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INTRODUCTION
Globalizationisdefinedastheprocessofinternationalintegrationresulting
fromanexchangeofcommodities,concepts,worldviewsandotheraspectsof
culture.Advancesinworldwidetransportationandtelecommunicationsectors
accompaniedbytheriseandtheexpandinggrowthoftheInternetconstitute
maindeterminantsofglobalization,atthesametimecontributingtoprogres-
siveinterdependenceofeconomicandsocio-culturalactivities(Benetti2003:
35-37).And,amidstthegrowingproliferationofnewlyemergingproductsand
serviceslaunchedalmosteverydayandtargetedglobally,businesssectoris
learningtomakelanguageabasicconditionforitsfuturesuccess.Incontrastto
pastpractices,wherecompaniesusedtoreleasetheirnativelanguageversions
ofproductsandservicesofferedandmakeuseofmonolingualadverts,com-
mercialsandwebsites,currently,contemporarybusinessentitiestargetmultiple
regionsandthusneedmultilingualmerchandise.
Asaresult,moreandmoreproductsareoriginallydesignedtobelaunched
internationallyandmeettherequirementsofthetargetmarkets.Hence,there
isindeedanimperativeformultinationalorganizationstohavetheirproducts
andassociatedmarketingtoolslikewebportalsorsocialnetworkingsitespre-
sentedinthelanguageofthetarget-consumergroup.Inahypotheticalsitua-
tionwhereanAmericancompanyisthinkingoflaunchingitsproductsintothe
Polishmarket,underidealconditionsitistopresentitsofferandmerchandisein
PolishlanguageandaccommodatethecommunicationchallengesofthePolish
marketplace.2Obviously,itwillinvolvetranslationfromthesourcelanguage,
i.e.AmericanEnglish,intothetargetone,i.e.Polish.Insuchacontext,itmight
bededucedthatlanguageintheareaofglobalbusinessesisbecominganother
criticalfactorinfluencingabetterrecognitionofthecompany-inthiscase
informationontheproduct,oragivenservice,presentedinthenativelanguage
ofthepotentialPolishclientswouldcontributetoamoreeffectivefamiliarity
withthecompany’sofferamidstPolishandthusenhanceitspopularityandsuc-
cessinthenewmarketplace.
Giventhecircumstancesandthechangingfaceofmodernbusinesspractises,
manyenterprisesapplythemuch-usedrule“thinklocal,actglobal”(Morley
2002:39-40).Indoingso,theyadoptaglobalperspectiveontheirorganiza-
tions,whiletailoringtheiractivitiestothelocalenvironmentinwhichthey
operate.Forclarification,‘thinkingglobal’isanadoptionofaglobalorientation
indicatingthatthecompanyisplanningtoconductbusinesstransactionsbeyond
2
C.Camerota,WhyGlobalBusinessesNeedaLanguageStrategy.Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/
hbsworkingknowledge/2014/10/06/why-global-businesses-need-a-language-strategy/(access27.03.2015).
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