Globalizer

   I know a french friend. he used to study in a Hong Kong university. then he worked in china for a french company. not long ago, he started up a business to find low cost chinese engineering service provider for french manufacturing companies. he tells me drawing a CAD picture is very expensive in france. many french companies are looking for outsourcing opportunities in china. but many chinese companies can't speak french at all. so he thinks he can be a good brokerage for this kind of business. recently, he told me his business plan has won a prize in a business competition in paris. Congratulations, buddy!

   My friend case points out one typical barrier for business globalization. that is language! I never hide that I am an advocate of globalization because I think globalization can really bring a fair business competition ecosystem. but culture conflict stops globalization progress. language as an aspect of culture is definitely a reason. today, I read an article from fast company. the topic is how language can affect global marketing. it's worth reading!

……"Language is becoming a competitive advantage," he said. "If you can deliver your product in a way that looks like it was developed in that country, you have a competitive advantage." Statistics reveal that English is less dominant on the Internet than it used to be, with languages like Chinese, Japanese and Spanish gaining increasingly significant ground…..

   However, I should remind every company. don't polarize your marketing language:completely arrogant as a foreign language or blindly localizing everything! all are wrong. start from your target users, then spread your product/service in a language your users prefer!