Kicking Off Our Vision – “Setting the Industry Standard in Customer Satisfaction”

(continued)

Marketing Manager Lisa Siciliani and Document Processing/Marketing Specialist Susan Andrus organized the event to celebrate our vision, “Setting the Industry Standard in Customer Satisfaction”!

The food was great, and there were T-shirts, coolers, and water bottles for everyone.

Six vision award winners for August were recognized and are pictured to the right.

The McElroy family’s new exchange student from Russia won the gift certificate that was hidden under a seat. Ralph McElroy also drew raffle tickets for other prizes.

Production staff member Robert won the drawing for a day of Paid Time Off.

Try this round of questions to get to know the people in your group or your department; we had a contest to see who got the most questions correct and announcements of the results was a HOOT. Our winner had 13 correct answers to the “How well do you know the people in this room?” quiz. Who ….

1. has the newest car?
2. has the most wheeled vehicles?
3. has the most siblings?
4. has the most children?
5. has the oldest children?
6. has the youngest children?
7. is the youngest?
8. is the oldest?
9. has been married the longest?
10. has lived at their address the longest?
11. has visited the most countries?
12. has lived in the most countries?
13. has visited the most states?
14. has the most pets?
15. has the longest name, including middle name?
16. has the farthest place of birth?
17. has the most extreme hobby?
18. has the largest book collection?
19. has the most music?
20. got the least amount of sleep last night?

The McElroy Company Vision Party was great fun. The ultimate goal is that we feel and project a sense of teamwork and camaraderie that makes a difference in the way that we approach our work and treat our clients. We want “Setting the Industry Standard in Customer Satisfaction” to be real, not just marketing.

Need your
E-Buzz fix more than once a month?

Corporate Team Building – Silly Games Or Powerful Experience?

(continued)

Notes from The Amazing Maze at retreat

• We finished within the 40-minute deadline, which only 1/3 of teams do, and we finished with only a little debt, which put us in the top 10% of performers.
• We’re good at finding alternative paths.
• Very quickly, within 3-4 minutes, we ceased being competitive and started being collaborative.
• We were forgiving of mistakes.
• Natural leaders with the specific skills to solve the task emerged, and we depended on them.
• Some of us experienced frustration and other emotional responses.
• It’s important to develop a clear communication mechanism (there were lots of different kinds of waving hands when someone didn’t know which square to step on next).
• It’s important to know who to go to for a certain expertise.
• We shouldn’t reinvent the wheel when we’ve found the path; on the other hand, we don’t want to get stuck in a rut so that we don’t explore better paths.
• Some of us didn’t feel as if we had to know or remember the path ourselves; we were comfortable relying on and following others.
• None of felt alone while on the maze.
• Almost no one felt as if they didn’t get to contribute because of stronger voices in the group.
• It’s important to have agreement before moving forward.
• It’s important to learn and follow the rules (it took us a while to master not talking while someone was on the maze).
• Let someone follow another path if it will still be successful, because it’s easier and more effective than fighting with them to follow your path.
• Why did we give up so soon on what we thought was a dead end?

It is easy to see how each of these notes is relevant to our professional setting as we work together to accomplish business objectives. Did it help us work hard the next day at our retreat? You bet. Corporate Team Building done well will also lead McElroy Translation to function optimally to realize its Corporate Vision “Setting the Industry Standard in Customer Satisfaction.”

TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

More info about the retreat.

A Translation Taste of the Exotic

(continued)

Religions encompass Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, and in eastern Malaysia, Shamanism.

The capital is Kuala Lumpur, home of the famous Petronas Towers.

Photo Credit: elbisreverri’s photos

You can see some of the many cultural and linguistic influences in this cursory one sentence history: Explorers from India who settled in the region in the 2nd and 3rd centuries found existing tribal kingdoms; about 1400, Sumatran exiles founded the city-state of Malacca introducing Islam; Malacca was captured by the Portuguese in 1511; ceded to the Dutch in 1641; the British controlled the area by the mid 1800s; Chinese migrated in large numbers in the late 1800s; Japan invaded in WW II; Malaysia was established in 1963.

If Malaysia sparked your curiosity as it did mine, here are a few sites you’ll find interesting:

Good all-around site: Geographia - Malaysia

Tourism Malaysia

Wikipedia - Malaysia

The CIA Factbook - Malaysia

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (CEE)

Back to the document that prompted this article—it was determined that our client’s document was written in Jawi (سراواك), a script derived centuries ago from Arabic, but including an extra six characters. From the European influence, nearly all Malay today is written in Roman script rather than Jawi.

Jawi is now considered an endangered script.

The document did reference land in or near Mukah, a coastal town in what is now the state of Sarawak on the Malaysian portion of the island of Borneo.

The state of Sarawak itself has an unusual history. Sarawak was ceded by the sultan of Brunei to an Englishman, James Brooke, who became rajah of the independent state in 1841. Although it became a British protectorate in 1888, it was controlled by the Brooke family for 105 years.

Sarawak is home to 28 ethnic groups: each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle. Many families in Sarawak live together in longhouses “The Iban like visitors,” explains Cibu Nuyagang, a longhouse guide. “It means that their house is wanted. If nobody came, they would wonder why.”

For a cool map you can enlarge to see where the town of Mukah is located in Sarawak click on the link in this web page and zoom in. Mukah is the homeland of the Melanau people, one of the many native tribes of Sarawak. Many homes are built on stilts as much of the land surrounding Mukah is peat swamp, suited for growing sago and oil palm.

A favorite Melanau dish is Umai, raw fish salad. The fish is soaked in lime and other juices, then onions, peppers, and spices are added. It’s often served with sago pearls and a dipping sauce.

McElroy’s Customer Service Coordinator, Carol Moya, adds an interesting connection to this document, “The day after we discovered what language this was, I went into a Crabtree and Evelyn store, and they have a nice new fragrance called “Sarawak.” I was so excited that I knew where Sarawak was, that I told the salesperson. She knew it was in Malaysia and said the fragrance contains plants and spices from Malaysia. I passed this info on to our client, and he was excited too, wanting to buy the fragrance for his wife! I bought some little candles in this fragrance for our Translation Coordination Dept. for all their efforts, and because I wanted to see the looks on their faces when they saw the name!”

For a company that primarily translates highly technical documents this was an exotic treat, both across culture and time.

Concierge.com – destination Malaysia

Read about McElroy’s localization services.

Malaysia

(continued)

Corporate Culture

• Business cards are generally exchanged after an introduction.
• Westerners are expected to be punctual for social occasions and business meetings. Call if you are delayed. Do not get frustrated if a Malay is late or your business meeting does not begin on time.
• Business counterparts will want to get to know you personally before doing business with you.
• Decisions are made slowly. Patience is required. Malays will probably involve you in polite conversation for a lengthy period before getting down to business. Discussions will be long and detailed.
• A letter of introduction from a bank or a mutual acquaintance will help establish a business relationship. Without an introduction, your request for a meeting might be ignored.
• Once an agreement is reached, don’t be surprised if counterparts try to renegotiate, even after a written agreement has been drafted. Malays view written contracts as less important than personal trust. Expect requests for escape clauses.
• Malays will pressure you to make concessions, but won’t give up much themselves in the beginning of negotiations. Plan on several trips.
• Malays admire good etiquette and do not appreciate bluntness. They are polite and go for the soft sell.
• Listen carefully to Malays. They will avoid saying things directly. You must learn to read between the lines.

Dining and Entertainment

• Entertaining is an important part of doing business. Most business entertaining is done in restaurants.
• Most important meetings are followed with lunch or dinner. Be sure to reciprocate any dinner with a dinner of equal value.
• Spouses may be invited to dinner when the meal will not involve business discussions. Do not bring spouses to a business lunch.
• Drinks are offered and accepted with both hands. Drinks are not served before dinner.
• Malays use only their right hand to eat, pass, touch or handle anything. Never use your left hand to eat.
• Food is cut in bite size pieces, making a knife unnecessary. Hold the spoon in your right hand and the fork in your left hand. Push your food onto the spoon with the fork and eat from the spoon. When finished, put the fork and the spoon on your plate.
• Allow the host to order all dishes in a restaurant.

Dress

• For business, men should wear pants and white shirts, with ties for executives. Conservative suits should be worn when meeting with government officials. You may be more comfortable wearing a jacket to a first meeting.
• Women should wear sleeved blouses with skirts or pants.
• Yellow is reserved for royalty.

Gifts

• Gifts are not exchanged at the first meeting, or in general, but have one with you in case you are given one. You should reciprocate with a gift of equal value if one is given to you. A dinner invitation can substitute for a gift.
• Give company products with logo or gifts made in the U.S. (pens, books, desk attire). Do not give money, liquor, knives, scissors or images of dogs.
• Giving or receiving gifts with both hands shows respect. Never use your left hand to give or receive a gift. Never open a gift in the presence of the giver.
• Always bring a small gift for the hostess when invited to someone’s home. Give fruits, sweets, perfumes or crafts from your home country.

Helpful Hints

• Malays judge people by who they are rather than what they do. Family background, social position and status are all important.
• Never smoke around royal family members. Many are in business and may be in attendance at meetings.
• Compliment sincerely, but expect Malays to deny out of modesty.
• Show respect for the elderly and never smoke around them.
• Understand that Malays believe that successes, failures, opportunities and misfortunes result from fate or the will of God.
• Don’t be surprised if Malays ask personal questions about your income, religion, etc. You may ask the same questions. There is no obligation to answer these questions.

Especially for Women

• Women are generally accepted in business, where they hold many influential positions.
• It is perfectly acceptable for a woman to invite a Malaysian businessman to dinner. She may or may not invite his wife.
• Women may dine alone in hotel restaurants or bars.

-- Excerpted from the “Put Your Best Foot Forward” series by Mary Murray Bosrock. These publications are available for the U.S., Asia, Mexico/Canada, Russia, Europe and South America.

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