as empty boxes or
question marks. To keep this from happening,
IKEA embeds the non-Latin scripts within GIF
images. It’s another small detail, but one that
might prevent visitors from thinking that their
browsers are acting up or the website is broken
– or, worse, contacting your web support team
saying that the website is broken.
Another important aspect of this gateway is
that all countries are treated equally. Many
companies use pull-down menus for their
global gateways. When the list of countries
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 17
grows too long, companies will often place
their core market at the top of the list, such as
the United States or United Kingdom. Doing so
shows favoritism for one country over others
and is generally not a good idea if your goal is
to expand into new countries.
The major drawback to the IKEA landing page is
that repeat visitors will keep on landing on this
splash page. Some companies use cookies to
capture the user’s locale preference so that he
or she bypasses this landing page on subsequent visits, something IKEA should consider
testing.
The splash gateway is not a “silver bullet” solution to global navigation. It is just one element
of a larger navigation strategy. Here are a few
tips to keep in mind as you develop your company’s navigation strategy:
Reserve country-specific domain names. From
.us to .de to .cn, if you’re planning to expand
globally, start reserving those country domains as
soon as possible.
Include a „permanent gateway“ on all web
pages. If a user arrives at the German site by mistake and wants to get to the Spanish site, always
include a link back to the gateway. This permanent gateway link should be located at the top of
the web page whenever possible. The permanent
gateway link on the Caterpillar website is shown
in Figure 6.
IKEA is missing permanent gateway links on its
country pages.
Wave flags with caution. Flags can be effective
in letting the user know that he or she is on the
correct country website, but they should not be
used to denote language. For example, what flag
would you use to signify Spanish or English? The
use of flags is also a delicate issue when it comes
to China and Taiwan.
Tell users where they are. Each country website
should include the country name within the
template header to provide an additional degree
of comfort to the user.
Consider geolocation and language negotiation. These two technologies look at the web
user’s IP address and language preference of the
browser to serve customized content. Google
uses both of these technologies, and a small but
growing number of companies are now using
them as well.
Finally, sometimes you’ll need to localize a
website into multiple languages to effectively
address one country, such as Switzerland.
Although it is a relatively small country, Switzerland has four official languages: French, Italian,
German and Romansh. Notice how the IKEA
17
05.07.2007 11:18:32 Uhr
collaboration
Figure 6:
Caterpillar’s permanent gateway
link.
Figure 7: IKEA
Switzerland’s site
with three language
choices.
Switzerland site (Figure 7) is available in French,
German and Italian.
Supporting customers,
one country at a time
IKEA’s global template:
less is more
Successful customer support requires much
more than providing a “store locator” feature on
a website. IKEA certainly makes its store locator
easy to find and use; Figure 9 shows the one
from the Spain site. But IKEA also provides some
nifty features that other retailers often do not
provide, such as a local-language web-based
chat application, shown in Figure 10, also from
the Spain site.
In addition, IKEA provides web users with the
ability to enter an item number to see if a desired product is in stock at their nearest location
– a great way to save customers from making
wasted trips. This feature integrates nicely with
IKEA’s direct mail catalog program. A customer
can simply plug in the item number from the
catalog and then head off to the store.
IKEA was also forward-looking in its global design.
Although the design has evolved over the years,
the overall approach remains the same – a
consistent global design template that allows a
maximum amount of real estate for local products and promotions.
The template is basically just a header. Also,
various page templates may be shared between
regions and countries. Globally, however, the
template is one consistent design element.
As a general rule, I find that the less real estate
the global template requires, the less resistant
country offices will be toward adopting it. When
it comes to successful global designs, less is more.
Figure 8: IKEA global template.
18
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 18
Figure 9 (above): The
Spanish store locator.
Sometimes localization is about providing support for those people who aren’t truly local, such
as expatriates. For example, the IKEA France site
provides English content for customers who may
not yet speak the language.
80 percent of the world,
and then some
There are now more than a billion internet users
around the globe, but only a third of these web
users are native-English speakers. To communicate with roughly 80% of these users, you need to
support these ten lang-uages: Chinese, Spanish,
Japanese, Ger-man, Korean, French, Italian, Russian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Arabic.
IKEA supports these languages and many more
– a total of 26 languages in all. By my calculations,
this means that IKEA can communicate with 85%
of all internet users globally.
Figure 10 (right):
The Spanish
Help page.
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:35 Uhr
collaboration
Figure 11: Country-specific pages.
Figure 12: A page for anglophone residents of France.
Not standing still
IKEA continues to add localized websites at a
slow but steady pace. Last year, the company
added a site for Romania, and it’s not difficult to
predict which sites will be added next. IKEA has a
store opening in Greece in October, no doubt to
be met with a localized website — a website that
looks much like any other IKEA site, but distinctly
Greek.
Any Language.
Any Culture.
Reprinted with permission of MultiLingual
magazine, Copyright June 2007
www.multilingual.com
contact
John Yunker is
president of Byte Level
Research and editor of
Global by Design
www.moraviaworldwide.com
www.bytelevel.com
www.globalbydesign.com
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 19
AMERICAS
EUROPE
IRELAND
CHINA
JAPAN
19
05.07.2007 11:18:38 Uhr
solutions
REACH creates a demand for expert translation services
Preparing your chemical
products for international
markets
A casual observer would imagine that the chemical industry and the translation industry are akin to two parallel lines
- never destined to meet, or encounter each other in any way. That casual observer would be wrong. The fact is, the
translation industry is about to be buffeted by the shock waves sent out by a catalyst recently unleashed on the chemical
industry by the European Union. What is this catalyst? – It is REACH. That acronym stands for Registration, Evaluation,
Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals.
Photo: Jean Scheijen
20
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 20
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:42 Uhr
solutions
By Aidan Collins
The regulation with the official title “Regulation
(EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament
and of the Council” of December 18, 2006 runs to
849 pages and replaces over 40 pre-existing laws.
It came into force on June 1, 2007, six months after
its initial publication in the European Commission’s
Official Journal. It will play out over the next decade
as chemical companies seek to comply with the extensive regulations now governing the industry.
The two most important aims of REACH are to improve protection of human health and the environment from the risks of chemicals, while enhancing
the competitiveness of the EU’s chemicals industry.
Over a period of eleven years, REACH will demand
the registration of some 30,000 chemical substances. The registration process requires manufacturers
and importers to generate data for all chemicals
substances produced in or imported into the European Union above one tonne per year. The registrants must also identify appropriate risk management measures and communicate them to users.
Amongst the myriad of controls and regulations
facing chemical companies will be a requirement
to take cognizance of the multiple language dimension of the European Union. In particular,
REACH requires that, when it comes to labeling of
documentation relevant to the chemical substance,
companies must ensure the following:
-
-
-
“The inscription must stand out clearly from its
background and shall be in a language which
is understood in the territory where it is being
used.”
“The labeling of articles containing asbestos
shall be in the official language or languages of
the Member State(s) where the article is placed
on the market.”
“The safety data sheet shall be supplied in an
official language of the Member State(s) where
the substance or preparation is placed on the
market, unless the Member State(s) concerned
provide otherwise.”
It is these regulations – buried deep within the
800-odd pages of the regulation – that will see an
impact on the translation industry. Many chemical
companies are now looking to source reliable, professional translation services to help them meet the
demands of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
The good news is the translation industry is well
established, professional, with sophisticated tools
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 21
and processes which will allow those in chemical
companies to achieve their translation needs in a
cost effective and quality-assured manner.
Lisard Jiménez, sales director for Arancho Language
Solutions group said: “We find that many customers new to the industry are surprised at how sophisticated the process is. They have this image of
translators in back rooms with a basic PC and big
dictionaries. In fact the translation process is very
sophisticated and streamlined. The technology and
expertise is there to help deliver consistent quality,
reduce cost, speed up delivery and leverage translation investment towards future requirements.”
Translation buyers should look to employ companies that have the scope and scale to meet the demands of a multilingual project. A multi language
vendor can project, manage and co-ordinate all of
your languages and documents centrally. This cuts
down on administration time and effort on your
part. You will have only one status report, one point
of contact and one invoice. It also gives you leverage when negotiating price as you can argue for a
reduction for volume and promise of a long term
relationship (assuming your quality standards are
met).
Here is my advice to chemical companies planning
to undertake translation projects:
-
-
-
-
-
-
Appoint one “translation owner” who has the
power to co-ordinate all translation needs and
budgets. If you have too many translation owners you end up with an inefficient system, with
no co-ordination on key issues such as standardized terminology and translation memories;
Do not use amateurs from within the company
– it is unprofessional and potentially dangerous.
Translation should be done by professionally
qualified experts, with a specialty in this field;
Make sure your chosen supplier has an expertise
in the subject matter;
Don’t be afraid to ask for a free test translation.
But don’t abuse this by asking for a free translation of a long document into multiple languages;
Ask the supplier for profiles of their translators if
you have doubts about their bona fides;
Request a project manager (PM) who has previous experience in this area. A good PM can make
or break a project;
Ensure that your vendor has an automated way
of tracking the movement of project files to ensure integrity of file management;
Discuss the possibility of creating a “master glossary” of terms at the beginning of a project to
-
-
-
-
ensure standard use of terms across products. It
will cost a little bit more up front but could save
you hugely in the long run;
When large documents are translated, do not be
afraid to ask for samples of the translated copy
to review during the translation process. This will
allow you to detect any errors early in the process. Waiting until the end to review copy could
lead to a few shocks and missed deadlines;
Insist that your vendor come up with the most
cost effective way to do the translation. Your
vendor is the expert, that’s why you are paying
him. He needs to provide you with the optimum
service;
Ask your vendor to advise you on the best use
of Computer Aided Translation tools and translation memories. The use of these tools can greatly
reduce the translation cost, bring forward the
deadline, and improve terminology coherence
across multiple documents;
Finally, if in doubt, ask your vendor for a face-toface meeting to discuss and agree the optimum
process to suit your company’s requirements.
No professional translation supplier should have a
problem with any of the above-mentioned points.
If you choose the right vendor they should become
– in effect – a seamless, external extension to your
team. It’s a buyer’s market. Use that power!
contact
Aidan Collins is a translation expert, who has
worked in the industry
for 16 years and writes
for translation industry
journals. He is European
Business Development
Manager for Arancho
Group translations.
[email protected]
www.arancho.com
21
05.07.2007 11:18:48 Uhr
solutions
Is there one Spanish for
all your needs?
Photo: Vinicius Tupinamba
Similar to marketing campaigns in different languages, words,
images and messages are not the same for different socioeconomic and cultural segments identified within the
population. We all know that age and gender are key
factors whenever choosing what and how to say
something. The same rule also applies when
deciding which Spanish to use in your
localization effort.
By Gabriela Morales
Among the world’s most frequently used languages, Spanish runs a close third with approximately 400 million fluent speakers. It is outnumbered only by Chinese, which leads the field by
far with approximately 1.5 billion speakers and
by English with around 500 million speakers.
The Spanish language is spoken in more than
20 countries, including the United States. This
particular group in the US, which grows steadily
and currently counts some 42 million speakers (ten percent of the entire Spanish-speaking
population), is extremely diverse and includes
natives of almost all Spanish speaking countries
in the world.
Translating into more than one Spanish?
At the end of the day there is one simple rule that
applies to all Spanish-speakers regardless of their
country of origin, race, socio-economic level,
culture or subculture: they all want to communicate in Spanish. But when you want to bring your
product to the Spanish market, you might be
wondering whether to adapt into one or several
Spanish variants, which variant to use, whether
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JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:18:49 Uhr
solutions
the translation into one variant will be reusable
for another, or whether your product will be accepted in the different markets.
The bottom-line of all localization efforts is
your budget: Can you afford to produce several
variants of the same text in Spanish? If you are
to produce just one version, you have two options: develop a neutral one, trying to cover all
variants, or develop a variant-focused one, the
most effective one in terms of economic issues or
market distribution. This issue could be further
defined by the very nature of the text you need
to translate: Is it technical? Is it a marketing
campaign? A legal contract? A healthcare piece,
perhaps? Is it for online or print publications?
And again, who is your target audience?
If you have already determined that the target
audiences for your healthcare brochure are
middle-aged, working women, living in Mexico
– then it is easy. Just translate it into Mexican
Spanish.
A legal contract from your company’s headquarters that will be used throughout all your branch
offices around the globe could be translated into
one version of Spanish. However, then it must
be reviewed by legal experts in each country, to
verify appropriate terminology as well as legal
clauses.
User manuals of a standard TV set-top or the instructions on how to assemble a wooden bench,
require simple and clear-cut language. It can be
translated using “neutral” Spanish, and be used
everywhere.
The good news about localizing into Spanish is
that you can count on a good base of skilled and
well-trained vendors. Also, the Spanish language
is diverse, but at the same time, it has a remarkable uniformity. Be aware, though, that depending
on the words you choose when translating, text
passages could become incomprehensible – or
even plainly offensive – to some countries.
Uniformity and diversity versus
localization costs
The variant used should be carefully chosen to
maximize the yield ration (market addressed/
localization cost). Sometimes we hear about
two variants of Spanish: Latin American/South
American Spanish and European/Castilian
Spanish. This differentiation is far from true:
there are several variants within the American
area, and so there are in Spain. We can use the
term “Latin American” Spanish to refer to the
different variants spoken in Central, South,
Caribbean and North America, and we can use
the term “Iberian” or “European” Spanish to refer
to the variants used in Spain (peninsula, Canary
and other associated islands). And we can use
“Mexican” or “Chilean”, etc, when referring to a
particular variant used in a specific country.
The diversity of the Spanish language comes
from different sources, starting with variances
in the “mother land” itself. The first settlers in
America came from different regions of Spain,
and each group brought its own language partic-
ularities – not to mention the Arabic and Jewish
influences. The great variety of native languages
in this vast area also influenced the development
of the regional Spanish. Furthermore, successive
immigrant waves, mainly Italian, brought their
own colors and flavors.
All these different influences on the Latin
American Spanish notwithstanding, there is still
a very strong common foundation. Orthography,
for example, is the same across all variants of the
Spanish language. The vowel system is simple:
there are only five vowels. English, on the contrary, has eleven vowels.
The language was preserved quite well. Regular
educated Spanish people can read texts dating
back 900 years. By the end of the 15th century
the first Spanish grammar was published by
Nebrija. For comparison Robert Lowth’s English
Grammar was published in 1762.
The written language has been quite uniform
since the first grammar. On both sides of the
Atlantic people read literature in Spanish and the
authors can be Argentinean, Mexican, Peruvian
or Spaniards. Translations of non-fiction and
technical books can be done on either side of
the Atlantic, and used in any Spanish-speaking
country.
TV programs are exchanged as well; singers and
music groups rank in the top lists based on acceptance of their music, not on country of origin.
This mutual cultural exchange helps to preserve
the uniformity. Even with a total of 40 different
pronunciations, the difference in written text is
COGNITAS#HECKINGTOOLSFàR!DOBE&RAME-AKER
+ORREKTOR
FOR!DOBE&RAME-AKER
"UTBECAUSEWEREALLYCAREABOUTTHE
QUALITYOFALLTECHNICALDOCUMENTATION
WEDOEVENTOCOMPETITORS
2EQUESTYOURFREEDEMOVERSIONSNOW
WWWCOGNITASDE
4ERM#ONTROL
,ANGUAGEINDEPENDENT
TERMINOLOGYCHECKINGTOOL
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23
JULY 2007
COGNITAS'ESELLSCHAFTFàR4ECHNIK$OKUMENTATIONMB(sWWWCOGNITASDEs4EL#ONTACTCLAUSNOACK COGNITASDE
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 23
05.07.2007 11:18:53 Uhr
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 24
05.07.2007 11:18:54 Uhr
solutions
not that significant. Take for example the word
“lluvia” (rain). We can have up to seven different
pronunciations even within the same country, but the spelling is the same both in Latin
America and Spain.
Diversity at the phonetic level, though remarkably noticeable, is not relevant for localization,
except perhaps in certain multimedia products
that include narrations. The appropriate voices
and recording studios should be selected.
Morphological level: In general, Spanish uses
“tu” to address equal people (you/tu/du in English/French/German) versus “Usted” for formal
addressing (you/vous/Sie). But some variants
of Spanish use “vos” instead of “tu” (“vos” is the
archaic formal addressing) while retaining the
“Usted” for formal addressing. This has little
impact in localization of software applications
because the user is addressed in the formal way,
both on-screen and on-book, and the formal
way is common to all Spanish variants. However, once again, special care has to be taken for
multimedia products: Some users might be kids,
so the localization process has to tackle with the
“tu/vos” conflict.
There are other morphological diversities, but
mainly in conversational use (and thus with no
impact on localization). Besides, these issues are
often a matter of preferences, like choosing “six”
instead of “half a dozen”.
With regard to verbs, the Spanish verb-tense
system – just like English – comprises a modification mechanism (eat, ate) and a compounding mechanism (has eaten). But the Spanish
compounding mechanism is more complex than
English, and some American variants tend to
prefer simpler, modified forms. Efficient software
localizers around the world also prefer these
forms because they are shorter.
At the syntactic level there are very minor issues
and they are mainly conversational, thus having
little impact in localization.
Lexical level. By hearing a Spanish (or English)
speaker we can easily identify the country of origin. But in written texts, only a careful study of
terminology usage can provide the clue. Diversity
stems from the different social, historic, economic and politic evolution in the different countries,
and thus terminology differences are particularly
obvious in topics related to humans as well as
ecological and social topics. Think about names
of plants, animals or food: even within the same
country there are differences (blueberry/bilberry;
jackrabbit/hare; sweet/candy).
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 25
Whereas some areas have little impact on
software localization, others like technology
and trade have quite an impact. While British
English can just take the US term for nearly any
concept, other languages have to translate the
English words of things developed or created in
English. For example, “computer” is “ordenador”
in European Spanish (influenced by the French
“ordinateur”), but it is “computadora” in the
American area. Think about walkman, CDROM, DVD player, and so on. These products
– and the words used to name them were originally created in other countries and languages,
and therefore they have to be “translated” into
Spanish. Sometimes translators have to either
create a new term, following the morpho-syntactic structure of the target language, or adapt
existing words to incorporate this new product
or concept name into their own culture.
At the extra-linguistic level, different cultural
aspects might have an impact on localization. On
the one hand, local issues such as the employed
paper format, zip codes, format of phone numbers or dates should be taken into account. On
the other hand, the selection of examples used in
the user education materials (names of people,
names of products in stock, etc.) or the sample
files to be included in the distribution kits (accounting practices, taxes, etc.). Not to mention
the “sports” factor in cultural related examples.
US English materials tend to rely heavily on
baseball or football references (make a homerun,
get to second base, touchdown, quarterback),
whereas in Latin America baseball is hardly
known and we all play “fútbol”, which, mind you,
is not the same as “football” (American Football),
but, in fact, ”soccer”.
So... Is there one Spanish for
all your needs?
To answer this question, carefully consider your
intended audience, subject matter, budget, and
experience of the localization team.
Multimedia software products require a very
careful approach to increase the ratio market
breadth/localization costs. Issues like addressing
the user in on-screen materials (“voseo”) have to
be catered for, as well as the voices or narrations.
The film industry faces similar challenges. In
Spanish-American countries, all foreign language
programs, films, cartoons and documentaries
shown on free TV channels are dubbed into
neutral Spanish, while on cable and satellite pan
contact
María Gabriela Morales
is founder of Rosario
Traducciones y Servicios,
a translation and localization company based in
Rosario, Argentina, specializing in Latin American
languages (Spanish and
Brazilian Portuguese).
She has a degree in both English to Spanish and
French to Spanish translation.
www.rosariotrad.com.ar
[email protected]
regional channels are dubbed or subtitled. For
theaters, only the films made for children are
dubbed into neutral Spanish. In recent years,
Disney decided to “localize” some of its animated
features (The Incredibles, Chicken Little) into
not just two Spanish variants, but four - with
strikingly different results. The selected countries were Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and
Chile. In Argentina, however, the result was far
from satisfying. The main reason was, that the
vocabulary and voice talents that were selected,
depicted more the “porteño” or Buenos Aires city
lingo and tone than the actual Spanish spoken in
Argentina.
References:
The Spanish Language: Dream or Nightmare?
– Javier García Alvarez, Lexitrans S.A., Spain
Wikipedia: Doblaje/Dubbing (filmmaking)
Español Neutro – Xosé Castro Roig (www.
xosecastro.com)
Real Academia Española – Lectures from the 4th
Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Española,
Rosario, Argentina, 2004
25
05.07.2007 11:19:03 Uhr
business culture
Korean business culture
Between traditional values
and modern standards
photo: Vova Pomortzeff
Most foreigners’ view about Korea is based on how it is portrayed in the media as well as how it appears during
international events hosted in the country, like the 2002 soccer world-cup. From that perspective, Korea is viewed
as a modern country, similar to most countries in the Western world. With modern buildings crowning the skyline,
first-class telecommunications infrastructure and Western chain stores like Starbucks scattered throughout the cities,
there doesn’t seem to be much difference between Seoul and many other major cities in the world. However, if you
look below the surface you will find a whole different country with a diverse culture and unique values thriving in a
modern society.
26
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 26
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:19:07 Uhr
business culture
By Sung Cho
Within the last 50 years Korea raised from the
ashes of the Korean War (1950-1953) into an
industrial power house that ranks tenth largest in
the world. This was achieved without any assistance of natural resources, as they hardly exist in
Korea. The countries greatest resource has been,
and still is, its people. The peninsula’s development into a major economic power was almost
entirely based on people and their culture.
More and more Western people are working in
Asia these days and large numbers of them are
working in Korea. Even if they are not working
in Korea itself, business people from around the
world have a high chance of interacting with
people in Korea. The old proverb “When in Rome,
do as the Romans do” still rings very true in the
fast moving modern business environment.
In this regard, it is important to address and
understand cultural diversity in Korea and how it
impacts international business.
factors, like age, social status, gender etc. Each
status has specific forms of acceptable behavior.
This system has been greatly “westernized” within
the last decade, but it is still of vital importance
to Koreans and to foreigners doing business with
Koreans, or living in Korea.
For example, Koreans exchange business cards
when they first meet, not only for the name of
the counterpart, but because they want to know
his title. Knowing the title of the dialogue partner
makes them feel more comfortable, as now they
know how to behave. The higher the title of the
counterpart and the more well-known his company, the more prestige he enjoys. When you are
in a meeting with a group of people, you need
to know whom to address during the discussion.
For example, all important questions as well as
decisions should be directed to the highest rank-
ing persons within the meeting; other details can
be discussed with people of lower ranks.
Because of the importance of social position and
rank, and the necessity of knowing and following
the etiquette that is appropriate for each level,
it is very important for Koreans (and foreigners
in Korea) to quickly determine someone’s status
when meeting for the first time. Therefore Koreans sometimes ask personal questions during the
first meeting (e.g. age), and foreigners shouldn’t
take this as an offense but rather as part of this
overall determination process.
Loyalty
Based on their Confucian culture, Koreans place
loyalty among the most valued virtue. However, different from other Asian cultures, there
Basic cultural values
The Korean culture is surprisingly unified and
stable despite some violent demonstrations by
students or workers you might have seen on
TV over the years. The people of Korea share a
common pride in the country’s unique cultural
and linguistic heritage that has emerged during
a long and turbulent history. As a result, Korea
boasts an enriched cultural outlook that is
reflected in its current business culture.
The culture follows Confucius’ teachings of strong
familial loyalty, the respect of elders, and the family as the basis for the ideal government. There is
strong pressure within the society for conformity to the group. The welfare of the group takes
precedence over the individual. This is shown in
the employee’s obedience and loyalty to his or
her employer and the tendency of high-ranking
individuals having power over their subordinates.
Consequently, decision making in Korea follows
a formal procedure in which senior approval is
necessary. Nevertheless, Koreans strongly believe
in a democratic government where people have
freedom of choice and the ability to speak their
opinion freely.
A hierarchical society
For centuries Koreans have been living in a hierarchical society based on a number of different
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 27
The magazine for
multilingual communicators.
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27
05.07.2007 11:19:09 Uhr
business culture
is stronger emphasis on loyalty towards one’s
superior than towards the company as a whole.
This might be viewed as odd given the strong
group focus of Koreans. However, when you
consider that one’s superior is usually viewed as
a father/ mother figure, it’s in line with Confucius’
idea of loyalty.
For foreign companies or foreign individuals
working in Korea, this means that the relationship between managers and employees is of vital
importance. Foreign employers in Korea have the
responsibility to establish and maintain relationships with their Korean employees based on integrity and trust. Trust is not easy to earn among
Koreans, but once it is earned, this trust will last a
life time. Koreans tend to trust and honor those
they know, respect, and have ongoing relationships with. Thus, maintaining good relationship
is very important. Not to keep relationships will
result in people leaving as soon as they find
another opportunity.
Personal relationships
– the most important
factor of doing business
in Korea
Strong personal relationships and personal connections are important for doing business worldwide. However, in Korea, this has been taken to
a new level and new meaning. Even in Western
societies, blood relationships and school friends
are important, but in the Korean society, this can
be the entrance to all business relationships. The
school you have attended, your relatives and the
people you know, can make or break a business.
So, the people you know (of course in good
terms) will be a tremendous asset for doing business in Korea.
Of course, as a foreigner, it is difficult to cultivate
these kinds of relationship. Therefore, it is essential for foreign companies as well as individuals to
connect with people who have these ties, even
though this might take some time and effort.
Once solid relationships have been established,
continuous reinforcement and maintenance is
vital.
Relationship between
co-workers
In most Western work environments, co-workers are just people who work together. Some
28
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 28
companies go beyond this and cultivate an
almost family-like environment. In Korea, this
type of family-like environment is the norm, not
an exception. Due to this atmosphere, internal
communication becomes increasingly nonverbal
and learning how to communicate with Koreans
by reading their emotions is not easy. In addition
to a good command of the Korean language,
one has to become sensitive to every nuance of
nonverbal and body language, and know how to
interpret it. Thus, it is highly advisable for the average foreign business person in Korea to take the
advice from a very close and experienced Korean
who acts as his or her cultural interpreter.
Moreover, foreign business people should be willing to spend time outside the normal business
hours to really get to know their employees and
superiors. This type of social gathering is where
people really open up, so missing out on it will
result in poor relationships with co-workers.
Hospitality
Startling to some foreigners is the role of
hospitality in Korean traditional etiquette and
ethics. Koreans are among the most hospitable
people, and in business situations their hospitality can be so aggressive that it might surprise
and sometimes even shock Western visitors.
Like most Asians and some Westerners, Koreans
have traditionally marked special occasions with
extravagant meals and heavy alcoholic drinks. In
business situations, it is customary for Koreans to
exceed hospitality.
Foreign visitors should also keep in mind that
the Western custom of “going Dutch” is not
common among Koreans and will most likely be
considered as offensive (or sometimes as cheap).
So, especially in a business setting, you need to
decide whether you will be paying the whole
bill or if you let the other side pay for everyone.
Splitting the bill is not an option. Of course the
amount also needs to be considered, i.e. deciding
how much is too little and how much is enough.
Western people than to that of Koreans. Even
some of the young Korean-born and -educated
people tend to have a more Western-style individualism and independence. So, when dealing
with Korean business people, you need to learn
about their background before deciding on the
appropriate form of interaction with them.
Conclusion
Despite the many cultural complexities involved
in doing business in Korea, for a growing number
of foreign business people, the effort is well
worthwhile. With heavy investment in telecommunication and a population that quickly adapts
to new products, Korea is the ideal place to test
and adjust any new hi-tech concept before
launching in the world market. Plus, Koreans are
sincere, warm and friendly people. The human
factor cannot be overestimated in Korean business culture. Koreans are regarded as emotional
people rather than people of reason or logic.
They make deep commitments of friendship and
loyalty that are permanent, if they are treated
fairly and with respect.
Please keep in mind that the information provided above is a general and simplified view of
Korean business culture. As everywhere, there are
exceptions, not only with regards to individuals
but also regarding groups.
contact
Sung Cho leads and manages the Asian & Pacific
regional operations of Jonckers Translation & Engineering. Sung has exten-
Cultural clash
These days there are multiple Korean cultures:
one is the traditional Korean culture with all the
characteristics mentioned above. However, there
is an increasing number of Koreans who received
their education in a Western culture or even grew
up in a Western society. These people share an
attitude and behavior that is closer to that of
sive experiences on both
service provider and client side and more than
ten years of engineering & business experience
both in software development and localization.
[email protected]
www.jonckers.com
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:19:10 Uhr
business culture
Some common sense rules of etiquette
Cultural differences – making
it work virtually
Working virtually adds a whole new dimension to the phrase “cultural differences”. It immediately becomes apparent how different people around the world work, live and network.
By Susan M. Totman
The barriers have been lifted. We can now
work “real time” with people around the world,
assisting and serving from thousands of miles
away in a flash. What is commonly not considered is the fact that though we are working
closely together, we may have vastly different
views of the world, various business practices
and languages. This can be a mixed blessing
and can lead to disaster on many fronts.
Photo: dogbone
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 29
29
05.07.2007 11:19:11 Uhr
business culture
Language issues
Learning to adapt to different cultures in a flash
can be difficult. You may have to alter your
perception of your own language, understanding
that though you use a specific version of English,
for example, your colleague or client may be
perfectly correct in their methods of writing and
speaking in their own culture. Before criticizing someone, especially publicly as I have seen
done so many times, check your facts – the other
person may be correct. You could be the wrong
one, despite your good intentions to point out an
error. Though someone may not have a mastery
of your language, it does not mean that they are
any less skilled or less professional than you. He
or she may also not understand that though it
may be customary to have specific etiquette in a
business solicitation or transaction, it may be very
different in their culture. Be tolerant.
Many times on colleague email lists and other virtual communication venues, someone will post
with imperfect English asking for assistance or
just wanting to communicate with peers around
the world. Don’t belittle that person for not writing in your language. If there are specific rules for
the list stating that no posts can be made other
than in your language, then it should be the
responsibility of a moderator or list owner to take
care of that issue – it is not up to you to openly
criticize or berate that person – period.
Beliefs and customs
contact
Susan M. Totman is a certified master virtual assistant and web designer.
She is founder of EliteOfficeSupport.com™, a portal
for virtual office assistants
Understand that your beliefs and methods of
working may be entirely different from other
countries and that your way is not necessarily
better! Each person, no matter where they hail
from, is entitled to his or her own opinions and
beliefs. It is not appropriate to question or condemn anyone at any time regarding these things.
worldwide. Susan has
worked in various areas of business administration for over 20 years and virtually since 1999.
Interpretation of the
written word
Though someone may advertise in a way that
you consider “spamming”, to him or her it may be
considered innocent advertising. Though it may
www.eliteofficesupport.com
[email protected]
be unsolicited, to be fair, so are cold-calling and
postal mailings. Many of the people whom I’ve
seen complaining about such unsolicited “spam”,
have also mentioned that they have used the
same methods to obtain clients at one time or
another. Let’s not be hypocritical.
Many people new to virtual business may not
understand all of the “rules of the game”, but
they are highly skilled professionals perfectly
capable of providing you with a terrific end result.
Many times using a professional from another
country may be far more affordable to you as a
subcontractor, particularly if you keep an eye on
exchange rates.
Working with clients
internationally
Working with clients in different countries can be
a challenge and requires consideration of different cultures. Many cultures are quite conservative
and formal and require a strictly professional
relationship in order to be successful. When approached by a foreign professional, be completely professional. Always address a potential client
formally until he or she gives you permission to
do otherwise. In many countries, failure to do so
is considered a lack of respect and is reason to
dismiss you.
Last, but definitely not least – avoid religious and
political discussions with international clients at
all costs. There is no quicker way to end a fruitful
relationship than to begin to debate over such
issues. Keep it professional – not personal.
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JULY 2007
COGNITAS'ESELLSCHAFTFàR4ECHNIK$OKUMENTATIONMB(sWWWCOGNITASDEs4EL#ONTACTCLAUSNOACK COGNITASDE
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 30
05.07.2007 11:19:12 Uhr
community
9th international Localization World Conference draws 500 participants
Professionals from around the world
discuss translation automation
and local languages
Photo: Vinicius Tupinamba
By Corinna Ritter
„Local Language First!“ was the theme of the last European Localization World Conference, which took
place from June 19th to 21st in Berlin, Germany. The
conference drew around 500 experts from the fields
of translation and localization.
Translation automation and localization processes
were the main topics discussed at the 9th Localization World Conference. In his plenary session, Jaap
van der Meer of the Translation Automation User SoJULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 31
ciety (TAUS) pointed out the benefits of automated
translation: While human translators will have to fall
back on their imagination when they fail to find out
the meaning of a certain term, automated translations are never based on assumptions. In an interview Mark Lancester, founder of SDL International,
also underlined the role of automation as the key
to future success.
The Localization World Conferences will be held
three times in 2007. After the Asian conference
in Shanghai in March and the recent conference
in Berlin, Localization World will show its flag in
Seattle this October, again with the theme “Local
Language First”. The conferences are organized by
Ulrich Henes, president of the Localization Institute
and Donna Parrish, publisher of the MultiLingual
magazine in collaboration with the Globalization
and Localization Association (GALA).
www.localizationworld.com
Photos (right and left): MultiLingual Computing
31
05.07.2007 11:19:14 Uhr
community
calendar
when
what
where
July 26-29
American Translator Association
Annual Conference
www.ata-divisions.org/TCD/
San Antonio, USA
August 1-3
Open Publish 2007
www.openpublish.com.au
Sydney, Australia
Extreme Markup Languages®
2007
www.extrememarkup.com
Montreal, Canada
Third Symposium on Statistical
Machine Translation
http://mitlab.hit.edu.cn/content_
en.html
Harbin, China
Globalization Management Strategy Conference
www.globalisation.org/
Hong Kong, China
The Global Information Industry Summit is produced by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), an industry association with around 800 corpo-
August
7-10
rate members. Conference topics cover three fields:
Markets
• Evaluate the emerging market for content in the Middle East
• Review new developments in China
August
12-13
• Gain first-hand knowledge through briefings on market entries made by other
information companies.
Strategies
• Hear success stories for bridging cross-cultural differences
• Discover how to strengthen your business with new collaboration tools for
August
24-25
stakeholders
• Learn how market leaders utilize traditional outsourcing, insourcing and epublishing for sustainable competitive advantage.
Challenges
September
3-5
European Society for Translation
Studies Congress 2007
www.est2007.si
Ljubljana, Slovenia
September
5-7
Global Information Industry Summit 2007
http://siia.net/giis/2007/
Berlin, Germany
September
10-14
Machine Translation Summit XI
http://www.eamt.org
Copenhagen,
Denmark
September
16-18
Localization Project Managers
Roundtable
http://localizationinstitute.com/
switchboard.cfm?category=roundtab
le&display=title&ID=23
Lake Tahoe, USA
CustomerCentric Selling® for LSPs
www.commonsenseadvisory.com/
consulting/customer_centric.php
Lisbon, Portugal
• Find out how to compete in a global marketplace encumbered with contradictory regulations for gathering and selling data.
• Traverse the landscape of differing values placed on intellectual property.
• Steer away from markets deemed inhospitable for publishers and aggregators.
Most attendees of the Localization Project Managers Roundtable have three or
more years of experience in localization project management. As a result presentations and discussions deal with advanced topics. The format of the Localization
Project Managers Roundtable relies on short presentations, some of them impromptu, followed by extensive discussions involving as many attendees as possible.
Objectives
• Promote a better understanding of the localization project management environment on both sides of the industry.
September
17-19
• Create a channel of open communication for project managers to discuss
specific issues of localization project management outside the client-vendor
relationship.
• Discuss the dynamics of the localization activities on the clients and vendor side.
September
21-22
TAUS Executive Forum
http://www.translationautomation.
com/beijingForum2007.php
Beijing, China
• Peer-to-peer exchange of ideas.
• Sharing of experiences.
• Frank and free discussions of issues confronting the industry.
• Networking.
• Evaluation of recent developments.
32
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 32
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:19:22 Uhr
directory
Associations
GALA is an international non-profit association that promotes translation services, language technology
and language management solutions. The 200+ member companies
worldwide include translation agencies, localization service providers,
globalization consultants and technology developers. GALA companies share a commitment to quality,
service and innovation in helping
clients reach global markets.
www.gala-global.org
[email protected]
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit,
international consortium that
drives the development, convergence, and adoption of e-business
standards. The consortium produces more Web services standards
than any other organization along
with standards for security, e-business, and standardization efforts in
the public sector and for application-specific markets. Founded in
1993, OASIS has more than 5,000
participants representing over 600
organizations and individual members in 100 countries.
www.oasis-open.org
[email protected]
JULY 2007
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 33
tekom Gesellschaft für technische
Kommunikation e.V. is the largest
association in Europe representing
technical communicators, illustrators and translators. tekom is a
neutral platform for the exchange
of information, knowledge and
expertise and promotes professional education and training in the
field of technical communication.
Founded in 1978, tekom currently
represents around 6000 members
in all industrial branches. tekom
cooperates with associations of
related professions, educational
institutions, industry organizations
and standards bodies worldwide.
www.tekom.de
[email protected]
Service Providers
cognitas – these are more than
80 experienced employees like
technical writers, designers, translators, online-specialists and tool
developers. cognitas is one of the
largest certified service providers of
technical documentation in many
different sectors like information
and communication technology,
the aerospace industry, defense and
automotive engineering. Our range
of services is based on a system of
modules, we accompany you from
the first concept phase through rollout and on to implementation. The
company is situated in Munich, and
has subsidiary offices in Paderborn,
Stuttgart and Salzburg (Austria).
www.cognitas.de
[email protected]
tcw
the content
wrangler
across Systems is the manufacturer
of the across Corporate Translation Management (CTM) software
solution. across includes a translation memory and terminology
system as well as powerful tools to
support the project and workflow
management of translations. Product manager, translator and proofreader all work together within one
system, either in-house or smoothly
integrated with translation service
providers. There are several partner
concepts and the Software Development Kit (SDK) for system integrators and technology partners in
order to include both preliminary
and subsequent process steps.
www.across.net
[email protected]
TheContentWrangler.com is a
popular online resource for technical and business writers with an
interest in content management.
Become a member of TheContentWrangler.com community. It’s free!
Members receive:
Our monthly email newsletter
Discounts on training, conferences, books, and more
Access to an influential network
of content professionals
Invitations to participate in
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Access to survey results
Content placement consideration on TheContentWrangler.
com
www.TheContentWrangler.com
[email protected]
empolis – The Information Logistics Company – offers enterprise
content and knowledge management solutions for company-wide
information logistics and for improving business processes. Our
portfolio includes a wide range of
solutions for technical documentation and communication, e.g.
• the empolis:Content Lifecycle
Suite – the intelligent publication tool for creation and reuse
of media-independent content,
version and variant management,
integrated translation management and 3D animation
• the empolis:Industry Catalog
Solution – the solution for managing, editing and publishing
complex product information.
empolis is part of arvato, the international media service company
within the Bertelsmann group.
www.empolis.com
[email protected]
Eskenazy Translations
Eskenazy Translations specializes
in state-of-the art technical translation, software localization and
website localization.
The company uses the following
CAT and localization tools: Trados,
across, Transit and Passolo.
Translation into 45 languages is
offered in Word, Framemaker,
QuickSilver, Pagemaker, InDesign,
QuarkXpress, Illustrator, Freehand,
CorelDraw, Photoshop, HTML,
SGML an XML.
Catalogues and brochures are delivered print-ready for Windows and
Macintosh. The current customer
base includes 500 industrial companies worldwide.
References: Liebherr, Siemens,
Panasonic, maxit Group.
www.eskenazy-translations.de
[email protected]
33
05.07.2007 11:19:23 Uhr
directory
the medical information company
Idiom® Technologies optimizes the
globalization supply chain by aligning global enterprises, language
service providers and translators.
WorldServer™ software solutions
expand market reach and accelerate multilingual communication by
automating translation and localization processes.
Idiom works with global organizations including Adobe, eBay, and
Mattel to cost-effectively translate
global websites, streamline software
localization, and speed time-tomarket for international product
documentation. Idiom also partners
with consulting firms, systems integrators, and technology vendors to
help customers maximize existing
enterprise infrastructure.
www.idiominc.com
[email protected]
Kothes! is your competent partner
for legally compliant and CE conforming technical documentation.
Kothes! meets the needs of companies of any size providing services
such as technical writing, translations, risk assessments, conformity
assessments, consultancy, training
and software solutions. Furthermore we offer in-house seminars
and workshops as well as the option of having your documentation
evaluated.
Consequently, Kothes! is not focused on any one particular field. In
fact, we manage all kinds of documentation projects from “small”
consumer products to “large”
plants.
Based in Kempen, Bremen and
Zurich, Kothes! covers the Germanspeaking market and beyond.
www.kothes.de
[email protected]
34
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 34
Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.
(Nasdaq: LIOX) is a leading provider of translation and content
development services. Lionbridge
combines global resources with
proven programme management
methodologies to serve as an outsource partner throughout a client’s
product and content lifecycle. Global organizations in all industries
rely on Lionbridge services to costeffectively increase international
market share and speed adoption of
global products and content. Lionbridge maintains solution centres in
25 countries.
http://www.lionbridge.com
Locatech has helped multinational
companies develop, adapt and
launch their products into international markets since 1993. Technical writers, software developers,
localization engineers, expert linguists and project managers provide
local and off-shore services for
every step in the multilingual content life cycle: from documentation
creation and software development
through translation and localization
to delivery of final, market-ready
materials. Locatech co-founded
LCJ EEIG in 1999, is a Microsoft
Premier Localization Vendor, and
provides high-quality, cost-efficient
IT outsourcing solutions through
Locatech Trisoft Services Pvt. Ltd.
India.
[email protected]
www.locatech.com
medical language service is a
professional translation company
which specialises exclusively in
medicine, medical equipment and
pharmacy. We work exclusively
with qualified translators from
these specialist areas. This means
your documents are accurate and
easy to understand even after
translation and/or localisation. By
using state-of-the-art technology
we ensure the translation process is
efficient at every stage.
medical language service covers the
entire translation process – from
the preparation of information and
data, translation and layout in the
foreign language through to the
finished publication.
www.medical-ls.com
[email protected]
Founded in 1990, Moravia Worldwide is a leading globalization
solution provider, enabling companies in the information technology,
life sciences, manufacturing and
financial industries to enter global
markets with high quality multilingual products. Moravia’s solutions
– delivered into over 90 languages
and locales – include localization
and product testing services, internationalization, multilingual publishing and technical translation.
With global headquarters in Brno,
Czech Republic, Moravia has local
offices in Ireland, Central Europe,
the United States, Japan, China and
Argentina.
www.moraviaworldwide.com
europe@moraviaworldwide.
com
mt-g medical translation is the
leading provider of translations and
global information services dedicated to medical science. We specialize
primarily in medical technology
and diagnostics, regulatory affairs,
dental medicine and other specialist
medical fields.
We offer a range of professional
services covering translation,
information production, global
information management and XML
documentation applications.
More than 450 medical and pharmaceutical experts in over 100
countries are engaged in translating, producing, managing and
documenting medical information.
www.mt-g.com
[email protected]
VAW-arvato is a global service
provider for the creation, management and delivery of technical
information.
From information sourcing to
global delivery, we help make workflows more efficient and use latest
technology to achieve optimum
cost savings, shortened production
times and consistent quality.
Our core industries are automotive,
engineering, energy and medical.
Over 200 experts in 9 locations on 4
continents produce
• Owners literature
• Service and repair manuals
• Training literature
• Diagnostic procedures
• Spare parts catalogues
and translate these documents in
more than 30 languages. Our own
Content Management System allows intelligent integration into
your software environment.
www.vaw-online.com
[email protected]
JULY 2007
05.07.2007 11:19:25 Uhr
tcworld_
Don’t
miss:
The event for anyone who
wants to communicate
successfully in global markets
Learn from top speakers of
all fields of global information
management
Localization Forum
in cooperation with GALA
Management Focus | Quality Standards &
Tools | Cultural Focus
OASIS Open Standards Day
in cooperation with OASIS
DITA | DocBook | Standards for Localization
OpenDocument
User Assistance Forum
Online Help | Usablity
Integrated Information
Management
Strategies | Methods | Technologies
conference 2007
C O N F E R E N C E F O R I N T E R N AT I O N A L I N F O R M AT I O N M A N AG E M E N T
T he tcworld conference is part of
the annual tekom conference, the
event with the highest attendance in
the field of technical communication
worldwide.
November 7 and 8, 2007 Rhein-Main-Hallen Wiesbaden, Germany
Further information: www.tekom.de/conference
tcworld_407_01.indd 1
20.07.2007 14:10:51 Uhr
GLOBAL SUCCESS
REQUIRES LOCAL REACH
To truly Succeed anywhere you need to connect with your
customers and your employees in their language.
As the world’s largest translation services provider, Lionbridge works with
hundreds of companies worldwide, from new businesses to the 10 largest in the world,
Our service teams enable our customers to cost effectively develop and deliver
locally relevant content on a global basis.
Companies in all industries including automotive, technology, pharmaceutical,
consumer products and telecommunications choose Lionbridge for their translation
and authoring needs including:
• Global web sites and marketing material
• Applications, user interfaces, and documentation
• Government and regulatory filings
• HR and eLearning materials
Lionbridge maintains full-service solution centres in 25 countries.
Merging the intimacy of local relationships with the efficiency of global execution.
WE ENABLE YOUR GLOBAL SUCCESS
www.lionbridge.com
Translation & Localisation • Global Outsourcing Services • Technical Writing • eLearning Localisation
#5546_tcworld_04-07.indd 36
05.07.2007 11:19:28 Uhr