http://tc.eserver.org/dir/International A listing of the most recently indexed works about International in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/International http://tc.eserver.org/35695.html http://tc.eserver.org/35695.html As companies have their offices spread across more and more geographic locations and a large scale of employees working in different countries, it becomes even harder to represent a single organization as one unique entity. The key lies in raising awareness for the company’s vision and mission as well as equipping staff in all locations with the latest technologies. Advancements in communication technology have led to a deeper focus on knowledge management activities – benefiting both the organization and the individual. http://tc.eserver.org/35636.html http://tc.eserver.org/35636.html The traditional concept of an ‘international assignment’ is rapidly becoming a misnomer. Certainly the situation whereby an individual (with or without accompanying family) is sent to an overseas location for two or three years still occurs – despite the recent downturn in business. However, today there are all sorts of permutations of business activities that can result in business people working with international colleagues and clients. It may be that people are on short-term assignments (e.g. one to six months) in another country or that they are frequent business travelers visiting subsidiaries and clients or even that they are managers of long-distance teams working on developing new products for third country markets. http://tc.eserver.org/35637.html http://tc.eserver.org/35637.html The last half century has seen enormous change impacting the way we work. The world is shrinking with advances in information technology playing a crucial role in facilitating the global expansion of organizations. International teams are now a common phenomenon with many large organizations structuring their workforce according to function rather than geography. Successful organizations do not hesitate to move their talents around the world to ensure that they have the right skills and knowledge in the right location when necessary. But what does it take to manage such a culturally diversified and geographically dispersed team? http://tc.eserver.org/35660.html http://tc.eserver.org/35660.html The merger of Škoda Auto and Volkswagen AG in 1991 compelled the tradition-bound Czech company for the first time to face the challenges of internationalization. Today Škoda is the largest industrial undertaking in the Czech Republic as the company sells its products in 100 countries worldwide. The Joint Venture with VW is regarded by the company as a successful marriage between the systematic, methodical and dependable approach of the Germans and the creative, improvising and proficient disposition of the Czechs. http://tc.eserver.org/35665.html http://tc.eserver.org/35665.html Localization is the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language and culture. Internationalization is the precursor to localization and involves the process of planning, designing and implementing a culturally and technically neutral product, which can easily be localized. Internationalization helps decrease translation cost and speeds up time-to-market by addressing crucial technical, aesthetic, cultural, and linguistic issues at project start-up. It also has the unique advantage of streamlining not only the localization of your content but authoring in general. http://tc.eserver.org/35687.html http://tc.eserver.org/35687.html Cross-cultural encounters are experienced on different levels: While some managers head home from a business trip feeling that the world is small and essentially the same everywhere, others have the ability to sense the hidden differences. These "multiculturalists" see the deep culture that lies behind the curtains of globalization. http://tc.eserver.org/35690.html http://tc.eserver.org/35690.html Along with the prospects of success and benefits, negotiations in any business environment bear definite risks. They require thorough preparation, patience, time, and flexibility. Negotiating with people from different cultures might sometimes feel like sitting at a poker table, with all participants following their own rules, which remain mysterious for the rest. The result of this game is obvious: Pretty soon, both parties will be frustrated and confused. http://tc.eserver.org/35693.html http://tc.eserver.org/35693.html At the time I’m writing this column, it’s that “happy” time in the United States between the Thanksgiving holiday in late November (the fourth Thursday of the month) and the impending Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Well, the “happy” part is debatable, as this period has become characterized by the absolute chaos of shopping, the challenges of winter travel and the “holiday crunch” in the workplace to complete as much as possible before most everyone disappears for a week or two. http://tc.eserver.org/35283.html http://tc.eserver.org/35283.html Despite the increasingly unified and multicultural consciousness of the world today, and the tendency of authors such as Hoft or Weiss, on the side of professional communication, and Nord or Risku, on the side of translation, to bridge the gap between professional communication and translation, these activities are still viewed as separate, requiring different competencies and educations. At most, one finds professional communicators being asked to be aware of the involvement of translators in their work processes and of the characteristics of translation, and translators being asked to be aware of localization and of the potential need to adapt their work to the characteristics of the receiving culture. This distinction corresponds greatly to the geographical divide between the United States and Europe, being actively promoted by the definition of translation, translation process, and translator competencies stated out in documents such as the recently adopted EN 15038 standard. http://tc.eserver.org/35180.html http://tc.eserver.org/35180.html Genre studies and genre approaches to literacy instruction continue to develop in many regions and from a widening variety of approaches. Genre has provided a key to understanding the varying literacy cultures of regions, disciplines, professions and educational settings. Genre in a Changing World provides a wide-ranging sampler of the remarkable variety of current work. The twenty-four chapters in this volume, reflecting the work of scholars in Europe, Australasia, North and South America, were selected from the over 400 presentations at SIGET IV (the Fourth International Symposium on Genre Studies) held on the campus of UNISUL in Tubarão, Santa Catarina, Brazil in August 2007 — the largest gathering on genre to that date. The chapters also represent a wide variety of approaches including rhetoric, Systemic Functional Linguistics, media and critical cultural studies, sociology, phenomenology, enunciation theory, the Geneva school of educational sequences, cognitive psychology, relevance theory, sociocultural psychology, activity theory, Gestalt psychology, and schema theory. Sections are devoted to theoretical issues, studies of genres in the professions, studies of genre and media, teaching and learning genre, and writing across the curriculum. The broad selection of material in this volume displays the full range of contemporary genre studies and sets the ground for a next generation of work. http://tc.eserver.org/35069.html http://tc.eserver.org/35069.html The journal is dedicated to promoting and developing efficient and effective single and multimedia communication and its constituent communities in local, national, international, and global worksite and civic settings. The publication's major topics lie at the intersection of International Professional Communication. http://tc.eserver.org/35004.html http://tc.eserver.org/35004.html A significant problem for practitioners of technical communication is to gain the skills to compete in a global, multicultural work environment. Instructors of technical communication can provide future practitioners with the tools to compete and excel in this global environment by introducing heuristics of cultural dimensions into the service-level classroom. By practicing how to use these heuristics in "real-world" contexts, instructors can prepare students to function as both information architects and symbolic-analytic operators within this global work environment. In this article, I first examine common cultural heuristics as they pertain to business communication. Next, I articulate how technical communicators can benefit from incorporating these heuristics into the classroom. Finally, I offer a pedagogical approach to introducing heuristics of cultural dimensions into the service-level technical communication classroom. http://tc.eserver.org/34873.html http://tc.eserver.org/34873.html Despite the authoritative nature of international standards for usability, many of them are not widely used. This paper explains both the benefits and some of the potential problems in using usability standards in areas including user interface design, usability assurance, software quality, and usability process improvement. http://tc.eserver.org/34876.html http://tc.eserver.org/34876.html A study of how 23 Taiwanese and North American subjects use a consumer electronic product shows that culture strongly affects the usability of the product. Survey data shows that North American users had much lower levels of user satisfaction and perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency than Taiwanese users. On the other hand, results on performance were unclear, indicating similar levels of effectiveness for both cultural groups and conflicting results on levels of efficiency. http://tc.eserver.org/34883.html http://tc.eserver.org/34883.html How should we teach international business communication? What role can multiculturalism play in the business communication classroom? Can we identify a set of business communication requirements that are valid across different cultures? This article enters this discussion by presenting a small empirical study of the business communication needs expressed by postgraduate students in a North Cyprus university and comparing it to similar studies conducted in the United States and Singapore. The findings reveal some interesting correspondences between the needs expressed by students in these different countries. In addition, the multicultural environment of the North Cyprus university studied suggests that multicultural interaction increases students' sensitivity to the need for a nonethnocentric approach to international communication. The findings also indicate that respondents in multicultural settings may be more inclined to engage in groupthink because of their heightened awareness of cultural differences and their wish to avoid conflict. http://tc.eserver.org/34816.html http://tc.eserver.org/34816.html Studying abroad enhances the intercultural competencies of American students, but that enhancement strategy may be seen as an obstacle to those in business and technical fields who follow a tight curriculum and work to cover expenses. To meet their needs, U.S. professional communication faculty are designing short courses that can be delivered abroad during between-term periods and that foster an understanding of the situations and genres of the field within a context of cultural dislocation. Based on the courses described in this article, the best approach is to settle students in one location rather than touring; keep student numbers low by an entrepreneurial approach to keeping costs low; encourage students to live as the locals do, in apartments rather than hotels; explicitly plan appropriate access to technology; use class time to provide structure and reflection, but allow free time for collateral learning; and make sure the course grows local roots. http://tc.eserver.org/34588.html http://tc.eserver.org/34588.html Includes articles contributed by STC members, some of whom have worked with translators extensively. Other contributors are affiliated with translation agencies. http://tc.eserver.org/34540.html http://tc.eserver.org/34540.html Even on the Web, world dominance must be achieved one country at a time. While Facebook has long been the largest social network in the world, and should soon pass MySpace in the U.S., it is not the largest social network in every country. http://tc.eserver.org/34198.html http://tc.eserver.org/34198.html Explores how and why the German and Chinese cultures differ in the presentation and perception of technical information. Presents a theoretical framework for technical communication across different cultures. Provides guidelines to technical communicators in Sino-German technical communication and services. http://tc.eserver.org/34123.html http://tc.eserver.org/34123.html Unfortunately, there seems to be no such thing as simplicity-checking software - even remotely like the description above. Audience Dialogue tried to persuade a few software developers to make their fortunes by writing this software, but with no success so far. In the meantime, there are a few widely available tools to use. http://tc.eserver.org/34129.html http://tc.eserver.org/34129.html Focusing mainly on cultural factors, linguistic factors, technical factors, and legal factors, Thakur discusses best practices for becoming globally savvy in an increasingly globalized work environment. http://tc.eserver.org/34131.html http://tc.eserver.org/34131.html As an Indian living in South Korea for the past few years, Rahul Prabhakar has had the opportunity to gain a unique perspective of global awareness and cultural sensitivity. In his article, he details the positive and negative aspects of living and working amidst a different culture. http://tc.eserver.org/33681.html http://tc.eserver.org/33681.html One of the tenets of good technical communication is to avoid culturally specific references, especially if your material is to be translated into other languages. But what’s a culturally specific reference? In simple terms, it’s a word or phrase that has meaning for members of a cultural group, but has limited meaning, no meaning, or some other meaning for people outside that group. http://tc.eserver.org/33451.html http://tc.eserver.org/33451.html Did you catch usability guru and world traveler Jakob Nielsen's latest Alertbox, "American English vs. British English for Web Content?" It's a good reminder that language and the use of language to communicate is not always as easy as we may think, especially if we are writing (or conducting usability evaluations) for clients in other countries. http://tc.eserver.org/33452.html http://tc.eserver.org/33452.html Users pay attention to details in a site's writing style, and they'll notice if you use the wrong variant of the English language. http://tc.eserver.org/33186.html http://tc.eserver.org/33186.html User testing is a valuable tool, but how does one conduct user tests internationally? This essay draws from my experience leading an international user testing project, and I hope you can learn from my mistakes and successes. http://tc.eserver.org/33106.html http://tc.eserver.org/33106.html Vocabulary used when talking about intranets reveals a lot about an organisation's model and approach to becoming more international, or global. Which raises the question: what's the difference between global and international? I've included a snapshot of a slide on this point which I use in workshops. http://tc.eserver.org/32931.html http://tc.eserver.org/32931.html Creating a user interface that is consistent across a website isn't easy. But managers of sites that serve multilingual, multinational users are going to have to rise to the task, however daunting it may be. http://tc.eserver.org/32698.html http://tc.eserver.org/32698.html Why should technical communicators be interested in ISO's user documentation standard? Hayhoe discusses the various advantages of this new systems and software engineering standard, and makes an argument for how the profession can gain by adhering to it. http://tc.eserver.org/32585.html http://tc.eserver.org/32585.html With their beautiful and primitive visual arts and crafts, Taiwan’s aboriginal cultures offer great potential for enhancing design value and becoming recognized in the global market. Evidence shows very high prospects for Taiwan’s local cultures to become crucial cultural elements in future design applications. The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of cultural objects from Taiwan’s aboriginal cultures and to extract their cultural features. The paper attempts to illustrate how, by enhancing the original meaning and images of these cultural features and by taking advantage of new production technologies, they can be transformed into modern products that meet the needs of the contemporary consumer market. http://tc.eserver.org/32341.html http://tc.eserver.org/32341.html As the numbers of internet users worldwide continue to grow, the internet is becoming `more local'. This article addresses the epistemological challenge posed by this global process of internet localization by examining some of the conceptual tools at the disposal of internet researchers. It argues that progress has been hampered by an overdependence on the problematic notions of community and network whose paradigmatic status has yet to be questioned by internet scholars. The article seeks to broaden the conceptual space of internet localization studies through a ground-up conceptualization exercise that draws inspiration from the field theories of both Pierre Bourdieu and the Manchester School of Anthropology, and is based on recent fieldwork in suburban Malaysia. This exploration demonstrates that a more nuanced understanding of the plural forms that residential sociality can take is needed in order to move beyond existing binaries such as `network sociality' versus `community sociality'. http://tc.eserver.org/32342.html http://tc.eserver.org/32342.html With data from a national telephone survey, the current study examines the comparative and synergistic influence of the internet on international knowledge. Independent and interactive media effects are considered in terms of four medium-specific measures of international news attention. Internet news attention had the most positive effect on international knowledge of any of the news measures. In terms of the other three news attention measures, the effects of newspapers and cable TV were positive, while that of network TV was non-significant. In addition, the interaction of internet news attention and network TV news attention positively predicted international knowledge. In contrast, the interaction of newspaper news attention and network TV news attention negatively predicted international knowledge. These findings indicate the positive comparative and synergistic influence that the internet can have on international knowledge development in the United States. http://tc.eserver.org/32051.html http://tc.eserver.org/32051.html My fellow freelancers have been writing about international freelancing, where you cater to a global clientele. I can see the reasoning behind the interest though, especially if you live in a third-world country. http://tc.eserver.org/31792.html http://tc.eserver.org/31792.html In this project special attention is given to legal, commercial, political and institutional discourse used in specific workplaces, analysed from an intercultural perspective. In particular, through an exploration of the international ‘image’ suggested by major social and economic actors, our project aims to improve the understanding of identity-forming features linked to ‘local’ or professional cultures, as communicated by contemporary English in various specialised domains among native and non-native speakers. http://tc.eserver.org/31791.html http://tc.eserver.org/31791.html This paper focuses on one area of Western and Eastern philosophical underpinnings for communication, namely, the use of Commonplaces. However, it needs to be pointed out that we mainly focus on the Western tradition, while making some preliminary references to the Chinese rhetorical tradition since Chinese culture has very rich sources of foundation of rhetoric and communication. However, to our knowledge, ‘Commonplaces’ is a research topic that has been embarked on because of its rich traditions. In particular, we visit this singular concept of Commonplaces in two cultures: First, a brief view of the Western rhetorical tradition relating to definition/theory behind the use of Commonplaces as used in the Classical, Medieval, and the Renaissance world as the basis for communicating either orally or in written form. Second, we will briefly trace some Chinese rhetorical underpinnings of using Commonplaces, philosophies, points of view that mankind could use to communicate better, get along with people in order to achieve both informative and persuasive ends. http://tc.eserver.org/31704.html http://tc.eserver.org/31704.html Increasing diversity in the workplace and general marketplace is making it increasingly difficult to communicate effectively - whether you're a medical communicator, a procedure writer, a freelance copywriter or a web content writer. This article looks at two main types of barriers to effective communications - global barriers and gender barriers - and then provides insight on the tools available that can help overcome these communication barriers. http://tc.eserver.org/31730.html http://tc.eserver.org/31730.html Companies operating in a global marketplace know they need to translate documents for their audiences. But some documents actually need more than translation – they need localization. Although a document’s words can be translated perfectly, the document can still be ineffective in another market, due to differences in the way local businesses operate and in the way people think. http://tc.eserver.org/31663.html http://tc.eserver.org/31663.html Metrics, not U.S. measurements, rule the universe. Therefore, before preparing publications for distribution abroad, you need to understand the basics of ISO paper standards. http://tc.eserver.org/31630.html http://tc.eserver.org/31630.html On May 3, 2008, something extraordinary happened: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities went into effect. The goals of the Convention are lofty: it insists that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms and sets out eight guiding principles and obligations to meet them. http://tc.eserver.org/31618.html http://tc.eserver.org/31618.html When we think of miscommunication across national boundaries, the mostmemorable blunders often relate to problems with translation. Butthere are far more subtle pitfalls thatcan occur. Here, Angela Sinickas shares some of the common mistakes that can lead global communications to miss the mark. http://tc.eserver.org/31619.html http://tc.eserver.org/31619.html Before conducting research beyond your own country’s borders, it’s important to consider a number of cultural differences that have significant implications for the success of the research. Angela Sinickas outlines some potential issues to consider. http://tc.eserver.org/31539.html http://tc.eserver.org/31539.html People and organizations generally understand the concept of the Internet's global reach. However, few see their Web presence as international, and even fewer have sites appropriate for audiences beyond their borders. As global competition grows and new markets emerge, building an effective international Web presence is becoming ever more critical. http://tc.eserver.org/31514.html http://tc.eserver.org/31514.html Did you know an intranet could actually be more global than the Internet? The interactions within an intranet are more intense and frequent, and anonymity is replaced with specificity—your real name, job title and location. Company management often believes that a unified employee communication intranet site will foster a community, a shared corporate culture and a universal standard. But a review of two U.S.-based global intranets reveals that today’s reality may fall short. http://tc.eserver.org/31457.html http://tc.eserver.org/31457.html Social responsibility, in one form or another, has been on the minds of businesses for over 100 years. By running a business that the community, local and global, can be proud of, corporations are able to create a climate of compassion that could likely translate into consumer support. Some have argued that adopting CSR standards allows companies to build brand value by imbuing their brands with ideas, emotions and beliefs that appeal to consumers. The cost of building brand value with social responsibility initiatives is usually cheaper than trying to achieve the same effect through advertising and public relations. http://tc.eserver.org/31421.html http://tc.eserver.org/31421.html If you photocopy an article in the U.S., you apply U.S. copyright law. If you photocopy an article in France, you apply French copyright law. That's the way international copyright law works: You apply the law of the country in which use of the work is made. This is called "national treatment" and is the underlying principle in the leading copyright convention, the Berne Copyright Convention. http://tc.eserver.org/31461.html http://tc.eserver.org/31461.html A new report credits socially responsible investing, among other trends, for influencing mainstream investors to take corporate citizenship more seriously. Is corporate citizenship entering mainstream investors' consciousness? No and yes, according to a new World Economic Forum report that surveys CEO's and IRO's (investor relations officers) at 26 companies from 14 countries. Forty-two percent of the respondents felt there has been a major increase in the level of activism, engagement and sophistication from the SRI community regarding CSR. Over 70 percent of the respondents who hail from large international corporations believe that mainstream investors will have an increased interest in CSR issues. http://tc.eserver.org/31449.html http://tc.eserver.org/31449.html English is now firmly established as the lingua franca of the global economy. As native English speakers interact more with non-native speakers in this globalized context, a framework called World English can help both parties understand each other better. http://tc.eserver.org/31386.html http://tc.eserver.org/31386.html Linda, an American living abroad in a country with limited merchandise, orders online for books, contact lenses, and smoked ham. Her Dutch husband buys from www.amazon.com and www.ebay.com because U.S.-based retail web sites offer a wide range of goods at a cheaper price than their adopted country, including lower import duties and lower shipping costs from U.S.-based cargo carriers. http://tc.eserver.org/31364.html http://tc.eserver.org/31364.html With the global village growing smaller every year, more and more communication professionals are taking on assignments that span a wide range of countries and cultures. Cross-border responsibilities require that you constantly expand your horizons and learn about new places and people. At the same time, it can be more than a little daunting to get up to speed on each country’s business and social conventions—and when the two do and don’t mix. http://tc.eserver.org/31356.html http://tc.eserver.org/31356.html Raju demonstrates the importance of understanding cultural schemas—models providing patterns for understanding ideas or objects in a cultural context—when dealing with international technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/31367.html http://tc.eserver.org/31367.html Towers Perrin has brought together a group of leading companies to establish The Communications Effectiveness Consortium and annual benchmarking study. This study assesses factors that drive employees’ perceptions of communication effectiveness. The resulting tool provides guidance on the best return on investments for an organization’s communication resources. http://tc.eserver.org/31365.html http://tc.eserver.org/31365.html World English is the result of applying a set of writing and editing principles to create a simplified, highly-intelligible international dialect. The principle is similar to that of Basic English, which was developed by linguists during World War II. While Basic English had only 800 words, you could really say a lot of things with it. The number of situations where misinterpretation can take place is practically infinite. But a fairly small number of writing and editing principles will cover a very large number of cases and considerably reduce the burden on the non-native reader and listener. http://tc.eserver.org/31339.html http://tc.eserver.org/31339.html With the birth of the Internet and the advancement of other information technologies, companies and organizations are now able to operate across borders, cultures and time zones at lower costs than ever before. One way this occurs is through virtual teams, which allow companies to maximize their global expertise and resources, while team members can remain in their home countries. http://tc.eserver.org/31318.html http://tc.eserver.org/31318.html Basic miscommunication can litter the path to understanding—and worse. You may recall that a few years ago the Mars Climate Orbiter failed to achieve the correct altitude for its orbit of Mars, and was destroyed by atmospheric pressure—all due to a little misunderstanding. It seems that some crucial data had been calculated in English units, while the navigation team had expected to receive metric units and used the data that way. http://tc.eserver.org/31212.html http://tc.eserver.org/31212.html Today’s global marketplace teaches us that effective practices for internal communication in international corporations must be tuned to the cultural profiles of employees in their own countries. Internal communication departments are given the task of adapting company messages that effectively reach the organization’s global employee base. In order to ensure the effectiveness of these communications, organizations must first develop awareness, knowledge and intercultural skills within their internal communication teams. http://tc.eserver.org/31209.html http://tc.eserver.org/31209.html Managing internal communication across a global organization is an exciting and challenging task. How this task is approached will vary widely depending on the culture and structure of the particular organization, as well as the location of its headquarters. http://tc.eserver.org/31213.html http://tc.eserver.org/31213.html Corporate communication is the lifeline of any organization—crossing cultures, perceptions and language barriers to reach employees around the globe. Messages must be delivered accurately, while strengthening the organization’s position, building trust between the organization and the employee, and communicating a message that is not only current to local issues but relevant to each employee. http://tc.eserver.org/31079.html http://tc.eserver.org/31079.html To gain a competitive edge--or even survive--in a world gone flat, a company must assert a level of uniqueness. Companies creating global Web sites can use competitive analysis and landscape analysis to analyze the market; Lee-Kim details how to add cultural analysis to this mix. http://tc.eserver.org/30874.html http://tc.eserver.org/30874.html We are proud of the work we did to make World Usability Day 2007 a success. With 156 events in 40 countries and 30 online events, WUD 2007 was a resounding success. On the ground, events were held on six continents. Online events included a panel and several speakers focusing on the theme of Healthcare as well as other important topics. http://tc.eserver.org/30834.html http://tc.eserver.org/30834.html In 1999 the member societies of INTECOM recognized there was a need to help technical writers in all countries who have to write English-language technical documentation for products that will be sold worldwide. If they are writing for an audience solely in the UK, the Scandinavian countries, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, then British style is appropriate. Similarly, if they are writing for an audience solely in North and South America, the Philippines, and many Asian countries, then US style is appropriate. But if they have to write a single set of documentation for use in all countries, then a difficult decision has to be made. http://tc.eserver.org/30780.html http://tc.eserver.org/30780.html The flat world has had a clear impact on information development and will continue to increase competitive pressure on the profession in the foreseeable future. By adapting to the realities of global organizations and global audiences and instituting a disciplined work environment that thrives on standards and best practices, technical communicators can remain competitive. http://tc.eserver.org/30618.html http://tc.eserver.org/30618.html Computer manuals are produced by documentation engineering or some methodology. The organization, contents, and sequence of a manual developed in this way are usually universal. However, figures included in a computer manual tend to be all-inclusive, namely very comprehensive or complicated. It is probably due to the cultural preference, or one characteristic of the Japanese way of communication. The inductive thinking method may have caused the habit of presenting all related information on just one page at the time of information transmission. http://tc.eserver.org/30621.html http://tc.eserver.org/30621.html As companies become more internationally orientated, joint projects among groups in different countries are becoming more common. These projects offer unique opportunities, including learning about another culture and the chance to travel. They also present obstacles, including difficulties in communication. Time differences allow a small window for phone calls. Periodic face-to-face meetings are essential, since they build under- standing and tolerance that carry over into communication by phone or electronic mail. Cultural and national differences in business practice further complicate the picture. It is important to work out all procedures, standards, and objectives in writing for the project to succeed. http://tc.eserver.org/30553.html http://tc.eserver.org/30553.html To remain competitive, companies must increase content reuse and multilingual usability while reducing volume and eliminating culturally sensitive language. Rushanan shows how editors can increase their value to their employers by functioning as leaders in the translation and localization process. http://tc.eserver.org/30575.html http://tc.eserver.org/30575.html This study examined changes in STC's overall and international membership between 1979 and 1991. Though the USA and Canada consistently comprised about 97% of the membership, significant changes occurred within the international membership. The Pacific Rim Countries experienced the greatest growth, with their membership increasing about twenty fold over the twelve year period, as compared to a five times increase in the overall international membership, and a three times increase in the entire membership. The disparity of the growth rates resulted in Japan replacing Israel as the residence for most international members, with Australia in second place. http://tc.eserver.org/30511.html http://tc.eserver.org/30511.html In creating computer software manuals, international users have become an important factor in design decisions. This paper discusses several issues and strategies useful in creating documentation with an international audience in mind. http://tc.eserver.org/30518.html http://tc.eserver.org/30518.html The technical publications department of a major corporation is always a complex environment. When this environment also involves dealing with the issues of an international company and almost daily interaction with international counterparts, the opportunities and challenges are greatly increased. Joining a large-scale, ongoing publications project under these conditions requires quick learning and the rapid acquisition of new skills. For a project of this type to succeed, a supervisor must successfully solve a unique set of problems and is rewarded with enhanced opportunities for growth and professional development. http://tc.eserver.org/30423.html http://tc.eserver.org/30423.html Research provides the basis for technical communication practices. Such research, conducted in the United States, is readily available to STC members through the Proceedings, Technical Communication, and other technical communication journals. However, research being performed in other countries is not so readily available to those in this country who may need it. http://tc.eserver.org/30085.html http://tc.eserver.org/30085.html This panel will examine continuous publishing movement from paper to HTML formats, and localization management, which are currently in global transition. Panelists from a translation agency, a consulting firm, and a hardware computer corporation will address how the technical communications organizations must transition in these areas to meet the global requirements of the industry. http://tc.eserver.org/29833.html http://tc.eserver.org/29833.html At present the Internet continues the one-way flow of information from the First to the Third World. Can the Internet be a factor in promoting a two-way flow between the margins and the center? http://tc.eserver.org/29791.html http://tc.eserver.org/29791.html Globalization involves the process to adapt a company's product and message to meet the varied expectations of markets around the world. http://tc.eserver.org/29625.html http://tc.eserver.org/29625.html The communication styles of Asian people have often been seen by Westerners as part of a single, unified 'Oriental culture.' However, there are observable differences in communication strategies among them, mainly Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. The present research attempts to reveal the deep structure of their thinking and behavior that affects writing styles in international technical communication. Its purpose is to overcome stereotypes, and to understand better similarity and diversity within East Asian countries. http://tc.eserver.org/29637.html http://tc.eserver.org/29637.html As increasing numbers of multinational corporations, consultants, universities, and instructional designers create Internet-based learning (IBL) courses or require courses to be taken via the Internet, not all are aware of the need to adjust their design expectations and assumptions due to cross-cultural considerations involved in such online courses. Eight critical considerations discussed in this paper include the following: language, culture, technical infrastructure, local/global perspective, learning styles, reasoning patterns, high/low context communication, and social context. Recommendations are listed for low-context designers to design with more cultural sensitivity for global learners and also for high- context learners who take low-context IBL courses. http://tc.eserver.org/29541.html http://tc.eserver.org/29541.html How should we teach international business communication? What role can multiculturalism play in the business communication classroom? Can we identify a set of business communication requirements that are valid across different cultures? This article enters this discussion by presenting a small empirical study of the business communication needs expressed by postgraduate students in a North Cyprus university and comparing it to similar studies conducted in the United States and Singapore. The findings reveal some interesting correspondences between the needs expressed by students in these different countries. In addition, the multicultural environment of the North Cyprus university studied suggests that multicultural interaction increases students' sensitivity to the need for a nonethnocentric approach to international communication. The findings also indicate that respondents in multicultural settings may be more inclined to engage in groupthink because of their heightened awareness of cultural differences and their wish to avoid conflict. http://tc.eserver.org/29923.html http://tc.eserver.org/29923.html The movement toward a global standard definition for our profession will be a long process, but it is already underway. STC is playing an important role in ensuring that the process benefits its members and contributes to the competitiveness of the firms that employ them. http://tc.eserver.org/29465.html http://tc.eserver.org/29465.html XML alone is not enough to effectively manage your organization's global content. Explore global XML and its benefits. http://tc.eserver.org/29235.html http://tc.eserver.org/29235.html As global online access grows, Web site designers find themselves creating materials for an increasing international audience. Cultural groups, however, can have different expectations of what constitutes acceptable Web site design. This article examines how prototype theory can serve as a methodology for analyzing Web sites designed for users from different cultures. Such analyses, in turn, can help individuals create more effective online materials for international audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/29062.html http://tc.eserver.org/29062.html The constant emphasis on specialization produces university graduates who do not or cannot look at problems broadly. As a result, engineers, scientists and executives indeed graduates in all fields including the supposedly broad-based humanities often cannot solve problems that require knowledge outside of their specializations. Or their narrowness causes them to commit embarrassing blunders that could be avoided if they took a broader view. The case of the British Westland Lysander P12 Ground Strafer aircraft illustrates the problem of narrow thinking. Very little direct information is available on this ingenious but obscure prototype airplane, but by examining many peripheral matters we can determine not only why the P12 was built but also how it was built. Further, we can also determine why it failed. Had the initial designers approached the problem in a broad way, and using information that was then available, they would have seen in advance that the project would fail. The case is instructive as an industrial problem, but it also demonstrates the value of global thinking methodology. http://tc.eserver.org/29116.html http://tc.eserver.org/29116.html A significant problem in technical communication is persuading the user that the information is accurate, valid, and useful. All too often, technical communicators treat users as members of their own culture. When authors do consider cultural issues, they often focus on matters such as vocabulary, visuals, and organization. Other strategies, however, can be useful in gaining acceptance of technical information in cross-cultural situations. For example, the communication theory of compliance-gaining offers suggestions for how the technical communicators can adapt the text to enhance user acceptance when communicating to members of their own culture as well as when communicating across cultures. Communicators can use promises, threats, demonstrate positive and negative outcomes, extend friendliness, etc., to develop the text. In this article, I will explain several compliance-gaining strategies authors can use, identify rhetorical strategies they can combine with compliance-gaining strategies, show how these strategies can be effective in a cross-cultural environment by comparing the strategies in two sample cultures, and analyze a brief sample. http://tc.eserver.org/29155.html http://tc.eserver.org/29155.html This research article investigates new developments in the representation of the intercultural component in textbooks for a service technical writing course. Through textual analysis, using quantitative and qualitative techniques, I report discourse analysis of 15 technical writing textbooks published during 1993-2006. The theoretical and practical elements of intercultural teaching have been expanded in recent years, but this progress is quite slow. This article provides some directions in which the textbooks can be revised. Such an analysis may be of interest to textbook writers and educators. http://tc.eserver.org/29138.html http://tc.eserver.org/29138.html In 2003, the United States exported nearly $720 billion in goods. Businesses that trade in the global market have a legal and ethical duty to make their products reasonably safe, and technical communicators who write the documentation for those products have a legal and ethical duty to protect international consumers by writing adequate instructions. Writing documentation for products that will be distributed internationally requires not only the ability to communicate clearly, but also awareness of the relevant product liability laws, the cultural variables, and the expectations of international audiences. This article first argues that devoting company resources to produce adequate instructions for international users is both practical and ethical, then provides a brief overview of the consumer protection measures that the top U.S. trade partners have implemented, and finally presents guidelines for developing adequate instructions for international audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/28802.html http://tc.eserver.org/28802.html The area of copyright can be confusing and presents numerous questions. Juillet provides answers to some common copyright questions, such as who holds the copyright in a work-for-hire situation and whether a copyright needs to be registered to have protection. http://tc.eserver.org/28807.html http://tc.eserver.org/28807.html Good writing is good writing in any language, and focusing on the quality of the writing in your own language is a great start to any communication with people from other cultures. http://tc.eserver.org/28805.html http://tc.eserver.org/28805.html Virtual, global teams require us to use our communication skills in ways that were unimaginable twenty years ago. Learn about ways to build successful working relationships in virtual environments. http://tc.eserver.org/28762.html http://tc.eserver.org/28762.html Keith Hoffman, president of the Madison Wisconsin Four Lakes Chapter, talks with George Hayhoe, editor of the Technical Communication Journal, about the emergence of technical communications in China and Korea, and the forces behind the push for technical communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/28576.html http://tc.eserver.org/28576.html Open access digital repositories give barrier-free access to literature for study and research to users worldwide. They solve the pricing and permission crises for scholarly materials. This paper deals with open access digital repositories in India. The results of the study reveal that the repositories contain both published and unpublished documents, like seminar proceedings, conference papers, theses, dissertations, research reports, books, and so on. The results also point out that open access digital repositories in India are mostly subject specific and commonly use open source information repository software like DSpace, Greenstone Digital Library Software, and GNU EPrints. It is observed that generally the open access digital repositories use OAI-PMH (protocol for metadata harvesting), so that they can be accessed using search tools such as Web search engines, whereas a few don't use it but provide direct access to their documents through their websites. http://tc.eserver.org/28480.html http://tc.eserver.org/28480.html One key benefit of XML is the fact that it was designed for international use. But do you really understand the concepts of internationalization and localization? This article explains what they are, how they work, and why you want to use them. http://tc.eserver.org/28132.html http://tc.eserver.org/28132.html Many companies outsource content management implementations to systems integrators, but what if the implementers are based half-way around the world? Wipro's Apoorv Durga offers some good advice for enterprises considering taking their next ECM project offshore. As this map suggests, the view is quite different from India. http://tc.eserver.org/28139.html http://tc.eserver.org/28139.html Differences in value systems often impact how effectively individuals collaborate. In today's growing markets, where boundaries have, literally and metaphorically, blurred to the point of disappearing, developing a better understanding of the factors that influence successful cross-cultural communication and international team-work remains a challenge. But with a little thought, cultural awareness and planning, this can be done successfully. http://tc.eserver.org/27982.html http://tc.eserver.org/27982.html Read about the Best of Show winners of the 2005•2006 competitions in international technical art, international online communication, and international technical publications. Also, meet the winner of the international student technical communication competition. http://tc.eserver.org/27874.html http://tc.eserver.org/27874.html Save team members time and conduct meetings and other steps in the project process effectively by integrating these tips for working with team members scattered in various locations. http://tc.eserver.org/27816.html http://tc.eserver.org/27816.html KM-Forum: an initiative from India for global knowledge management professionals. A discussion group on KM related topics for global KM Professionals. http://tc.eserver.org/27736.html http://tc.eserver.org/27736.html This study aims at providing a new perspective on the question of public spheres and the European Union. Previous studies on public sphere and the European Union dealt with general trends and patterns of news reporting in Europe, the national prospective of mass media reporting, or with mass media as vehicle of political participation and as a form of media culture, but few have tried to understand what journalists think about EU information and how media relations could be strengthen in order to increase public discourses. This study is based on findings of a current research project about EU communication strategies in Finland and in Italy. Specifically the statistical data gather in these two member states shows the necessity to improve media relations between EU institutions and their press offices and national mass media. In this paper I will discuss about the role of mass media in enhancing public debate on EU, the different types of public spheres for the European Union and their implications and EU’s necessity to strength public debate and citizens’ participation to its decision-making. http://tc.eserver.org/27738.html http://tc.eserver.org/27738.html In the contemporary democracy the information to the citizens about the procedures and acts related to the public policies elaborated and implemented by the different government systems is having more and more importance. Also the European Union has felt this need of transparency and of information, and since 2001 it has started its new framework for co-operation on activities concerning the information and communication policy of the European Union. In this paper I will discuss the main characteristics of EU communication actions and its persuasive methodologies, taking into consideration the role of two Member States, Finland and Italy, as means of EU information diffusion. The strategies of these two countries will be compared in order to see which position these two Member States are taking in relations to EU legislation on communication and information, which communication strategies they are adopting and finally the different effects of EU campaigning on their citizens. http://tc.eserver.org/27683.html http://tc.eserver.org/27683.html Applying culture to user-experience design theory and practice. http://tc.eserver.org/27675.html http://tc.eserver.org/27675.html We know that crafting a more accessible website relies on understanding and using web standards including (X)HTML and CSS. It's interesting to see how the same practices relate directly to the design and development of internationalized sites. http://tc.eserver.org/27276.html http://tc.eserver.org/27276.html The author discusses considerations in deciding whether to work abroad or not. Outlines possible goals and objectives as well as contract and visa issues. http://tc.eserver.org/27269.html http://tc.eserver.org/27269.html Shares experiences and observations collected from working with colleagues in Asian cultures. Discusses the importance of actively working to accommodate the needs of communicators from other cultures by beginning the dialogue in their language. http://tc.eserver.org/27270.html http://tc.eserver.org/27270.html Intercultural experts offer their insights about working with colleagues from specific cultures. Included is a table presenting various cultural differences that communicators may experience. http://tc.eserver.org/27126.html http://tc.eserver.org/27126.html Despite the many signs of convergence of European and U.S. copyright laws, this article contends that copyright law in the United States will continue to differ in two significant respects from authors' rights laws of member states of the European Union. http://tc.eserver.org/27117.html http://tc.eserver.org/27117.html Differences in national intellectual property rules may cause economic activity to shift from one jurisdiction to another such that a higher protection rule in one jurisdiction will be undermined by lower protection rules in other jurisdictions. This article illustrates this phenomenon with four examples: as to rules on the enforceability of anti-reverse engineering clauses of software licenses, the protectability of bio-engineered research tools, peer to peer file sharing, and exceptions to anti-circumvention rules. It considers several options nations may have to respond to intellectual property arbitrages, none of which is likely to be very effective. http://tc.eserver.org/26869.html http://tc.eserver.org/26869.html These Free Powerpoint Templates are a great choice for a wide variety of presentation needs. http://tc.eserver.org/26659.html http://tc.eserver.org/26659.html Internationalization is the process of designing and developing software or Web applications so that they can be easily adapted to various linguistic and cultural environments without additional programming or engineering. Central to internationalization is the separation of language and cultural data from the source code. http://tc.eserver.org/26639.html http://tc.eserver.org/26639.html Users from other countries have special needs related to entry fields for names and addresses, measurements and dates, and information about regional product standards. http://tc.eserver.org/26614.html http://tc.eserver.org/26614.html The biggest problem facing the usability field is how to scale up massively so that we can impact all the user interface designs in the world. How big is this challenge? As of November 2005, there are about 75 million websites on the Internet. There are also about 30 million intranets inside corporate firewalls. Thus, there are more than 100 million user interface designs, just in the online space. http://tc.eserver.org/26612.html http://tc.eserver.org/26612.html Boston's little-known secret is that regardless of how renowned its citizens are for their literacy and tech savvy, we find consumer electronics just as hard to use as everyone else. The World Usability Day planning committee knew that as we raised awareness of usability and its related fields. http://tc.eserver.org/26590.html http://tc.eserver.org/26590.html This study is a first attempt at using Speech Act Theory (SAT), as a way to analyze and explain how upward influence (UI) strategies are performed. Based on SAT and considerations of face, as explained by Brown and Levinson (1987), this study tries to explain UI strategies used by members within an Indian workplace. We carefully selected six examples of UI to demonstrate how SAT can be useful in analyzing UI strategies. We found that even the slightest change in the anticipated degree of willingness or receptivity of the receiver necessitates a change in the strategy to be adopted. Violations of sincerity conditions and/ or inappropriate threats to face create infelicitous conditions and may lead to failed attempts at UI. http://tc.eserver.org/26181.html http://tc.eserver.org/26181.html As more companies conduct business globally, their printing needs often involve more foreign language translation and typesetting. Being able to meet such growing needs may give your business a major competitive advantage. So, have you considered adding translation and typesetting to your printing offerings? The one-stop convenience may be a major draw for businesses that have frequent dealings overseas. They will most likely choose a printer that can handle everything rather than dividing the work up for several printers to handle. So what do you need to do to get started? http://tc.eserver.org/26077.html http://tc.eserver.org/26077.html Although as an Interaction Designer I'm not involved in the actual development of the products I design, I find it increasingly clear that outsourcing creates a significant impact on the entire software design and construction process. Offshore development is in its infancy, but will continue to evolve to become an increasingly effective way to go about certain kinds of software construction. Based on recent project work, this article describes a number of observations worth considering as you ponder how outsourcing and offshore development may fit into your plans. http://tc.eserver.org/26083.html http://tc.eserver.org/26083.html IWA, a professional trade association, provides educational and certification standards for Web professionals. http://tc.eserver.org/25742.html http://tc.eserver.org/25742.html SIGCHI has established an International Advisory Task Force to help address issues of the internationalization of the organization. The task force has 20 members, from Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. http://tc.eserver.org/25706.html http://tc.eserver.org/25706.html In our industry, we are often asked to conduct non-directed interviews by telephone with audiences around the globe. This presents several logistical challenges. http://tc.eserver.org/25102.html http://tc.eserver.org/25102.html The aim of the Virtual Classroom project is to create an environment that will help stimulate purposeful communication between English language learners across the globe. http://tc.eserver.org/24952.html http://tc.eserver.org/24952.html CEOs overwhelmingly believe that revenue growth is their number one priority: four out of five CEOs (83%) now believe that revenue growth is the most important path to boosting financial performance over the next three years. And what do they see as the two key drivers for this growth? New and differentiated products and services (nearly two-thirds) and new markets (55%). Responsiveness is the new key competence, i.e., CEOs acknowledge that they need the ability to recognize, analyze and respond more effectively to continuously changing market conditions and risks. Reinstituting customer responsive organizations is high on their growth agenda. http://tc.eserver.org/24958.html http://tc.eserver.org/24958.html Declining domestic markets have opened global market opportunities to our entrepreneurs, A research has been made to determine if foreign clients view American project managers with suspicion. Some major problems encountered were: the lack of sociocultural sensitivities and failure to 'do our homework:' prior to taking on a foreign presence as an international project manager. Communications and inadequate foreign language knowledge are major problems. Overly aggressive behavior as guests in a host nation without respect to their social cultures can be selfdefeating. You can win! http://tc.eserver.org/24899.html http://tc.eserver.org/24899.html INTECOM (the International Council for Technical Communication) is an organization of technical communication organizations founded in 1969 by, among other national/international technical communication societies, STC. It meets yearly (sometimes twice yearly), and its primary goals are to improve networking between and among the member societies and their members, assisting national/ International organizations to form, sponsoring FORUM international conferences, and promoting technical communication education. The panel will present an update of the activities of the member societies to make INTECOM's activities more widely known so that STC members can take fuller advantage of them. http://tc.eserver.org/24712.html http://tc.eserver.org/24712.html Writing in English, people are apt to impose the paragraph structures of their native language, much as they impose their native syntax upon English. This panel enlists the audience in viewing empirically how paragraphs written in English by both native and nonnative speakers reflect predispositions from their own cultures. The aim is to answer some practical questions for international communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/24616.html http://tc.eserver.org/24616.html As is the case with the first-year composition class, we tend to think of WAC programs as an exclusively U.S. phenomenon, or at least a North American phenomenon. http://tc.eserver.org/24599.html http://tc.eserver.org/24599.html The article discusses service learning in a women's natural health clinic in Josefa Dominguez, Mexico. The author also discusses how students in writing classes can learn from community service and learning. http://tc.eserver.org/24568.html http://tc.eserver.org/24568.html This article explores three ways to design US empirical methods to be more valid and ethical in cross-cultural studies. First, intercultural researchers need to distinguish broad rhetorical and cultural patterns from regional, organizational, and personal patterns, a process that requires balancing the fact of difference with the need for generalization. Second, US researchers need to distinguish not only the differences in rhetorical patterns in a form of communication but also in the ways that form is used rhetorically. Third, researchers need to construct researcher-participant relationships that are sensitive to the values of organizational relationships in both cultures. http://tc.eserver.org/24559.html http://tc.eserver.org/24559.html This review examines technical communication programs outside the United States and comments on such features as their location in the university structure, links with public relations, the inclusion of internships or practicums, the balance of theory and practice, and typical courses offerings. It also provides a listing (including Web addresses) of a dozen major programs in seven countries. The review concludes that programs abroad share many features and goals with programs in the United States and suggests how international programs can illustrate the value of technical communication in the global marketplace. http://tc.eserver.org/24571.html http://tc.eserver.org/24571.html Within an increasingly global marketplace, discussions of intercultural communication are important in business and technical communication classrooms. Although many business and technical communication textbooks integrate discussions of intercultural communication, they do not go far enough in engaging the complicated nature of this issue. This article summarizes recent literature about the importance of paying attention to intercultural communication and analyzes the productive approaches in popular business and technical communication textbooks. It presents five challenges for business and technical communication teachers to consider and includes teaching modules that address these challenges. Although the article focuses on classroom practice, such intercultural explorations are also of value to authors of business and technical communication textbooks, who might consider integrating modules such as these into their textbooks. http://tc.eserver.org/24574.html http://tc.eserver.org/24574.html Online communication technology makes intercultural communication faster and more direct than was ever before possible, but, in doing so, it may also amplify cultural rhetoricaldifferences. Communication scholars, therefore, need to begin examining potentialareas of conflict in international cyberspace to anticipate and to resolve potential cross-culturalmisunderstandings related to online exchanges. This commentary proposesthat researchers need to compare the communication patterns noted in the computer-mediatedcommunication (CMC) literature and in the intercultural communication literatureto see where these communication patterns collide. http://tc.eserver.org/24518.html http://tc.eserver.org/24518.html This article challenges the conventional approach to cross-cultural communication teaching that instructs students to adapt their communication styles to different cultures by providing them with details about the particular practices of these cultures. It argues for an approach that focuses on common principles of effective communication by pointing out some limitations of the current culture-specific approach and presenting a pilot study that indicates the commonality of communication needs. It suggests some ways to find a different approach for studying international communication and shows that some current research is, in fact, moving in that direction. http://tc.eserver.org/24379.html http://tc.eserver.org/24379.html This panel will present a discussion of the purposes and activities of INTECOM, the international umbrella organization of technical communication societies. The panel will describe the organization of INTECOM, its major programs such as the international FORUM conference, and the value it offers to member organizations. http://tc.eserver.org/24372.html http://tc.eserver.org/24372.html An international demand for native English-speaking technical communicators has provided many opportunities for North Americans to seek employment overseas. At the same time, there are many who have dreamed about working abroad. Those interested in pursuing international employment should learn various job-search techniques, and should be aware of differing re'sume' requirements. Know what you will do if and when a job offer is made, and prepare yourself for the move. Living and working overseas can be exciting, but it is also challenging. You must be willing to accommodate yourself to the local culture. The Internet is an essential tool for international job seekers. http://tc.eserver.org/24270.html http://tc.eserver.org/24270.html The advent of multimedia technology has made 'visualization' a hot topic in technical communication. This paper classifies visualization into three categories, referring to differences in visualization between Western culture and Japanese culture. http://tc.eserver.org/24248.html http://tc.eserver.org/24248.html Most companies are moving quickly beyond their local market to succeed on a large global market. Companies are developing mass market products instead of products for a single customer. All this poises new challenges to everyone in the company. This panel will address the following.