Companies that monitor and respond to the growing internationalisation of business cope better with the new challenges of international competition and outperform those [that] do not respond adequately to change. In the manufacturing and services sectors, for example, companies in China and India are recognising the opportunities in the global marketplace and capitalising on them. Both countries are becoming global hubs in these sectors.

What is required is the ability to make intelligent choices on when to think globally and when to think locally and how to develop integrated strategies that market brands in the best way in both environments.

But what means are available to aid South African companies in making the right choices?

New research shows that South African companies can be more competitive by improving in one key area: market orientation. Being oriented to the market is about more than just customer orientation. It is an organisational culture and set of behaviours that help the company develop insight about international markets, craft strategic intent and manage effective interaction strategies.

Whatever business leaders decide is the best route for their brands, both venturing abroad and staying at home have winning strategies in the global marketplace.

Companies operating beyond SA’s borders may already have a unique advantage. Given that a dominant feature of the international marketplace is cultural diversity, South African companies have an advantage in their experience of doing business in a diverse society.

For locally bound companies, despite the rise of global culture, local culture remains a central influence on consumer behaviour and individual identity the “local is lekker” adage is a powerful purchasing factor for many South Africans.

Research shows local companies that firmly position and communicate their brands as icons of the local culture can generate higher brand value. This is a counterstrategy that remains underused.

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China is sending some 600 Chinese language teachers to Korean elementary and middle schools.

Zhejiang Online News reported Friday that 600 graduates from a teachers college in Zhejiang province would be sent to Korean schools after Hangzhou Normal University signed a deal with 16 school principals during their recent visit to China. The heads were tasked with negotiating the agreement on behalf of the roughly 2,000 Korean schools that teach Chinese.

Beijing’s dispatch of the teachers is part of an ambitious strategy to make Chinese a global language. Late last year it established the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language. Attached to the State Council, the body has set itself the target of increasing the number of foreigners learning Chinese to 100 million within five years. Currently, there are an estimated 30 million foreigners studying the language at 2,300 universities in 100 countries.

Beijing is setting up forward bases for the task around the world. Similar to Germany’s Goethe Institut or the U.K.’s British Council, Confucius Institutes teach Chinese language and promote Chinese culture, with the first one opened in Seoul’s Yeoksam-dong last year. China’s quasi-state run news agency China News reported Thursday that Beijing also plans to open up several Confucius Institutes in the U.S. by next year. One Western diplomat in China said Beijing aimed to promote Chinese as an international language able to hold its own against English.

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The battle between Getaway and Wegbreek appears to be drawing to a close, with the Cape Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that Media24/New Media Publishing desist from publishing Wegbreek in is current guise, and destroy all material bearing the mark ‘Wegbreek’.

According to Judge AM Motala, the Afrikaans leisure travel title infringes upon the English title’s trademark.

In his judgement, Motala commented that, “Wegbreek is virtually a translation of Getaway”.

“In my view, a substantial number of persons of average intelligence … will probably be deceived or confused into believing that Wegbreek is an Afrikaans version of Getaway,” he said.

“An examination of several issues of the two magazines reveals many similarities between them. Both are glossy colour publications of comparable size and weight. Both are aimed at the same readership. The contents of each, if translated, would quite appropriately fit into the other. They share many features. One feature in Wegbreek “Moegoe van die Maand” is a blatant copy of Getaway’s “Mug of the Month” – and is almost plagiaristic.

He concluded: “Apart from the title and the language used, there is nothing to distinguish Wegbreek from Getaway.”

Unhappily for New Media Publishing, this could signal the end of the road for Wegbreek as we know it – arguably one of the country’s most successful publication launches of late.

Launched last year April, it has already amassed a circulation of almost 60 000. And in December last year, it was announced that the title would be increasing its frequency from alternate monthly to monthly.

At the time of publishing, the only comment from Media24 was that the company “has noted the judge’s decision and taken cognisance of the ruling”.

Harold Eedes, managing director of Ramsay Son & Parker (which publishes Getaway) is naturally pleased with the outcome of the court case.

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Open-source provider Linspire Inc. is looking for volunteers to translate Linux applications into 78 different languages. Its translation project–called the International Resource Management Application (IRMA)–has already begun work on 24 languages.

“Instead of using expensive translation firms, we’re turning to Linux supporters to help make Linux available to new segments of the population,” said Linspire CEO Michael Robertson in a statement Thursday. “Soon, a Linux-based operating system will be available to any user, regardless of [his or her] native language.”

Linspire, which provides a Linux-based operating system for desktop and laptop computers, said more than 200 volunteers have already signed on for translation work. Linspire is seeking translators fluent in English and a foreign language. The company said the IRMA project has been created to easily coordinate translation activities in different parts of the world.

The IRMA project is set up so lead translators–called “managers”–review the work of first-line translators. All translation work is carried out over a Web interface and no custom translation software is required. For languages in more widespread use, a double-blind system will be employed, in which translations from two different translators are checked against each other.

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A Brazilian newspaper on Thursday accused the New York Times of illustrating a story on obesity in Brazil with a picture of three flabby-looking Czech women on a beach famed for its shapely local beauties.

The Times story went to the heart of Brazil’s self-image as a place of sunny sexiness and was the second in less than a year to provoke strong criticism in Brazil, where the globally influential newspaper’s coverage has faced heavy scrutiny by local media.

The Jan. 13 story by correspondent Larry Rohter was based on a government study that said more than 40 per cent of Brazilians are overweight.

It noted that Brazil’s “gifts to global culture” included the Girl from Ipanema and the thong, or “tanga,” bikini.

The photograph, by John Maier, showed three overweight women in bikinis on Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema Beach.

However, according to Globo newspaper, the women were not Brazilians but Czech tourists. “Certainly I am not a girl from Ipanema. I am a woman of a certain age,” 59-year-old Milena Suchoparkova told Globo in an interview.

“I think I’m overweight but I never was skinny. I was always robust but I wouldn’t say I was obese,” said Suchoparkova, Czech-born but a naturalized Italian.

Globo, one of Brazil’s biggest dailies, ran its story under the headline “New York Times Screw-up.” It ran a separate article on Rohter and questioned the Times’ ethics and credibility.

Suchoparkova and her friends were upset because, they told Globo, the photographer had not asked their permission before taking the shot. They were not mentioned in the story itself.

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“One Councilman started the ball rolling,” said Edward North Peigan, lead teacher of the Blackfeet language at Blackfeet Tribal Headquarters. “He wanted the Blackfeet language taught to all the staff, and he wanted to learn the language also.”

The BTBC resolved Dec. 2 to create a Blackfeet language teaching position in the tribal government, said North Peigan, who has taught the language at East Glacier Park Elementary, Browning High School and at Blackfeet Community College. Together with his wife, Wilma, he has logged many hours of Blackfeet language instruction time. “I’m a native speaker,” he said. “English is my second language. I’m continuing to struggle with English.”

But according to North Peigan, his experience in learning the dominant language of the United States gives him hope that people can learn Blackfeet. “If I can learn English, then anyone can learn anything they choose,” he said.

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TM Systems, the Emmy Award Winning developer of the industry’s first and only fully integrated, non-linear, “end to end” language translation, dubbing, subtitling and closed captioning system, has introduced two, new firsts and will be showcasing both, along with the entire TM Systems language localization solution, at the upcoming NAB Convention, in Las Vegas.

Together with the other TM Systems language modules or Stations, the QC Stationâ„¢ , or independent quality control module for individual desktop use, and the RenderStationâ„¢, a bitmap generation module that takes subtitling scripts in the form of Word documents created by the TM TranStationâ„¢ containing text, time code and vertical positioning for each subtitle, generating both a navigation file and a TIFF file per subtitle, specifically for DVD authoring, provides a complete solution that greatly increases the efficiency of the translation, subtitling and dubbing process, while minimizing the hardware and software investments required on the part of the studios, networks and their respective dubbing and subtitling vendors.

The QC Stationâ„¢ is a quality control software application that dramatically alters the traditional workflow of a dubbing and/or subtitling project. The QC Stationâ„¢ does away with the lengthy and time consuming process of laying back an audio track onto a videotape, making a dub of that tape and then shipping it to designated locations where it is reviewed by quality assurance personnel. Similarly, it enables the user to simulate subtitling text prior to compositing the text either electronically or physically. Before the QC Stationâ„¢ introduction, the process required going through typical long and costly shipping procedures before the soundtrack and subtitles could be checked for missing dialogues, casting or spelling errors, lip-synch, etc.

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Translation software has its limits, the Washington state secretary of state’s office is learning.

On the agency’s Web site, for example, a statement about Secretary of State Sam Reed proposing “statewide mandates to restore public trust” became “Swampy weed suggests whole state order recover open trust” in Chinese and “A plant reed proposes national mandate to recover public property trust” in Korean.

Both examples were cited by the Section 203 Voting Rights Coalition, which takes its name from a federal Voting Rights Act provision requiring equal access to election material. The agency includes the state Elections Division.

“A poor or inaccurate translation misinforms and frustrates voters and conveys the unintended message that the state does not equally value their participation in the political process,” the coalition said in a prepared statement.

“It’s critical that all the information that’s being offered is accessible to folks who want to know what’s going on, especially when it relates to election materials and voting,” coalition activist Debbie Hsu said. “It’s even more critical that they are offering correct information.”

A Chinese translation option was removed from the Web site on Jan. 12 and Korean got the heave-ho Tuesday without word on whether or when they would be restored.

“It’s not a perfect system. It does the best it can,” said Matthew Edwards, the agency’s webmaster. “We pulled it because of the complaints. If it’s totally confusing, it’s worthless.”

Systran S.A., based in Paris, receives about $6,000 a year to convert English on the Web site for viewing in Russian, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Italian, all of which remain available. Edwards said he would ask the company about improving the Chinese and Korean translations.

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Running out of patience, a federal judge on Tuesday ordered state lawmakers to provide more cash for English instruction programs by the end of this session or face possible sanctions.

Judge Raner Collins said legislators have failed to meet prior deadlines set by the court to comply with an order to properly fund these programs to teach English to students who come from homes where that is not the predominant language. Collins rejected pleas by attorneys for the state to give lawmakers a chance to act on their own — and at their own pace.

Collins noted that it has been more than five years since another judge found the state was violating federal laws which require the state to ensure that all children learn English.

“If the court were to defer its ruling to see if the Legislature acts on its own, it may jeopardize any opportunity for the English Language Learner programs to be funded during this legislative session,” Collins wrote in his six-page ruling. The result, he said, is “the children will have to wait more than another year for any type of relief.”

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A pair of studies on the readers of ethnically targeted newspapers affirms what many in the field have long claimed — mainstream newspapers are failing to reach this audience.

Dual studies conducted by Circulation Verification Council on both the Hispanic and African American newspaper markets appear to bear out this contention. According to a survey conducted among 15,000 readers of 110 African American community newspapers across the United States, 66 percent of readers cite their African American newspaper as their primary or only source for local news and community event information. In addition, only 12 percent of these readers subscribe to a daily newspaper.

Similarly, among 15,000 readers of 77 Hispanic community newspapers nationwide, 66 percent of readers cite their Hispanic newspaper as their primary or only source for local news and community event information, and only 14 percent subscribe to a daily newspaper.

The studies, which were conducted by Gemstone Communications Inc. and its subsidiary Ethnic Print Media Group (EPMG), which represents over 550 Hispanic and African American directed newspapers to advertisers, also touched on these readers shopping habits. Both studies found that these readers are inclined to respond to advertisers who embrace ethnic print.

In the Hispanic study, 79 percent of respondents said that they frequently purchase products or services as seen in their local Hispanic newspaper. Similarly, 72 percent of respondents in the African American indicated the same preference.

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The JCOC Explores This Topic in Its Next, Not-to-Be-Missed Virtual Seminar

Prior to the 2000 U.S. Census, Hispanic marketing was little more than an afterthought to most of corporate America. But the numbers speak for themselves: America’s 39 million Latinos spent nearly $700 billion in 2003 and are the fastest-growing consumer group in the country. By 2008, Hispanic consumer spending is expected to top $1 trillion, reports the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. Faced with these astounding figures, the Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) garnered insight into the Hispanic jewelry consumer to help the jewelry industry take its piece of the pie.

The JCOC will host its third webinar on February 16, 2005. The topic will be “The Hispanic Jewelry Market in the USA: The Hidden Giant.” The 90-minute interactive virtual seminar will reveal the jewelry-buying habits and expectations of the Hispanic community. Research gathered from recent studies will reveal the types of jewelry Hispanic consumers purchase and desire, how much they typically spend on jewelry, the retail venues they’re likely to shop for jewelry, why they buy jewelry, and much more.

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Cal National Bank released this week the Community Banker’s Guide to Hispanic Marketing. The purpose of the Guide is to provide a roadmap to developing and implementing an effective Hispanic marketing program.

With 60 percent growth in population between 1990 and 2000, Hispanics have become America’s fastest growing minority group. After the 2000 Census, Hispanics became the largest minority group representing 12.5 percent of the U.S. population. This growth is expected to continue, with Hispanics projected to represent 25 percent of the U.S. population by 2050. In addition, the Hispanic market is becoming increasingly affluent. Research has found the rate of $100,000-income earners with assets in excess of $500,000, exceeding by eight times the non-Hispanic segment. While Hispanics are a large and growing population, they have historically eluded traditional financial institutions.

The Guide addresses questions such as who the Hispanic market represents, why the Hispanic market is so important to financial institutions, the challenges associated with Hispanic marketing, solutions to the challenges and the products and services that are appropriate for reaching the Hispanic market. The Guide is available for download at www.CalNationalBank.com/pdfs/hispanicmarketing2005.pdf.

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It should be a surreal scene, indeed, for the lads from Stockholm — playing in balmy temperatures in the dead of winter… playing Mexico in the United States… playing Mexico in a city where it has lost exactly once in 15 matches… playing in front of 40,000 rabid Mexican fans who sing the national anthem so loudly that it drowns out the music.

…Mexico soccer fans aren’t big on advance sales.

As of last night, sales were in the low 20,000s for a venue that can seat about 42,000 for soccer. And most U.S. sporting events will draw a walk-up ticket-buying crowd of a couple thousand, if that.

Not with the Mexican national team. The smallest walk-up crowd that local promoter Paul Mendes can remember for a Mexico game in San Diego is 9,000. Some were in the 15,000 drange. One year, Mendes says they sold 25,000 tickets in the 36 hours before kickoff.

“It’s cultural, and it’s very hard to change that,” said Alejandro Taraciuk, the director of international business for Soccer United Marketing, which owns the rights to Mexican national team games in the States. “The one thing Mexico fans want to see before they purchase tickets is that the ‘real’ players are coming, not a B team or a youth team. Once they see that the real players are coming, they start buying tickets in big numbers.”

A big marketing tool for promoters, then, is the images of Jared Borgetti and Pavel Pardo and the rest of El Tri’s regulars getting off the plane at Lindbergh Field last night on the evening news.

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OU Medical Center Staff Stepping Up Training, Recruitment Of Interpreters

The number of Hispanic patients at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center is increasing, and that has led to a rise in Spanish language translation services.

The number of Hispanic patients increased 12 percent between 2002 and 2003, said hospital spokesman Allen Poston. He said 2004 figures are not yet available.

Meanwhile, patients needing translation services increased almost 15 percent last year. The medical center averaged 985 interpretations a month in 2004 compared with 842 a month the year before, according to data compiled by translation coordinator Jorge Cure.

Cure said it is difficult to tell if the increase reflects a rise in the medical center’s Spanish-speaking patient load or the availability of more translators.

Hospitals receiving federal funds are required to provide free interpreters to all patients who need them, but there is no requirement for special training.

Many hospitals rely on in-house language banks that might include Spanish-speaking housekeepers or cafeteria workers. Others contract with outside businesses for translation services in person or by telephone.

Cure is trying to raise the bar at the OU Medical Center, where interpreter applicants must be fully bilingual with some knowledge of medical terminology. Those hired then go through a week of training to learn interpretation protocol, hospital policy and more medical terminology.

At the end of the training, they must pass written and oral examinations with scores of 90 percent.

Cure said he hopes the state Health Department will adopt a program like his to certify trained medical interpreters.

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A successful UND student and faculty exchange program is being honored today by an international nonprofit that tracks global education networks.

The Institute of International Education has recognized UND with an honorable mention as part of its 2005 Heiskell Awards for Innovation for UND’s joint business management initiative with the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.

UND also recently hired its first Chinese Studies tenure-track professor and has added Chinese language instruction to its curriculum.

UND’s Executive in Residence program sends former business CEOs with experience in China to make contacts with American businesses in China, paving paths for students.

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