It is no surprise that Wal-Mart once again dominates the list of the world’s top 100 retailers. What is unusual about this year’s list is the global emergence of US retailers, the acceleration of globalization, the accelerated growth in categories such as hardlines specialty stores and specialty apparel, as well as the dramatic distinction in growth strategies between the fastest-growing US and European retailers.

The 1999 Top 100 Retailers Worldwide, compiled and analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional services organization, indicates that while US-based retailers tend to be the biggest (comprising seven of the top ten), the largest European retailers are more global, have a strong incentive to invest in new markets and therefore, are becoming more cosmopolitan than their US counterparts.

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The main case pivots around the long-running dispute over the use of the name Budweiser. The Czech Republic, a newly incorporated EU member, is seeking geographic indication (GI) status for the name of its ancient and prized lager.

Most of the world knows the name Budweiser from the giant American brand owned by Anheuser-Busch, which has sold its product under that name since 1876. The US company sold 9.9 million hectoliters of lager last year, compared to the Czech group’s 1.2 million.

The United States went to the WTO in April 2003 complaining that Anheuser-Busch had lost sales because some European countries had allowed the Czech beer to be sold under the Budweiser name. The Czechs argued that they were entitled to the name, and that their beer should be protected as a GI product because it is the only one still brewed in Budweis.

Since Budweis is the German name for Ceske Budejovice, the Czech brewer would not be able to claim protection for its Budweiser brand should this ruling become official.

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Tegic’s T9 Text Input version 7.2 offers enhanced multi-lingual support, which makes it easier for users to alternate between languages when texting. It is not uncommon for users to switch back and forth between languages when speaking or writing to friends and family. Yet mobile users currently have to manually select or change the language in which they want to text in order to do so. The new multi-lingual enhancement changes this by recognising the language a user is typing in and automatically predicting the word in the language the user is most likely to want.

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An English princess with an Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car with a Dutch engine, driven by a Belgian who was drunk on Scottish whisky, followed closely by Italian Paparazzi, on Japanese motorcycles; treated by an American doctor, using Brazilian medicines.

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Wharton Marketing Conference panel of speakers addresses Hispanic marketing segmentation by national origin and level of acculturation, strategic marketing initiatives, Latin American competition, ‘unbanked’ Hispanics, assimilation, shopping habits and other challenges.

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And speaking of ketchup, have you heard the contagious tune “The Ketchup Song (Hey Hah)” by Spain’s “Las Ketchup.”

Elroy Ness, a resident at Sage Towers in Billings, kindled a friendship with a French woman while stationed near Paris during World War II. After he was discharged, they lost contact and he married and raised six children.

Then, after his wife’s death several years ago, the pair reignited their correspondence with the help of translators from West High’s French classes

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Bettina Byrd-Giles, program director for the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Office of Diversity… defined globalization as “networks of interdependence at worldwide distances,” noting McDonald’s Corp.’s reach around the world, Mercedes’ arrival in Alabama and the outsourcing of customer call centers to India and elsewhere as examples of those networks.

With globalization will come increasing diversity, Giles said. According to research, the U.S. population should hit about 325 million by 2020, including 70 million immigrants, Giles said. The percentage of white non-Hispanics in the population will shrink to about 64.3 percent, while the percentage of blacks, Asians and Hispanics will all rise to 12.9 percent, 6.5 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

That means a changing work force and customer base and with it, the need for a better understanding of cultural differences, Giles said. For example, Americans tend to be individualistic, while many other cultures are collective. Societies that behave more collectively tend to make decisions as a group and to take longer doing it. They also tend to rely more on relationships.

While individualistic thinkers tend to be direct communicators, people who live collectively use less direct means of making a point in order to maintain the harmony of the group, she said.

Awareness of such differences can help you better understand how people behave and react to one another — and do business, she said.

“It’s a lot more than just being polite to each other.”

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Many Hispanics worry that as it grows more popular, Spanglish will erode American Hispanics’ knowledge of, and respect for, the Spanish language and culture.

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This morning I gave a presentation on Global Culture at Marathon Oil in Houston, Texas. See the Linguistic Solutions Web site Resources page and the Linguistic Solutions Blog Global Culture category for resources.

America is making up its collective mind about globalization. New data says most of us like globalization and want it to continue

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“Hispanic is by far the preferred term nationally but especially in New Mexico,” F. Chris Garcia said.

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A conference in London last month organized by the Economist and the Wharton/INSEAD Alliance, entitled “Delivering Profits in the Global Economy,” focused on such issues as growing a global business, leadership in the global organization, branding, and decentralized vs. centralized management structures.

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With the European Union’s expansion to 25 countries, companies are facing new challenges and opportunities. The upcoming GALA seminar brings together experts who will discuss strategies for success in this changing environment.

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See Federico García Lorca’s Yerma performed (in the original Spanish) tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the University of Houston’s José Quintero Lab Theatre. Admittance is free.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, globalization is not ‘Americanizing’ the world

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