Truly Global: The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets
by Anna N Schlegel
A Global Markets Bestseller: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 |
TODAY’S ECONOMY IS INCREASINGLY BORDERLESS. Every company that seeks to grow beyond its national boundaries needs a globalization team to help develop, translate, adapt, and promote products to international markets. This team is vital to ensuring that customers receive product information and support in their own language in a personalized and seamless way. From a company’s website, to product interfaces and documentation, to telephone and online support, providing this culturally specific experience is essential to building a brand across international borders with a solid enterprise approach.
Ideal for global corporate leaders, board members, employees, and senior managers, Truly Global provides an insider’s look at how large companies move into international markets to successfully deliver their product to customers across different cultures and languages. It covers everything you need to know, to globalize your company from start to finish, including who to recruit as members of a globalization team, how to integrate globalization in each department, and how to use the team’s research to build your brand’s presence in new markets. This book will help your company succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy, and lay the foundation for your growth from national company to international household brand. If your title has the word "Global" in it, this book is for you! Available from the following retailers:
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'Truly Global'
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A debut book provides advice from a localization expert for companies that want to go global. Schlegel, who ran her own translation company and worked both in Europe and the United States on translation and localization for numerous employers, approaches globalization from an enterprise perspective in this work.
In brief chapters, the author offers a kind of soup-to-nuts introduction to how a business can most effectively pursue worldwide ambitions. She covers such topics as international operations, the selection and management of a team, the concept of “geo alignment,” how to target the right countries, how to choose the correct departments, how to globalize products, and more. The book is an intriguing mix of strategy and tactics in the sense that it addresses both the “why” and the “how” of globalization. For example, in describing geo alignment, the author highlights the strategic necessity of a “tight alignment between all headquarters (main and geos) and the final and successful penetration of your offering into a specific country or key account.” But she also provides a specific checklist for what should be considered before moving forward with a geo alignment program. Similarly, when Schlegel discusses which countries to target, she explains both why it is essential to select particular nations and how to go about doing so. “Ideally,” she writes, “your company has a model that explains which countries deserve what entitlements. This includes which countries will have a call center in the primary language, localized products, a comprehensive digital presence, and globalized partner programs.”
These insights could only come from someone steeped in global business. Whether it is hiring for an international team, developing a content strategy, detailing the primary differences between translation and localization, or establishing appropriate metrics, the content of this short, useful book should prove highly valuable to any corporate leader or manager who needs to get a firm grip on globalization. Consider this a solid overview rather than an in-depth treatment.
Tightly organized and well-written; it answers fundamental questions about what it takes to broaden the scope of a business into international markets.
A debut book provides advice from a localization expert for companies that want to go global. Schlegel, who ran her own translation company and worked both in Europe and the United States on translation and localization for numerous employers, approaches globalization from an enterprise perspective in this work.
In brief chapters, the author offers a kind of soup-to-nuts introduction to how a business can most effectively pursue worldwide ambitions. She covers such topics as international operations, the selection and management of a team, the concept of “geo alignment,” how to target the right countries, how to choose the correct departments, how to globalize products, and more. The book is an intriguing mix of strategy and tactics in the sense that it addresses both the “why” and the “how” of globalization. For example, in describing geo alignment, the author highlights the strategic necessity of a “tight alignment between all headquarters (main and geos) and the final and successful penetration of your offering into a specific country or key account.” But she also provides a specific checklist for what should be considered before moving forward with a geo alignment program. Similarly, when Schlegel discusses which countries to target, she explains both why it is essential to select particular nations and how to go about doing so. “Ideally,” she writes, “your company has a model that explains which countries deserve what entitlements. This includes which countries will have a call center in the primary language, localized products, a comprehensive digital presence, and globalized partner programs.”
These insights could only come from someone steeped in global business. Whether it is hiring for an international team, developing a content strategy, detailing the primary differences between translation and localization, or establishing appropriate metrics, the content of this short, useful book should prove highly valuable to any corporate leader or manager who needs to get a firm grip on globalization. Consider this a solid overview rather than an in-depth treatment.
Tightly organized and well-written; it answers fundamental questions about what it takes to broaden the scope of a business into international markets.
CLARION REVIEW
"Truly Global’s exploration of the intersection of business and culture is fascinating and thought-provoking.
Globalization and language expert Anna Schlegel has written a short and effective handbook outlining the key steps that corporate organizations should take to successfully integrate into international markets. Truly Global is succinct and punchy and may prove invaluable for business leaders around the globe..The best writing occurs when the author invokes her own experiences as a world traveler and corporate translator. The prologue, for instance, delightfully describes Schlegel’s upbringing in multicultural Europe and the cosmopolitan ethos that informed her unique multilingual skill set while working with corporate heavy-hitters like Cisco.
Besides this richness of personal experience, a charming optimism and can-do spirit come through in several chapters, bolstering the more technical aspects of the book’s globalization philosophy....[the] concept of “geo alignment” and related topics puts the volume on the cutting edge of business strategy. Schlegel is herself a pioneer in spearheading globalization efforts in major companies.
Her forward-looking global outlook and perspicacious yet practical advice will undoubtedly benefit business leaders and executives of firms both big and small.
On a different level, however, Truly Global’s exploration of the intersection of business and culture is fascinating and thought-provoking. The book stands to appeal to anyone interested in economics and international relations."
Read Full Review
"Truly Global’s exploration of the intersection of business and culture is fascinating and thought-provoking.
Globalization and language expert Anna Schlegel has written a short and effective handbook outlining the key steps that corporate organizations should take to successfully integrate into international markets. Truly Global is succinct and punchy and may prove invaluable for business leaders around the globe..The best writing occurs when the author invokes her own experiences as a world traveler and corporate translator. The prologue, for instance, delightfully describes Schlegel’s upbringing in multicultural Europe and the cosmopolitan ethos that informed her unique multilingual skill set while working with corporate heavy-hitters like Cisco.
Besides this richness of personal experience, a charming optimism and can-do spirit come through in several chapters, bolstering the more technical aspects of the book’s globalization philosophy....[the] concept of “geo alignment” and related topics puts the volume on the cutting edge of business strategy. Schlegel is herself a pioneer in spearheading globalization efforts in major companies.
Her forward-looking global outlook and perspicacious yet practical advice will undoubtedly benefit business leaders and executives of firms both big and small.
On a different level, however, Truly Global’s exploration of the intersection of business and culture is fascinating and thought-provoking. The book stands to appeal to anyone interested in economics and international relations."
Read Full Review
RWS MORAVIA REVIEW
"Anna Schlegel is perhaps one of the most qualified people to write the book that she did: Truly Global (The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets). From her multicultural upbringing, to her extensive experience working in companies that excelled in taking their products global, to the fact that she led the globalization teams in some of those companies — this book was waiting to be written by her.
Bringing the much-needed buyer’s perspective, this book is meant for people dealing with enterprise globalization. All 22 chapters of the book are filled with practical advice from situations that the author has herself been in. Here, we present some highlights from the book.
We found ourselves nodding our head in agreement many a time. Schlegel has done a great job of not only sharing her knowledge, but also raising awareness of the work done by globalization professionals such as herself, which frequently goes unrecognized and little understood. We leave you with her words that sum up the spirit of the book: 'A truly global enterprise will feel local to each customer.'"
Read the full review
"Anna Schlegel is perhaps one of the most qualified people to write the book that she did: Truly Global (The Theory and Practice of Bringing Your Company to International Markets). From her multicultural upbringing, to her extensive experience working in companies that excelled in taking their products global, to the fact that she led the globalization teams in some of those companies — this book was waiting to be written by her.
Bringing the much-needed buyer’s perspective, this book is meant for people dealing with enterprise globalization. All 22 chapters of the book are filled with practical advice from situations that the author has herself been in. Here, we present some highlights from the book.
We found ourselves nodding our head in agreement many a time. Schlegel has done a great job of not only sharing her knowledge, but also raising awareness of the work done by globalization professionals such as herself, which frequently goes unrecognized and little understood. We leave you with her words that sum up the spirit of the book: 'A truly global enterprise will feel local to each customer.'"
Read the full review