Table Of ContentLocalization Strategies for Global E-Business
The acceleration of globalization and the growth of emerging economies present sig-
nifi cant opportunities for business expansion. One of the quickest ways to achieve
effective international expansion is by leveraging the web, which allows for the techno-
logical connectivity of global markets and opportunities to compete on a global basis.
To systematically engage and thrive in this networked global economy, professionals
and students need a new skill set – one that can help them develop, manage, assess, and
optimize efforts to successfully launch websites for tapping global markets. This book
provides a comprehensive, non-technical guide to leveraging website localization strat-
egies for global e-commerce success. It contains a wealth of information and advice,
including strategic insights into how international business needs to evolve and adapt
in light of the rapid proliferation of the “global internet economy.” It also features step-
by-step guidelines to developing, managing, and optimizing international multilin-
gual websites and insights into cutting-edge web localization strategies.
NITISH SINGH is Associate Professor of International Business at the Boeing Institute
of International Business at Saint Louis University, Missouri, where he is also Program
Leader for the Executive Certifi cate in Web Globalization Management (www
.g lobalizationexecutive.com). He has researched and taught extensively in the area of
global e-commerce and has published more than thirty-fi ve papers in peer-reviewed
academic journals. He is co-author of T he Culturally Customized Web Site (2005) and
Proliferation of the Internet Economy (2009).
Localization Strategies
for Global E-Business
Nitish S ingh
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,
Singapore, S ã o Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, C ambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: w ww.cambridge.org/9781107008892
© Nitish Singh 2012
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2012
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Singh, Nitish.
Localization strategies for global e-business / Nitish Singh.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-107-00889-2
1. Electronic commerce. 2. International trade. 3. Business networks.
4. Internet marketing. I. Title.
HF5548.32.S563 2012
658.8′72–dc23
2011040513
ISBN 978-1-107-00889-2 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in
this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
CONTENTS
List of fi gures page v iii
List of tables x
Preface xi
Illustration credits and acknowledgements x iii
Chapter 1 G lobal e-commerce opportunities and challenges 1
Global e-commerce opportunities 1
Global e-commerce challenges 6
Socio-cultural environment 9
Impact of language and culture on website and content design 1 0
Geopolitical environment 1 3
Legal environment 1 5
Economic environment 2 1
Conclusion 24
Chapter 2 I nternational e-business expansion and market entry strategies 28
The new multinationals 2 8
International e-business strategic factor markets 32
Internationalization challenges 35
Internationalization approaches 39
Achieving international e-business expansion 4 2
Foreign market entry modes 47
Chapter 3 G lobal online consumer segmentation 55
Segmentation approaches 5 5
Importance of segmentation 5 7
Global online user segments 5 9
BRIC online consumers 6 1
Identifying global customers using global CRM 6 4
Segmentation for optimizing web localization efforts 7 1
Global online consumer segmentation model 74
v
vi CONTENTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
Global consumer trends 78
Conclusion 80
Chapter 4 W eb globalization strategies 83
Web globalization challenges 83
Web globalization dilemma 1: standardization or localization? 84
Web globalization dilemma 2: to centralize or to decentralize? 9 5
Web globalization dilemma 3: in-house versus outsourcing 9 8
Web globalization dilemma 4: level of localization 1 01
Web globalization dilemma 5: in which languages to localize? 104
Web globalization dilemma 6: what skill set is needed for web globalization? 1 06
Global strategies for successful web globalization efforts 107
Conclusion 113
Chapter 5 D eveloping international websites: internationalization 119
Developing international websites 119
Website globalization, internationalization, localization, and translation 120
Unicode 125
Why internationalize (i18n)? 129
What does internationalization (i18n) entail? 131
Internationalization checklist 1 38
Writing for an international audience 141
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) 142
Preparing documents for translation 143
Chapter 6 E ffectively localizing international websites 148
Importance of website localization 148
Website localization challenges 1 49
Locating international websites 1 51
What is culture? 158
Culturally customizing websites: importance of semiotics 1 59
Culturally customizing websites: importance of cultural values 1 66
Culturally customizing writing styles 1 70
Chapter 7 M anaging a web globalization value chain 183
The value chain concept 1 83
Web globalization value chain components 184
Pre-value-chain analysis 1 85
Support layer of the web globalization value chain 187
Primary activity 1: internationalization 194
Primary activity 2: localization 196
CONTENTS ● ● ● ● ● ● vii
Primary activity 3: testing 2 00
Primary activity 4: global content management 2 01
Coordinating the web globalization value chain: localization
project management 202
Agile development for localization effi ciencies 205
Case study: localization management at Compuware–Changepoint 2 08
Chapter 8 O ptimizing international websites 213
Introduction 213
Optimizing via content management systems 214
Optimizing through a translation management system 217
Case study: 1&1 Internet AG implementing a translation management
system for effi ciency gains 2 22
International search engine optimization 2 25
Keywords for local and multilingual sites 2 28
Linking strategies for local and international sites 234
Case study: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, developing a multilingual
web presence 237
Chapter 9 A ssessing web globalization efforts 2 44
Global website usability issues 2 44
Web usability guidelines 2 46
Web analytics for international web assessment 248
Measuring international website acceptance 251
Assessing web localization efforts: the localization score card 2 54
Research highlight: assessing the impact of cultural adaptation
on international website acceptance 2 59
Assessing web globalization costs 2 62
Chapter 10 S trategic industry insights and emerging localization trends 2 69
Introduction 269
The mobile web 270
Challenges presented by the mobile interface 2 72
Tips for adapting content for the mobile web 2 74
The growing crowdsourcing trend 2 76
Strategic industry insight 1: community translation 2 82
Strategic industry insight 2: emerging machine translation technologies 2 87
Strategic industry insight 3: game localization’s challenges and opportunities 2 92
Web globalization resources 298
Index 309
FIGURES
1.1 Z azzle.com International page 5
1 .2 International e-environment 8
1 .3 Y ahoo! Maktoob right-to-left navigation 11
1 .4 Religious symbols 1 3
2.1 I nternationalization process challenges 36
2 .2 Incremental approach: Urban Outfi tters 4 5
2.3 W eb analytics data 46
3.1 G lobal CRM 65
3.2 H arajuku Girl 73
4.1 L evel of cultural customization 95
4 .2 H ow to alert users of non-translated content 102
4 .3 3 M South Korea 111
4.4 3 M United States 1 11
4.5 3 M Brazil 112
4.6 K odak China 113
4.7 K odak Brazil 114
4.8 K odak Sweden 114
5.1 B inary code 125
5 .2 Kanji symbols 1 27
5.3 E xamples of constants and variables 1 31
5 .4 T ext expansion when translating from English to Spanish 1 33
5 .5 C haracter width, length, and height for letters in English and Hindi 1 33
6 .1 W hat web localization entails 151
6 .2 I mproving the accessibility of international websites 1 52
6 .3 T he SRC effect 1 54
6.4 3 M global gateway page 155
6.5 M etaphysical representation of the god Shiva in the form of a lingam 1 60
6.6 Icons used on Yahoo! France site 162
7.1 Generic value chain: primary activities 184
7.2 Web globalization value chain 185
7.3 Project management steps 2 03
7 .4 Agile development process 207
viii
LIST OF FIGURES ● ● ● ● ● ● ix
8 .1 S upport ingredients for optimizing international sites 215
8 .2 I mportant capabilities of content management systems 2 17
8 .3 The localization workfl ow 2 18
8 .4 O ptimizing global content management 2 20
9 .1 G lobal usability challenges 2 46
9 .2 T echnology acceptance model for international website acceptance 253
9 .3 Sections in Yahoo! en Español 2 56
1 0.1 C ommunity translation challenges 284
1 0.2 G ame localization challenges 2 93
TABLES
1.1 G lobal e-commerce potential page 3
3.1 Customer contact points 67
4.1 M ost commonly translated languages, 2007 1 05
5 .1 Globalization index measure 121
5.2 D ifferent time formats 136
5.3 N umber formatting 1 37
5 .4 G ender-neutral language 144
6 .1 H igh- and low-context cultures 169
6 .2 F ramework for culturally customizing websites 171
6 .3 E xamples of considerations for translating into other languages 176
7.1 S elect standards for exchanging localization data 1 94
7.2 E lements of a localization kit 198
7.3 P roject management techniques 205
7 .4 D esirable qualities in a localization project manager 209
9.1 C onstructs used to measure international website acceptance 252
9 .2 T he localization score card 2 59
9 .3 M ANOVA results and post hoc group comparisons by degree of cultural
adaptation measured by cultural score, calculated using cultural
dimensions proposed in the framework 262
1 0.1 C haracteristics of rule-based and statistical machine translation 289
x
