World Bytes

Smart in Any Language

by Terrance Malkinson

A Thought to Chew on

As reported by David Graddol in "The Future of Language" (Science, 303:1329-1331, 27 February 2004; www.sciencemag.org), English is losing ground quickly as the world’s dominant language. In 50 years, he says, Chinese will be the world’s most spoken language (166 million), with Hindi-Urdu of India (73.7 million) and Arabic (72.2 million) surpassing English, which will have only 65 million native speakers. Spanish (62.8 million) will be nearly equivalent to English in use. This could imply that English monolingual people may find it harder to find employment. Linguists suggest that 6,000 languages exist in the world today, but 90 percent of them are doomed to extinction.

Research has shown that children who have studied a foreign language show greater skills in mental flexibility, creativity, divergent thinking and higher-order thinking skills. Language study also enhances cross-cultural understanding of and appreciation for the global community. In addition, second languages are a vital component preparing for an increasing number of rewarding careers. Even in cases where knowing a second language does not help graduates obtain a first job, many report that their second language skills enhanced their mobility and improved their chances for promotion. Finally, key business deals are often closed because of the cultural awareness gained through studying a client’s native language.

Research shows that second language learning is most successful when it starts early, and that such learning requires proficient teachers and quality materials. In "Seventeen Values of Foreign Language Study" (ADFL Bulletin, 28(1): 44-49, 1996; www.adfl.org/adfl/bulletin/v28n1/281044.htm), Alan Frantz discusses the issue further and provides an extensive bibliography for further reading. The Linguistic Society of America (www.lsadc.org) also provides a wealth of information on this subject.

In the long run, those who are bi- or multilingual will benefit both personally and professionally.

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the engineering community:

• Many senior and experienced employees who are known as "baby boomers" are reaching retirement age. In the next decade, when these workers contemplate retirement, some suggest that there will not be enough people entering the workforce to compensate for the retirements. In "It’s Time to Retire Retirements" (Harvard Business Review; 82(3): 48-57, 2004; www.hbr.com), authors Ken Dychtwald, Tamara Erickson and Bob Morison discuss the issue and offer recommendations for gaining the loyalty of older workers and creating a more flexible approach to retirement.

• "Leaders Wanted" (Canadian Business, 77(5): 31-35, 2004; www.canadianbusiness.com) discusses the same topic. In particular, author Baizel Robin points out that smart organizations should be preparing themselves now for the crunch. In the year 2011, nearly one-fifth of baby boomers, who currently represent 47 percent of Canada’s labor force, will be 61 or older. Although the article focuses on Canada, a similar scenario is predicted to occur in many other countries.

• When searching for employment opportunities, researching the cities considered to have "hot" job markets might prove valuable. In "Boom Towns" (Business 2.0, 5(2): 94-102, 2004; www.business2.com/b2), Paul Kaihla identifies America’s 20 hottest job markets and predicts that these cities will create 850,000 skilled jobs in the next four years. In "Tomorrow’s Jobs" (Canadian Business, 77(5): 37-40, 2004; www.canadianbusiness.com), Baizel Robin offers predictions on good employment prospects. Also, a special report, "Where Are the Jobs?" (BusinessWeek, 3875, 36-52, 22 March 2004; www.businessweek.com) provides an in-depth analysis of the complexity associated with the employment marketplace. These three articles provide extremely valuable information for students, employed professionals looking for new opportunities, and unemployed professionals.

• Many companies are outsourcing information technology jobs, sharply reducing employment opportunities in the United States, and opportunities in other industrialized countries are dwindling. In "Software: Will Outsourcing Hurt American Supremacy?" (BusinessWeek, 3872: 84-94, 1 March 2004, www.businessweek.com), Stephen Baker and Manjeet Kripalani provide a special report on career implications. Forecasts say that by year-end, one in every 10 jobs in U.S. technology companies will move to emerging markets. The authors discuss the issues and provide options to North American graduates. In a related commentary following this article (pp. 94-95), Robert Hof discusses how jobs will arise from the creation of new products, processes and markets. In addition, for an overview of IEEE-USA’s policy on outsourcing, go to www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POSITIONS/offshoring.html.

• Fortune magazine released its annual list of "America’s Most Admired Companies" (Fortune, 149(5), 80-82, 2004; www.fortune.com/fortune). The list is based on evaluations of 10,000 executives, directors and analysts. Leading the list for the second year in a row is WalMart. The greatest gain came from IBM, which made it to the top 10, and Toyota topped the rankings of the world’s most admired companies outside the United States.

• For many years, researchers have studied animal communication patterns. In "Doctor Doolittle for Real? Raising Questions About Interspecies Communications" (The Futurist, 38(2), 40-43, 2004; www.wfs.org/futurist.htm), Bruce Lloyd and Susan Clayton describe the current state of research and raise questions that will have to be addressed if we become able to listen in and respond to animal communications. They predict that real communication with animals could happen sooner than we think because of research and emerging technologies. As the authors conclude, we must examine the ethical questions related to interspecies communication now.

• Corporate governance is under scrutiny. In "The Case for Contingent Governance" (MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(2): 59-66, 2004; www.mit.edu/smr), Paul Stebel discusses how governance must continually adapt to changing conditions rather than adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach. A company, its management, and its business environment continually evolve as conditions change. The author describes four basic types of governance roles and indicates how to anticipate a change in conditions, an ability that requires a shift in approach.

• Intangible assets, such as an organization’s culture, knowledge and employee skills, are important to competitive advantage. In "Measuring the Strategic Readiness of Intangible Assets" (Harvard Business Review, 82(2): 52-63, 2004; www.hbr.com), Robert Kaplan and David Norton describe a systematic approach that companies can use to measure what they want from their intangible assets. Managers can then lead their organizations’ competitive position more easily and accurately. The authors describe a method that identifies the processes that are most critical to creating value and determining the human, information and organizational capital requirement.

• Companies and professionals are turning to intensive experiential leadership training programs to develop leadership skills. In "Beyond Basic Training" (Entrepreneur, 32(2): 61-63, 2004; www.entrepreneur.com), Dale Buss discusses how experiential training can develop entrepreneurial skills and suggests that such training is seen as the next step after formal education and owning a company for a while. He discusses six criteria you can use when deciding whether or not to participate in an experiential leadership program.

• It is no secret that the workplace is busy. We all have conflicting demands on our time and obstacles to overcome. In "Reclaim Your Job" (Harvard Business Review, 82(3): 41-45, 2004; www.hbr.com), Sumantra Ghoshal and Heike Bruch discuss strategies for taking charge of your job and adopting long-term views that will fulfill personal goals that match the organization’s goals. The authors’ research revealed that 90 percent of executives studied wasted time and lost productivity in spite of having well-defined jobs.

 

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Terrance Malkinson is a proposal manager/documentation specialist; an elected Senator of the University of Calgary; an elected Governor of the Engineering Management Society, international correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer; editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA News and Views, and editor of the IEEE Engineering Management Society Newsletter. Opinions expressed are the author's.