Glocal??

Our logo boasts the word. Our teams are trained on the concept. So let’s get started by delving into what this term actually means.

The ever resourceful Wiki drums up a definition: “Glocalisation (a portmanteau of globalization and #localization) is a term denoting the adaptation of a product or service specifically to each locality or culture in which it is sold. It is similar to internationalization. The term “glocalisation” is a newly coined blend of globalization and localization refers to a concept to describe individual, group, organization, product or service that reflects not only global standard but also local one.”

#Glocalisation is a term that is rapidly replacing globalisation following sociologist Roland Robertson’s suggestion in "Glocalization:Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity”. In using "glocalisation" rather than globalization, Robertson offers to see the local itself as one of the aspects of globalization. For example, the search for "home" and "roots" are not a counter reaction to globalization but rather a need structured by it.

In Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman’s take on Glocalisation makes for an interesting read. Friedman says that technology is making Globalisation inevitable as represented by the Lexus, but people yearn to have cultural roots like their Olive Trees. This is what glocalisation accomplishes. Friedman goes on to say that good glocalisation is when a little Japanese girl goes to a McDonalds in Tokyo to "enjoy the American way of life and food." Bad glocalisation is when she gets off a plane in Los Angeles and is surprised that "they have McDonalds in America, too!" The fact that she is completely oblivious to the fact that McDonalds is essentially an American brand represents an instance where ‘global knowledge’ has been compromised in an effort to localise the product.

To reiterate, a glocal approach means presenting global knowledge within a local context that respects human rights, cultures and feelings. It encapsulates the concept "think globally, act locally” or in other words Glocalisation! That is what you see on our logo and that is what our linguists specialise in. That is what we do – We Glocalise!