Editorial

We have very carefully chosen content for China Focus that will support Chinese companies that are expanding internationally, as well as international companies that are doing business in China and the rest of East Asia. Here are a few Editor’s Choices to check out while you’re in Shanghai:

Presentations

Business to Business: Localizing Portals in the Financial Services Sector

China as a Springboard into East Asia

Global Ready Operations: A Focus on Open Standards

Localization Vendor Qualification in China

Making Your Applications Not Only Work, but Work Well, in China

Writing for Localization: Common Mistakes and Best Practices

Skills Workshops

From Cleveland to Shanghai: How to Run a Globalization Audit of Your Business Processes

How to Maximize the Use of Localization Industry Standards

Producing Multilingual Documentation: Cost-effective Design and DTP

Click here if you want to check out your colleagues who have already registered for China Focus. And if you still need to register, please click here.

If you can’t join us in Shanghai, then join us in New York, June 26-30.

The theme of the LISA Global Strategies Summit in New York will be Meeting the Challenges of Diverse Markets with Integrated Solutions and Strategies. Come learn what it takes to move from international inspiration to global reality! Check out our special offers (free business tools and discounted fees for Skills Workshops). If you are not a LISA Member, join today and attend the Summit in New York for free.

---

James Wei (President of E-C Beijing) will discuss Localization Vendor Qualification in China during China Focus. I posed two questions to him recently, to which he gave exactly the same answer!

What are the top 5 business mistakes that companies make when entering China?
What are the top 5 business mistakes that Chinese companies make when entering other markets?

Wei: Many companies, regardless of where they are based, do not understand or appreciate the differences in such key areas as culture, business conventions, employment practices or even in public behavior and relationships. Oftentimes, they do not completely understand the local laws, rules or regulations, and they will compound the problem by employing the wrong type of manager for their local operations. In some cases, a company’s products and services are not suitable, or cannot compete effectively, in the target market. At the end of the day, it’s a question of adopting the most suitable business strategy and management for whatever market you are entering.

Bobby Liao (Senior Product Manager for TIBCO Software) will address the issue of using China as a springboard into East Asia for enterprise software companies during China Focus. He will approach it from the user perspective, providing a first-hand account and analysis as a Product Globalization Manager as he opens doors to China for a U.S.-based enterprise software company. Here’s some of what he has to say about global virtual teams, his advice for technical outsourcing, and the two mistakes that companies continue to make when outsourcing to China.

Why should a software company consider outsourcing?

Liao: The most popular answer to this question is cost, but I like to think of it as more than just cost. A software company exists in an eco-system and the eco-system is constantly evolving with different players, with different resources, and more importantly, with different opportunities. To take advantage of the resources and opportunities in the various global eco-systems and to grow within and beyond one's own immediate eco-system, seeking partners for outsourcing is part of the evolution.

Global virtual teams are now a given. How can organizations ensure their success?

Liao: Investigate the necessary communication and collaboration infrastructure and associated costs thoroughly to avoid surprises and delays. Software companies especially need to consider servers and development platforms, networks and firewalls, and bandwidth requirements. If you have a specific hardware and operating system requirement, do not assume that it will be readily available in another country.

Plan in advance for setting up multimedia collaboration channels for all team members. Do not rely on email communication alone for collaboration. The value of verbal conversation and hearing other teammates' voices – when you can’t see them in person or via video conference – is also important for team building. The same goes for not relying on spoken communication alone in team meetings. Take advantage of WebEx or other online conferences tools for sharing visual information such as slides and having the ability to use text messaging for clarification.

What are the two pieces of advice that you would give to a medium-sized software company that is gearing up to outsource in China? What role should human resources development and training play?

Liao: Outsourcing can be a multi-year effort, especially if you're considering setting up a technical development center. Plan for at least two years or longer. Staff training is a critical part of building the operation – and not just for developing and honing technical skills. It is critical for instilling the core values of the company. You need to immerse new team members in your company’s culture and make them feel part of the global team. What this means is that you must budget appropriately for managers and staff travel to China and plan for frequent conference calls or online meetings that are scheduled very early or late in the day. Budget for face time and plan for time zone differences.

What are the two mistakes that companies continue to make when outsourcing to China?

Liao: Companies continue to underestimate the effort required for recruiting and training technical resources in terms of time and cost. You have to be flexible and proactive in working with your outsourcing partner to adjust and revise the requirements in order not fall behind in your schedule.

Companies also continue to manage remotely. The value of a local manager is extremely critical for both near- and long-term success. You need to identify and have on board a strong local manager from the start if you expect to be successful.

---

Innovation is a hot topic in China these days. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Vice President of Technical Strategy and Innovation at LISA Member IBM, shares his personal views on the issue in Why is Innovation Such a Hot Topic? Two Sides of a Coin (premium). According to Wladawsky-Berger, no company, regardless of its success or wealth, can do the bulk of its own R&D or afford to ignore the powerful forces at work in the larger community today.

If you are in the process of deciding whether to build or to buy an operation in China, we provide an overview of the options and the road chosen by Moravia Worldwide in China: To Build or to Buy? (premium).

Eastern Europe is emerging as a preferred location for new factories owned by Taiwanese corporations – both to meet their cost targets and to be closer to their Western European customers (read The Taiwan-Romania Axis). The LISA Forum Europe, Managing Europe’s Multilingual Information Society, will be held from November 13-17 in Warsaw, Poland. In preparation for that event, LISA Member Kevin Fountoukidis (CEO of Argos Translations) provides his personal views in How Eastern Europe Fits into the European Translation Market (premium).

Web site search continues its unabated march to aid our brains in classifying all of the planet’s information in some form or another. But, how do we really find what we really need when we want it? Read The Impact of Search Engine Optimization on Internationalization Projects, by Curt Porritt (President and CEO, 10x Marketing) (premium).

One of the most popular programs offered by LISA is its TouchPoint Advisory, in which invited experts spend 45 minutes to an hour in a teleconference format with 8-10 of our Corporate Members. If you are a LISA Member, please take 3 minutes to choose the topics that will provide the most help in managing your business for the rest of 2006.

Congratulations are in order to everyone who has worked so hard to develop EN 15038 – the European Committee for Standards (CEN) approved the standard last week. For more details, read Focus on Standards (English): The EN-15038 European Quality Standard for Translation Services: What’s Behind It?

And ICANN finally announced a timeline for nudging mulinguality a bit further on the web. For details, read ICANN Announces Timeline for Development of a Project for the Technical Test of Internationalized Top Level Labels at http://www.icann.org/topics/idn/.

Two LISA Partners will be holding events in April:

The Center for Information Development Management Content will hold its Management Strategies Conference 2006 in San Francisco from April 3-5. Content Management Professionals (CM Pros) will hold its spring summit, Content Management and the Customer Experience, on April 23-24 (also in San Francisco), in conjunction with the Gilbane Conference on Content Management Technologies.

That’s all for this month. See you in Shanghai!