1. © Intercultural Studies Group Universitat Rovira i Virgili Plaça Imperial Tàrraco 1 43005 Tarragona Fax: (++ 34) 977 55 95 97 Risk management in localization processes Anthony Pym LRC Internationalisation and Localisation Summer School 12 - 15 June 2006 University of Limerick, Ireland

2. © Intercultural Studies Group Preliminary example In translating/localizing a birth certificate, where can you make a mistake? Name of person born? Date of birth? Name of midwife?

3. © Intercultural Studies Group Distribution of resources: Only work hard where there is high risk. Don’t work hard where there is low risk. (Don’t work too hard!)

4. © Intercultural Studies Group What is risk? The probability of not fulfilling the project’s purpose. How can we assess this probability? How can we define the purpose?

5. © Intercultural Studies Group Measuring risk: High risk is not high frequency (probability of occurrence) High risk is high impact (effect of occurrence for the purpose of the project)

6. © Intercultural Studies Group Types of risk (from Stoeller) Kittens (low frequency, low impact) Puppies (high frequency, low impact) Alligators (low frequency, high impact) Tigers (high probability, high impact)

7. © Intercultural Studies Group Classify the risks of these product errors “1 files left to download” “spesifications”

8. © Intercultural Studies Group Classify the risks of these product errors

9. © Intercultural Studies Group A classical product error:

10. © Intercultural Studies Group A new product error?

11. © Intercultural Studies Group But also human error: Your client changes their mind every two days. You miss deadlines by months. Your translators / project managers change jobs frequently You start using new technology without adequate testing/training.

12. © Intercultural Studies Group Reducing risk 1: Product errors: more revision better qualified staff liability insurance (All of this requires added effort.)

13. © Intercultural Studies Group Reducing risk 2: Human errors: More meetings More specifications Hiring and firing Portfolios / risk transfer Higher rates of pay Donkeywork for dummies Or long-term motivation and trust (All of this requires more added effort.)

14. © Intercultural Studies Group But: The effort invested in risk aversion must be less than the benefits of the purpose. So what is the purpose?

15. © Intercultural Studies Group Identify the purpose: “1 files left to download” “spesifications”

16. © Intercultural Studies Group Identify the purpose:

17. © Intercultural Studies Group The purpose?

18. © Intercultural Studies Group The purpose?

19. © Intercultural Studies Group The same purposes here? Your client changes their mind every two days. You miss deadlines by months. Your translators / project managers change jobs frequently You start using new technology without adequate testing/training.

20. © Intercultural Studies Group Purposes can concern: The use of a product The profits of a company The long-term standardization of languages Relations between cultures Social inclusion Cultural diversity?

21. © Intercultural Studies Group Risk aversion? The expert’s entire article is about reducing or avoiding risks, no matter what the cost. The proposed universals of translators’ behaviour (explicitation, reduced variation, added length) are also all risk-averse. So localization and translation are risk-averse by nature? And thus marginal luxury services, by nature?

22. © Intercultural Studies Group Risks at Ikea:

23. © Intercultural Studies Group In Malaysia:

24. © Intercultural Studies Group In Greece:

25. © Intercultural Studies Group In Poland:

26. © Intercultural Studies Group In Sweden:

27. © Intercultural Studies Group In Germany:

28. © Intercultural Studies Group In France:

29. © Intercultural Studies Group In Hong Kong:

30. © Intercultural Studies Group So: The localization industry is risk-averse and thus a marginal luxury? But marketing has high risk tolerance, is even better paid, and has more impact? Meanwhile, the world is localizing without even considering the main long- term risks?