Globalization

The phenomenon of globalization implies contacts with people from other countries. The improvement in the cost and quality of the means of transport and the great technological advances in the communications make those contacts very easy, but the great diversity of customs and points of view demands flexibility and awareness of our similarities and differences with other cultures. These differences are very obvious in general areas such as language, values, etiquette, behaviour and non-verbal communication in general.

Our success in today’s global economy very often depends on our ability to establish international relations. Cultural differences may create misunderstandings which can seriously affect our performance at work. For this reason, being culturally competent will help us avoid embarrasing moments and cultural blunders. Cultural competence implies having a certain knowledge of the language, the religion, the politics, the history, the gender roles, the business ethics, the social institutions, the humour, the values and the non-verbal communication which are prevalent in other countries or other cultures.

As language is the basic means of communication, the most important thing to be successful in international relationships is the knowledge of a foreign language. English has become the international language for business. Therefore, it is essential to have a good knowledge of English in order to establish profitable contacts with other countries. International business interactions are sometimes filled with cultural mistakes and poor translations that give a very poor impression of a company or institution, so you should try to avoid such mistakes.

The English appreciate polite language. Words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are more frequently used than in other languages. When we make a request, it is almost obligatory to say ‘please’. In English, the difference between formal and informal language is greater than in other languages, so you must be careful to choose the most appropriate form according to the person you are talking to. For example, if you are addressing a superior at work, or an older person that you do not know well, you should always make requests by using the polite form with ‘would’: would you like a coffee?, would you mind sitting down?, would you mind if I smoke?, etc. If you are ever late to a meeting or an appointment, you must apologise and add the reason for being late. For example, you can say: I’m really sorry I’m late. I couldn’t find a taxi.

Apart from speaking a foreign language, it is also necessary to be aware of the differences in behaviour and values of other people. We should know that things which are acceptable in our country may not be acceptable in other countries. For example, in Anglo-Saxon cultures, kissing a woman in a first meeting is not considered proper, so we must shake hands instead. Touching someone while speaking is also considered very rude, so during a conversation we must keep a distance with the other person and avoid physical contact. We should not ask personal questions to someone that we have just met because this is regarded as an intolerable interference into one’s personal life. However, we can safely talk about the weather, which is England’s favourite topic for conversation.

These few examples apply to the Anglo-Saxon culture, which is the dominant culture in the mass media today, so we are probably acquainted with the people’s customs in countries like the USA or Great Britain. However, things are different when we deal with Japanese, Chinese or Arab people because their cultures are very different from our own culture and many of their customs are unkown to us. When we try to make business contacts with people from those cultures, it is necessary to be especially conscious of the cultural differences.

Marketing is about communicating the value of a product, service or brand to customers or consumers for the purpose of promoting or selling it. The oldest, simplest and most natural form of marketing is ‘word of mouth’ (WOM) marketing, in which consumers share their experiences of a product, service or brand in their communications with others. These communications can of course be either positive or negative.

The main purpose of marketing is to increase product sales and therefore the profits of the company.

Marketing techniques include choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer behaviour and advertising a product’s value to the customer.

Digital Marketing consists in using digital channels to promote or market products and services to consumers and businesses. The key objective is to promote brands, build preference and increase sales through various digital marketing techniques which use the Internet as a promotional medium. Some methods of promotion are text messaging, mobile instant messaging, mobile apps, podcasts, electronic billboards, and the traditional TV and radio.

With digital media, consumers have access to information any time and any place they want it. Consumers use multiple channels and a variety of digital devices. They are no longer influenced by just what you say about your brand. In fact, consumers are more likely to be influenced by what others say about your brand, and they can easily find the information online, either through blogs, forums, or especially on social media. Customer interaction is dynamic, so it makes it hard for companies to manage digital marketing.

Social media is a tool that allows people to create, share or exchange information, interests, photos and videos in virtual communities and networks. Social media fosters communication. People communicate with their families and friends, share experiences, look for a job or advertise themselves through different social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

Each social network has its own personality and requires a different strategic approach for a business to be successful on it.

Twitter enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called “tweets”. It has over millions of active users that send millions of tweets per day, so it has a lot of marketing potential. Brands can create their business accounts in order to get in contact with Twitter users, who will prefer to buy from brands they know and they trust. Twitter marketing services help raise brand awareness by connecting current users with potential customers. People who follow a brand on twitter are more likely to visit that company’s website.

LinkedIn is the social platform where professionals go to connect and network. It offers businesses a chance to establish themselves as experts in their industry by sharing content, joining group discussions, and connecting with other professionals. In addition, businesses can post job applications on this website to expand and add new talent.

Facebook is the most popular social network in the world. Users create a user profile and then add other users as friends. There they can exchange messages, share photos or videos and receive notifications when others update their profiles. There are millions of posts every minute. The platform has adapted to the marketplace and created new ways to connect with users. They have developed their successful platform, with Facebook Messenger, and furthermore, they have acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. We can say that Facebook understands the ever-changing dynamic of the technology-driven world we live in. Most businesses have a Facebook page. Facebook is an opportunity for businesses to connect with their followers, engage new ones, and gain feedback for future projects.

Google+ is as well a popular social network. It can help businesses connect with their audience and also help them gain valuable credibility.

Youtube is the top video sharing website in the world. With its search engine, Youtube helps users to find the videos they need by writing keywords. It gives businesses the opportunity to make their videos found. They can advertise themselves through commercials, how-tos, “about us” videos, or slideshows.

Believe it or not social media can contribute to success and growth in businesses. Companies can get information about their audience and they can as well assess their competitors.

Graphics (or graphs, for short) are used to present the information in a visual way so that the data become very easy to interpret. Graphs are very much used in the world of commerce to show trends, which are then used to take a specific course of action.

In the English-speaking business world you may have to discuss the information on graphs. See different types of graphs in the table below.

Taula: Types of graphs

Graph	Description
	A pie chart is a special chart which uses “pie slices” to show relative sizes of data. Pie charts are generally used to show percentage or proportional data.
	A bar graph or bar chart is a graphical display of data using bars of different heights.
	A line chart or line graph is a type of chart which displays information as a series of data points called ‘markers’ connected by straight line segments. It depicts changes over a period of time, showing data and trends.

How to describe trends

There are four basic trends: upward movement, downward movement, no movement or change in direction.

Read the following statements describing upward movements:

• Sales of music equipment went up in 1995 and continued to rise steadily until 1996.
• There was a sharp increase in raw materials prices.
• The number of temporary contracts has increased drammatically.
• Prices of basic commodities have gone up over the past months.
• As the costs of energy and raw materials skyrocket, everybody is talking about ‘going green’.
• The price of imports tends to soar because of high transit transport costs.
• There was a dramatic rise in sales in the last term.
• The successful business’s profits continue to grow.

Read the following statements describing downward movements:

• The sudden collapse in share prices has surprised everyone.
• The economy is in a downswing.
• The ratio for wheat is forecast to plummet to 20% this year.
• In the future, the rate of mortality is expected to decrease.
• The objective is to reduce costs.
• The recession is over and unemployment is declining.

In these examples we have used verbs and nouns to describe upward and downward trends. See some more in the table below:

To describe graphics which depict no movement, we can use verbs such as keep or remain stable, hold or stay constant, or stabilize, and nouns such as stability or balance. For example:

• Food prices have stabilized recently.
• Inflation will remain stable or even drop slightly.

Expressions to indicate changes of direction are level off, flatten out, stop falling/rising, change, stand at and start rising. For example:

• The volume of export will start rising after the construction of the new harbour.
• Stocks leveled off after early losses.

Here are two examples of formal conversations. In the first one, George Sullivan meets Sarah Cornwall at an international conference on furniture and design. In the second one, Lucie Bell and George Sullivan greet each other, and he introduces her to Sarah Cornwall.

Having a conversation is a very common situation in our daily lives. To carry out a conversation effectively, we need to put our speaking and listening skills into practice.

When the conversation takes place in a formal or semi-formal situation, we also need to consider the language protocols and use the appropriate style and standard formulas to express certain ideas. Language protocol is very clear in formal greetings and introductions.

On the other hand, we should also consider the cultural differences with other people. In Anglo-Saxon cultures, for example, people do not kiss a woman on the cheeks when they are introduced for the first time, but they shake hands instead. Personal space is also very important: whereas in the Latin cultures, people stand close to each other and have a greater tendency to touching the other person while speaking, in the Anglo-Saxon cultures we should keep a greater distance and avoid physical contact.

The English language also sounds more polite than other languages. There is a frequent use of thank you and please in the conversations and the requests are made by using the expressions with can you…? or could you…? rather than the imperative form.

We use greetings when we meet people or when we leave them. We can use a variety of expressions in each situation depending on the degree of formality.

Here are some expressions used to greet people with some corresponding common responses. The Catalan translations are not literal, but they only indicate equivalent expressions.

When meeting people:

• Formal Greetings:
  • Good morning/afternoon/evening > Good morning/afternoon/evening. (Cat. Bon dia/bona tarda/bona nit - Bon dia/bona tarda/bona nit)
  • Hello, (person’s name), how are you? > I’m very well, thank you, and you? (Cat. Hola [nom de la persona], com està? - Molt bé, gràcies, i vostè?)
  • Good day, Sir/Madam > Good day (very formal) - (Cat. Bon dia, Sr/Sra - Bon dia)
• Informal Greetings:
  • Hi/Hello > Hi/Hello (Cat. Hola - Hola)
  • How are you? > Fine, thanks (Cat. Com estàs? - Bé, gràcies)
  • What’s up? > Fine, thanks (very informal) (Cat. Què tal? - Bé, gràcies)
  • How are you doing? > Fine (very informal) (Cat. Com va tot? - Bé)

When leaving people:

• Formal Greetings:
  • Good morning/afternoon/evening > Good morning/afternoon/evening (Cat. Bon dia/bona tarda/bona nit - Bon dia/bona tarda/bona nit)
  • It was a pleasure seeing/meeting you > A pleasure for me too (Cat. Ha estat un plaer veure’l/conèixer-lo - El plaer ha estat meu)
  • Goodbye > Goodbye (Cat. Adéu - Adéu)
• Informal greetings:
  • Bye > Bye (Cat- Adéu - Adéu)
  • See you > See you (Cat. Ens veiem/fins després - Ens veiem/fins després)
  • Take care > You too (Cat. Cuida’t - I tu també)

When we go to bed, or we retire for the night, we can say:

• Formal and informal:
  • Good night > Good night (Cat. Bona nit - Bona nit)

When meeting people unexpectedly:

In case you meet someone you did not expect, for example, in the street or in a meeting, you can use the following expressions (the responses will depend on each particular situation):

• Formal greeting:
  • What a surprise! I haven’t seen you in a long time. How have you been? (Cat. Quina sorpresa! Feia temps que no ens vèiem. Com està?)
• Informal greeting:
  • Hey, Jack, it’s nice to see you. What are you doing here? (Cat. Ei, Jack, m’alegro de veure’t. Què fas per aquí?)
  • What a surprise! How’s everything going? (Cat. Quina sorpresa! Com va tot?)

Introductions are very common situations in a working environment. We make introductions when we want two or more people to meet.

Here are some expressions used to introduce people:

Formal introductions:

In formal situations, like a reception, a presentation, a business meal, etc., we may introduce people like this:

• May I introduce you to Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms (surname)? (Cat: Em permet que li presenti el Sr/la Sra/la Srta (cognom)?)
• Let me introduce you to Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms (surname) (Cat: Permet’m que li presenti el Sr/la Sra/la Srta (cognom)?
• I’d like to introduce you to Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms (surname) (Cat. Voldria presentar-li el Sr/la Sra/la Srta (cognom)

Responding to formal introductions:

We may respond to a formal introduction like this (the translation is not literal):

• How do you do? (Cat. Molt de gust)

The response to this is:

• How do you do (Cat. El gust és meu, encantat)

Informal introductions:

In informal situations, we may introduce other people like this:

• This is… (Cat. Aquest/a és…)

Responding to informal introductions:

There are different responses for an informal introduction. For example, we can say:

• Nice to meet you (Cat. Encantat)
• Hi (Cat. Hola)
• How are you? (Cat. Què tal?)

The following dialogue reflects the use of some of these expressions:

The present tenses are obviously used to speak about the present. The action of the verb can be seen in two different ways: as a simple action taking place regularly or as a long action stretching in time. This difference has given rise to the two present tenses, called present simple and present continuous.

The conjugation of the English verbs is very simple. Except the verb to be, which has three different forms in the present simple (am, is, are), all the other verbs only have one or two forms.

Conjugation of the present simple:

In this table, you can see the conjugation of the verb work in the present simple.

Use of the present simple:

The present simple is used to express:

• Habitual, regular actions:
  • I get up at seven o’clock everyday. (Cat: Em llevo a les set cada dia).
  • John doesn’t play tennis. (Cat: John no juga al tennis).
  • Do you smoke at work? (Cat: Fumes a la feina?).
  • My friend always helps me. (Cat: El meu amic sempre m’ajuda)
• Scientific facts and universal truths:
  • The sun rises in the east. (Cat: El sol surt per l’est)
  • Water boils at 100°C. (Cat: L’aigua bull als 100°C)

Frequency adverbs and adverbial expressions:

The present simple is often associated to adverbs and adverbial expressions that indicate the frequency of the action. Here is a list pf the most common adverbials of frequency (with examples):

• always (Cat: sempre): They always come on time.
• usually (Cat: normalment): We usually work until 10 pm.
• often (Cat: sovint): He often calls me in the evenings.
• sometimes (Cat: algunes vegades): They sometimes help me with my work.
• seldom (Cat: poques vegades): I seldom understand what he says.
• never (Cat: mai): I never go out at night.
• everyday (Cat. cada dia): I take a shower everyday.
• every week (Cat. cada setmana): We have a meeting every week.
• once a week (Cat. una vegada a la setmana): We see him once a week.
• twice a week (Cat dues vegades a la setmana) We see him twice a week.
• three times a week (Cat. tres vegades a la setmana): We see him three times a week.
• from time to time (Cat de tant en tant): I only see him from time to time.

The present continuous is a complex tense composed of the present of the auxiliary verb be and the gerund of the verb. The structure is the following:

• AM/IS/ARE + GERUND (-ING)

In this structure, the variable element is the auxiliary verb, which agrees with the subject in person and number. On the other hand, the gerund is an invarible form.

Conjugation of the present continuous:

The table below shows the conjugation of the verb work in the present continuous.

Use of the present continuous:

The present continuous is used to speak about:

• An action that is taking place at the moment of speaking:
  • Look! It is snowing! (Cat. Mira! Està nevant!)
  • I think they are speaking Russian (Cat. Crec que estan parlant rus)
  • What are you doing? (Cat. Què estàs fent?)
• A temporary action:
  • Sarah usually lives in London, but she is living in Boston this month. (Cat: Sarah normalment viu a Londres, però aquest mes està vivint a Boston)
  • I always go to work by car, but I am taking the bus this week. (Cat: Sempre vaig a treballar amb cotxe, però aquesta setmana agafo l’autobús)

Time adverbials:

The present continuous is very frequently used in sentences with the following time adverbials:

• now (Cat. ara): He is speaking on the phone now.
• in this moment (Cat. en aquest moment): In this moment, I’m having a meeting with the director.
• today (Cat. avui): I’m not working today.
• this week (Cat. aquest setmana): I’m not going anywhere this week.

When a verb is expressed in present simple, the idea is that the action is permanent or that it happens regularly. On the other hand, when the verb is in present continuous, the action is temporary or it is happening in that moment. Compare these two sentences:

• a) I live in Barcelona
• b) I am living in Sabadell

In sentence a), I mean that Barcelona is my permanent residence, the city where I have my home. In sentence b), we understand that Sabadell is the place where, for some reason, I am living only for the moment, but not permanently.

The difference is very clearly seen when the two sentences appear together in the same context:

• I live in Barcelona, but these days I’m living in Sabadell because my house was affected by a fire.

Very often, the time adverbial will tell us which tense we must use. If we say now, we must use the verb in present continuous, but if we say everyday, the verb must be in the present simple.