The New European Standard for Translation Services  

The new European standard DIN EN 15038 on translation services will become effective on August 1, 2006.

TC World (2006). Articles>Language>Standards>Technical Translation

Search Engine Marketing in Multiple Languages  

You can hear the sighs of relief as the website localization project comes to a close or enters maintenance mode. However organized the client and however professional the localization vendor, website localization is a painful process. Now it's over--at least we can tick the box that says 'have multilingual website.' After all, is that not the reason we localized in the first place?

Harris, Ian. TC World (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Marketing

Improving Software Usability Through Embedded User Assistance 

Integrating user assistance into the software interface is one of the best ways to increase the usability of your software application and thus make your customers more satisfied and successful. However, embedded help has the reputation of being difficult to develop and execute. Let’s take a look at a solution that makes it possible to quickly include an embedded, dynamic help pane in a software interface.

Bleiel, Nicky. TC World (2009). Articles>Usability>Software>Help

Managing International Assignments 

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.

Cook, Richard. TC World (2009). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration>International

International Team Management 

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?

Wellings, Cathy. TC World (2009). Careers>Management>Collaboration>International

Interview with Patrick Lambe: “Real Value Comes from Building Relationships” 

An enormous amount of knowledge resides within international organizations. But how can the knowledge management (KM) team unlock this information and make it available to a large number of employees around the globe? How much knowledge should actually be shared and what kind of experience should not be passed on because it might hinder innovation and creative thinking? In an interview with tcworld KM expert Patrick Lambe answered these and many other questions.

Melville, Corinna. TC World (2009). Articles>Interviews>Knowledge Management>Organizational Communication

Intercultural Management at Škoda Auto 

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.

Bila, Lenka. TC World (2008). Articles>Management>International>Case Studies

Choosing Media Strategically for Cross-Border Team Communications 

More and more organizations are establishing cross-border teams to take advantage of global talent and global markets. Location and time are no longer impediments to building the 'dream team' but in our rush to take advantage of these new media of e-mail, video conferences and the like we may not realize that there is also some learning for us to do on the cultural front.

Cook, Richard. TC World (2009). Articles>Multimedia>Collaboration>Organizational Communication

Managing Culture Change Within the Context of Mergers and Acquisitions 

The generic term “mergers & acquisitions (M&A)” appeared for the first time at the end of the 19th century in the United States. In times of increased global competition, M&A activities have reached all regions of the world and are not solely concerning large enterprises. However, with many M&A projects never reaching the synergy effects that were expected of them, the successful integration of one company into another remains a challenge.

Bialek, Chantal. TC World (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>Policies and Procedures

Interview with Robert Gibson: "Communicate Consistent Messages" 

Being active in 190 countries around the world, mergers and acquistions are part of the business routine for the engineering conglemerate Siemens AG. A smooth integration process is vital for business success. Supporting this integration process is one of the tasks of Robert Gibson, senior consultant for training and projects at the Siemens headquarters in Munich, Germany. tcworld spoke to him about the challenge of integrating new corporate and national cultures.

Melville, Corinna. TC World (2008). Articles>Interviews>Business Communication>Workplace

Tom Sawyer: A Crowdsourcing Pioneer? 

Most American schoolchildren are familiar with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, (Mark Twain, 1876) and, thanks to translators, many students around the world have also read Twain’s classic. In the book’s most famous scene, the protagonist Tom is assigned the task of whitewashing a fence. While his motivation is to avoid work rather than cost, he cleverly manipulates his friends and acquaintances into doing the work for him. Not only does he leverage effective “non-financial rewards,” but he even gets others to compensate him for the “privilege” of contributing to the effort. Could this be the first recorded instance of crowdsourcing?

Orr Priebe, Shelly. TC World (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building

Internationalizing Your Content: Authoring with Localization in Mind 

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.

Pietrangeli, Lisa. TC World (2009). Articles>Language>Localization>International

Automated Translation for Technical Documentation: Can it Deliver What it Promises? 

In the past few years, there has been a growing interest in using automated translation in a business environment. In the past, automated translation was mostly implemented in government and defense areas, but nowadays there’s also a great interest from corporations that see the value automated translation can contribute to their organization. Let’s take a look at the different uses of automated translation, how it adds value to technical publications and how your teams can prepare content for automated translation.

Hurst, Sophie. TC World (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Translation>Machine Translation

The Biggest Challenge is Determining Where to Go 

Outsourcing has become a solid strategy for organizations looking to improve productivity and reduce costs. Today, companies are no longer asking “should we do this?” but rather, “what region makes the most sense?” Outsourcing Institute’s Frank Casale shares why a successful partnership starts with ‘transformation mindset’ and what factors should be considered when outsourcing offshore.

Achille, Jeanne. TC World (2009). Articles>Management>Outsourcing

Using EN 15038:2006 as an Assessment Tool 

If you have struggled with a good way to assess the countless translation agencies vying for your business or looked for a way to assess your current provider, you’re not alone. Companies around the globe have longed for a standard objective means by which to carry out their assessments. Some help has arrived in the form of European Standard EN 15038:2006, “Translation Services — Service Requirements.”

Heaton, Jason. TC World (2009). Articles>Language>Translation>Assessment

Current Financial Crisis and Latin American Translation 

In the current global financial crisis, Latin America has at least one advantage over most parts of the world. Crisis mode is the norm, rather than the exception, and presumably this means that people here consider what is happening to the world economy far less threatening than people in Europe and North America. The region is also one step removed from the closely interconnected economies of the western world, which means that the impact of the crisis has taken longer to see tangible effects. But does that mean Latin America is a safe haven from woes of the global financial crisis? I think not.

Bengtsson, Teddy. TC World (2009). Articles>Language>Localization>South America

User-Generated Content 

Let’s say that you’re reading a news story about a particular area of geographic conflict and you decide to investigate further. Without an encyclopedia available, as fewer and fewer of us seem to have them on hand these days, you quickly check out your handy online references. To your surprise, the article on this disputed feature seems to be an amalgamation of strongly differing opinions and ideologies, to the point where the article has been locked down from further editing. Such is the nature of the brave new world of user-generated content, where a content publisher forges a careful alliance of sorts with a wide range of contributors across very diverse locales and cultures. Depending on the intended purpose of the provided content, the end result can take on a life of its own, as it becomes the focal point for a silent yet fervent battle over “fact” and “truth” from divergent viewpoints.

Edwards, Tom. TC World (2009). Articles>Content Management>Wikis>Social Networking

Ensuring Quality in Outsourcing 

Business Process Outsourcing has become a leading business model of our time. While the increasing pressure to cut cost is still among the primary drivers for this trend, today quality has become a major issue when it comes to choosing an outsourcing partner. Here is an overview of standards and models that help measure and improve the quality of outsourcing services.

Rouget, Roy. TC World (2009). Articles>Management>Outsourcing>Assessment

Outsourcing: Buying a Service or Contracting a Relationship? 

Improving your performance, using your in-house resources more profitably, staying focused on your core business, accelerating time-to-market and decreasing costs – the benefits of outsourcing sound very promising. But how can you jump on the bandwagon of outsourcing? Between Russia and India, Dubai and Vietnam – where do you find your outsourcing provider? And how can you trust that the provider will help you achieve the promised benefits? tcworld investigated.

Ritter, Corinna. TC World (2008). Articles>Management>Outsourcing>Offshoring

Mauritius: An International Business Hub 

Crystal-clear waters, splendid white beaches and luxurious ressorts – these are usually the things associated with Mauritius. Far away from the world’s major markets and sources, the island nation in the Indian Ocean seems more of a touristic center of recreation than an international business hub. However, in recent years, Mauritius has come a long way in implementing its vision: transforming the island into a regional hub for information and communication technology (ICT).

Kencki, Devi. TC World (2008). Articles>Management>Outsourcing>Offshoring

The Growing Sector of Technical Communication in India 

Over the past decades, technical communication in India has grown from an unknown profession to an indispensable part of many industries and sectors. A testimony to the maturity and significance of this professional field is the tremendous growth of the so-called TWIN community, representing the Technical Communicators of India.

Ramamurthy, Ramesh. TC World (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>India

Layout of Japanese Documents 

In order to provide guidance to those involved in the preparation of documents for the Japanese market, a special Japanese layout taskforce has developed the “Requirements for Japanese Text Layout”. Here is an insight into the content.

Graham, Tony. TC World (2009). Articles>Document Design>Localization>Japan

What Information Developers Can Learn from Software Developers 

The shift in information development from a narrative to a modular writing style reflects the established shift towards modularization of source code. What can information developers learn from software developers? What are the challenges and benefits of the modular approach?

Higgins, Paul. TC World (2009). Articles>Information Design>Content Management>Documentation

Controlled Language – Does My Company Need It? 

Controlled languages use basis writing rules to simplify sentence structure. Here is how they work and how your company can benefit from introducing a controlled language.

Muegge, Uwe. TC World (2009). Articles>Language>Style Guides>Controlled Vocabulary

Comprehensibility as an Economic Factor 

How can you guarantee a clearly understandable user manual? Is it even possible to measure the quality of technical documents or does comprehensibility merely depend on the reader? To answer these questions for the Porsche AG, content analysis provider semiotis³ developed a model to help measure the quality of documents.

Eybe, Angelika and David Messelken. TC World (2009). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Assessment