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Software localization is part of the localization industry which emerged in the early 1990s to offer service, advice and training in the area of globalization,

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Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Research motivation

Translation memory (TM) is a computer-based tool that compiles previous translations to assist human translators in providing timely translations of high quality in a cost-effective manner. The entire rationale of TM is to avoid repeating the same effort of translation when a rendition of a word, phrase or expression is available. It has been found that TM works particularly well with large-volume projects involving a great proportion of repetitive content. Thus the application of TM is widely seen in the software localization industry where software updates usually come in large size and reusing the previous translation of the product can facilitate the work of

translators.

Software localization is part of the localization industry which emerged in the early 1990s to offer service, advice and training in the area of globalization,

internationalization, localization and translation (GILT), according to the Localization Industry Primer published by the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) in 2003. LISA (2003) defines localization as "the process of modifying products or services to account for differences in distinct markets" (p.13). Localization is a process that must take into account linguistic, content, cultural, and technical issues of a product.

The Localizatin Industry Primer also indicated that software localization

accounts for 31% of the localization sector. The total size of the localization industry

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worldwide estimated by LISA stands at a minimum of USD 3.7 billion per year. The likely figure is said to be around USD 5 billion. In order to concentrate on the core business of designing the products, almost 80% of clients outsource translation to service providers. Translation expenditure alone makes up 48% of client's total localization budget. The Survey of the Translation and Interpretation Industry in Taiwan (Government Information Office, 2004) also indicated that 83.75% of the translation projects in the software localization companies were outsourced to freelance translators. The trend towards further outsourcing is expected to continue.

While localization vendors, the service providers in the localization industry, rely heavily on freelance translators for translation, there will be an increasing demand for freelance translators. Thus it will be worthwhile to explore the relationship between the localization vendors and freelance translators who use TM in the fast-growing localization industry where TM plays a major role in assisting translator's work.

1.2 Research background

Language technology is an enabler of localization and has changed translation activity. A case in point of this is TM. TM was designed to increase the reusability of previous translations and is most applicable to repetitive texts or updates of existing documents. Translators are able to increase the productivity of translators by

identifying usable translations and reusing them. Translation, as defined by Langewis

(2002) is "the process whereby the meaning, style and information of a piece of

written text in one human language are reproduced in another written human

language" (p.3). In the past, translators received a stack of paper to translate and

returned a stack of paper in a different language. Typewriters, pens or pencils might

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be used as tools while a dictionary or thesaurus might be consulted in the translation process. Translators might also confer with colleagues or document authors for terminology or clarification of meanings. The unique terminology might be noted down bilingually and kept on paper for future reference to ensure the consistency of terminology throughout the document. Working manually like this led to the limited daily productivity of a translator. Before the invention of translation memory tools, translation work would usually only start after the domestic product was finalized (Tranfree Article #4 - Localisation Project Models). Only limited time was left to create localized versions of a product after the design, development and testing of the English product. Since the introduction of translation memory and other computer aided translation tools, simultaneous release (simship) of the domestic product and at least the most important target languages has become a target for companies to meet.

To this end, translation has to start while the source material or product is still in the design process. Under this circumstance, the only way to effectively reuse translations of material that is yet finalized is to adopt translation memory.

As TM is adopted by the localization industry, some international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank are also paying attention to the use of language tools (McCallum, 2004 & World Bank, 2003). The General Services

Department’s Translation Services in the World Bank Group uses a translation

memory tool to translate documents such as standard bidding documents, contracts,

and legal agreements (World Bank, 2003). In the research of the translation tools

adopted by UK freelance translators conducted by Fulford (2001), it was also found

that some translators felt that clients were pressurizing them into using translation

tools, especially translation memory software. Fulford also discovered that clients

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were likely to obtain most benefits from translation memory tools by paying lower rates for previously translated segments and giving less time for translation

production. It seems that TM has changed not only translation process but also the relationship between translator and client. This phenomenon corresponds to Porter's (1985) theory that the introduction of a new technology into an industry is likely to change the rules of competition and the relationships among the industry players.

According to Porter (1985), technology can affect the relationship between buyer and supplier. Technological innovation brings the impacts by affecting the conditions which determine the level of bargaining power for buyers and suppliers respectively.

1.3 Research objectives

While there are various types of localization vendors, only the software localization vendors will be studied in this research. The research scope is then limited to the relationship between software localization vendors and freelance translators who use TM. In particular, TRADOS is chosen to be the subject of this study among other TM tools because it enjoys the highest market share with 71% of users in 2004 Translation Memory Survey of LISA. The researcher aims to examine the bargaining power of the software localization vendors and freelance TM

translators in Taiwan's software localization industry as well as their relationship as a

whole. The objectives of the research are 1) to examine the bargaining power of the

software localization vendors; 2) to examine the bargaining power of the freelance

TRADOS translators; and 3) the current buyer-supplier relationship as a whole

between the software localization vendors and freelance TRADOS translators. It is

hoped that this research will benefit software localization vendors, freelance

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translators and other stakeholders by offering an overview of how TM plays a role in the buyer-supplier relationship in the software localization industry.

1.4 Research structure

This research is divided into six chapters. In the first chapter, the research objective, localization industry overview, research motivation, research method, and research structure were covered.

The second chapter reviews the literature on the industry status quo, translation memory and buyer-supplier relationships in two sections in order to provide the basis of analysis in this research. The first section introduces translation memory, offering an overview of translation memory and TRADOS, which is the focus of this study.

The second section presents buyer-supplier relationships with extracts from Porter's (1980) Five Forces Model along with resource exchange theory, with particular emphasis on the impact of technological innovation on buyer-supplier relationships.

The third chapter is divided into five sections to present the research framework, research subjects of choice, collection of data, description of the sample, and data analysis procedures.

The fourth chapter presents the results of the study by providing the background

data of the respondents, results of the software localization vendors, and freelance

TRADOS translators.

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The fifth chapter examines the results based on the determinant factors of powerful buyer group and powerful supplier group proposed in literature review. The perceptions of the software localization vendors and freelance TRADOS translators are presented.

The sixth chapter summarizes the main points of this research and points out the

limitations in this research.

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