1. Building the Case for Global Readiness
Michele Coady
Director, Global Readiness, Microsoft
April 14, 2015

3. For a company to succeed in worldwide markets, they must enable the right customer experiences by making their products locally relevant, culturally appropriate and market ready

4. How You See the World Depends on Where You Are From

5. If a company is globally ready it…
Can enhance the company’s reputation for trust, respect and reliability
Can expand revenue potential by increasing appeal and relevance across cultural boundaries
Can foster an environment of trust and understanding by removing barriers that could deter customers
Can offer a compete advantage in both local and global markets

6. If a company isn’t globally ready it…
Can cause offense by having products and content containing insensitive and/or ethnocentric views
Can lead to exposure of legal and regulatory risk
Can lead to lost revenue
Can incur negative media exposure, boycotts, public demonstrations
Can have an impact on trusted relationships

7. How to be more globally ready
Create a network of diversity champions in the company
Make it a “business” problem, not a “global readiness” problem
Top down support: Executive sponsorship
Bottom up support: Building communities and champions
Integration into product development cycle
Sufficient resources
Support from market specialists, testimonials, case-studies, stories, etc.

8. Global Readiness Challenges
Staying agile as the world changes!
Operating in a borderless world – multilingual, multicultural, multigeo
Considering cloud and mobile requirements
Dealing with social media content

9. Assessing Global Readiness Risk It’s a complex world: where to start?

10. Risk assessments can differ depending on the context
Market, audience, and product come into play in the review process
Where it will be sold or seen
Type of product or service
Target audience
Current events

11. Where can this image be used?
Games: OK
Maps: not OK

12. From the Microsoft Xbox Halo 4 Game

13. Context and Current Events

14. All content must be reviewed for geopolitical inaccuracies or insensitivities
Text
All text (User interface, code, code comments, resources)
Marketing communications, advertising
Other communications (social media, blogs)
Non-text
Videos
Audio
Images

15. Images can create special risks
Can evoke emotional reactions
Can influence beliefs
Can recall memories
Not always globally appropriate

16. Images - Flags
South Korea's flag was accidentally used to introduce Team North Korea players during the London 2012 Olympics.

17. Images - Flags
Using flags during sports events can be a problem

18. Images - Maps

19. Images - Political

20. Images – Religion/Spirituality
By Nikeman916 (talk) (Uploads).Nikeman916 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

21. Images – National Symbols
Maya site of Coba Mexico – EnglishDavid, author
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

22. Images - Ethnicity & Stereotypes
It is important to respect the diversity of customers; this respect should be reflected in the content.
Avoid negative stereotypes
Provide a balanced view of any group of people.
Avoid assigning a single characteristic to any large group.
These files are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. 1) White House Photograph Office, Clinton Administration [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 2) 3) 4)

23. Images - People

24. Images – Cultural Sensitivities
Flag of Pakistan

25. Images - Symbols, Numbers
Symbols and numbers used outside of normal contexts should be reviewed for secondary meanings
For example, the numbers ‘88’ and ‘18’ can be offensive in some markets

26. Images - Regional and Historical Accuracy
People can usually tell when a character or theme isn’t accurate
Accurately reflect period clothing, architecture, art, etc.
Be aware of intra-regional sensitivities
Remember that significant cultural differences can exist within countries

27. Risqué or Mature Images
Risqué and mature images or references may not be acceptable in content
Entertainment products may be an exception, depending on the market, the audience and the age rating of the product

28. Global Readiness at Microsoft
11/17/ :33 AM
Global Readiness at Microsoft
Diverse Cultures, Many Languages, One World
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

29. Microsoft Global Readiness Team
Dedicated team provides awareness, assessment, and risk management in three areas
Geopolitical Readiness –Microsoft products are culturally respectful and accurate and comply with local regulations and requirements
World Readiness –Microsoft products meet globalization and localizability requirements
Language Readiness –Microsoft provides the correct level of localization and enables appropriate language experiences

30. Microsoft Global Readiness Practices
Global Readiness training available to all Microsoft employees
Extensive documentation available on countries, languages, maps, locales, images, etc.
Internal tools to support and validate Global Readiness for all Microsoft products
External solutions provided for developers, including international developers

31. Supporting international app developers
Language Portal
Supporting international app developers
Search for and download:
Microsoft terminology
Microsoft style guides (English + localized)
Millions of re-usable, Product UI strings
Translation APIs, integration with apps (Multi-Lingual App toolkit)
Content in 108 languages

32. Building a bridge: languages, cultures, and technology
Local Language Program
Building a bridge: languages, cultures, and technology
Language Interface Packs
Keyboard builder
Language preservation showcases
Custom machine translation
Microsoft global coverage by product
News about Microsoft

33. Kinect Chinese Sign Language video - Microsoft
The ability to communicate across linguistic barriers

34. More information Microsoft Commitment to Global Readiness
Microsoft Global Readiness Blog
Microsoft Language Portal
Microsoft Local Language Portal

35. Thank you!
"Shanghaiviewpic1" by dawvon - Pudong. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons -
"Shanghaiviewpic1" by dawvon - Pudong. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons -