When language is not a barrier

The Royal Dutch Shell Group has nearly 100,000 employees working in almost 135 countries. Many of the over 6,000 expatriate employees are posted in countries where English is not necessarily the first language.

　　In this increasingly global business world, many corporations are finding the subject of “managing cultural differences”, an area of priority for their diverse expatriate staff.

　　How does Shell manage these “cultural differences” to develop successful businesses in varied environments- for instance in China or Japan？ Both these business cultures are unique in that most of the business meetings are conducted and essential documentation remain in Chinese/Japanese.

　　Interpreters and translation are necessary. Most multi-national companies recognise that to have successful negotiations, they have to put in that extra effort to ensure that they have taken into account the unique “cultural aspects” of the local business etiquette.

　　For Shell, Stakeholder Management is an essential part of doing Sustainable Business, and all business development is based on ensuring the proper engagement of stakeholders.

　　In many of the countries that Shell is present, key stakeholders （often members of Government and key decision-makers） do not speak English, nor do they conduct official meetings in English.

　　To ensure this does not handicap the company's business aspirations, Shell ensures that it has a good complement of competent local staff for many of the senior positions within the management/project team.

　　Through this system, Shell has created a solid management foundation that works efficiently in any country regardless of language issues.

　　If you work in a global corporation with a wide reach, you have colleagues with extraordinary talents and the success of Shell is the ability to have these people work in teams to help each help bridge the various “cultural gaps”。

　　These gaps could be language, ethnic or gender based. The fundamental need is to be able to find a common ground on which progress can be launched.

　　And the most important knowledge here is “tactic”- to have the ability to recognise what is relevant and to be able to deliver it effectively for positive results. Language and gender therefore, should not create any barriers.

　　（The writer is Advisor-External Affairs, Sustainable Development & HSE-Shell Gas & Power, North Asia）

　　荷兰皇家蚬壳石油有接近10万名员工,分布在大约135个国家。其中,超过6000个外籍职员被分派到一些不以英文为第一语文的国家工作。

　　在今天这个日益环球化的商业环境,妥善处理来自不同国家员工的“文化差异”,已经成为许多公司优先考虑的问题。

　　蚬壳石油如何处理“文化差异”,以便在不同的环境例如中国和日本,成功的发展业务？这两个国家拥有独特的商业文化——多数的会议和会议记录所用的语言是华语或日语。

　　通译和翻译因此不可或缺。大多数的跨国公司也都明白,商谈要取得成果,得付出额外的努力。他们必须考虑到当地商业习俗特殊“文化”的需求。

　　以蚬壳石油为例,有效的处理和利益共享者的关系,是业务持续发展的重要环节。确保利益共享者的参与,是全面发展业务的基本条件。

　　在蚬壳石油拥有业务的许多国家,关键的利益共享者（往往是政府高层人员和主要决策者）通常不谙英语,他们开会时当然也不用英语沟通。

　　为了不让业务发展受到限制,我们得确保公司同时拥有足够的当地人才,在管理层和特殊项目小组里担任要职。

　　通过这个方法,我们建立了稳固的管理制度,在任何我们设有业务的国家,都能有效的运作,语言根本不是一个问题。

　　一家业务遍布全球的国际企业,能力出众的职员来自各地。蚬壳石油成功的秘诀在于把他们分配到各别的小组工作,通过合作和互相帮助,克服“文化差异”的问题。

　　造成这些差异的原因可能是语言、种族或性别。我们需要做的是找一个共同基础,让大家可以一同迈进。

　　掌握适当的“策略”最重要。我们必须有能力看清楚什么是关键的问题,并且有效的克服它们,取得积极的成果。语言或者性别,根本不应该造成任何障碍。

　　。作者是蚬壳石油公司公共事务顾问

　　叶琦保译