Milena Ratajczak-Mrozek

Transcription

1 The mechanism of business network development in the internationalisation process M. Ratajczak-Mrozek, PSO Sp. z o.o. (case study), in: The development of business networks in the company internationalisation process, ed. K. Fonfara, Poznań University of Economics Press, Poznań 2012, s Milena Ratajczak-Mrozek Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu 8.9. PSO Sp. z o.o. Description of the company PSO Sp. z o.o. is a small private service provider under Polish ownership. The firms mission is to create multilingual knowledge databases used in document translation and information sharing. The company was established in 1991 and initially specialised in IT services. After that, it also operated as a small academic publisher. Only later did it shift: its focus to translation. The company operates at the Poznań Science and Technology Park of the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation. PSO employs qualified translation specialists, desktop publishing specialists and IT specialists. The majority of translators, DTP specialists and customer service personnel are full-time employees. In addition to that, the company cooperates with external translators if necessary. PSO offers a number of service types: technical translations from German and English into Polish, the typesetting of translated documents,

2 8.9. PSO Sp. z o.o. 165 the typesetting of academic publications on mathematics, physics, chemistry and archaeology, software localisation. These services are comprehensive and highly-specialised. The company has implemented the TRADOS system for the computer-aided translation of large documents based on a single translation memory. The translation projects are managed by a software component called TeamWorks. The system enables the translation of documents saved in the SGML, XML and HTML formats and of those created in MS Office, FrameMaker, InDesign and QuarkXPress. To ensure that vocabulary and style is cohesive, the company creates a client-specific translation memory and, for larger projects, also a special glossary of the terms preferred by the client. Each translation job is performed by a professional translator and carefully proof- -read by another. If typesetting is also ordered, this is followed by another general revision. The company primarily translates technical documentation, such as user manuals, installation manuals, maintenance manuals and technical specifications for products. The translations are performed in compliance with international standard PN-EN 15038, which will also soon be guaranteed with respect to services. Because the work is done exclusively on the PSO company server the clients documents are safe and secure. The translators, both the permanent and external ones, log in to an adequately secured system and perform the translation there. This prevents client data from being copied and leaked outside the company s office, or from being obtained by unauthorised persons. The company also offers post-translation document typesetting which, unless otherwise required, provides the client with the same format as the original. Print services are also offered. A further service offered by PSO is the typesetting of academic publications on mathematics, physics, chemistry and archaeology, which is done with the help of the LaTeX system. PSO is a member of GUST, which is an association of Polish TeX System users. The aim of the organisation is to popularise the TeX and Metafont/ Metapost systems for computer-aided typesetting and its related environment. PSO also offers comprehensive localisation services, which is important in operations on the international market. Localisation involves the adjustment of software and its documentation to the needs of a given market. The process concerns not only the translation of the messages and elements of the program interface, but also their adjustment so as to be comprehensible for users in a given country. A broad range of services are associated with localisation: professional translation, meticulous revision, the adjustment of the text to the interface (text should be correctly displayed on the screen so it may require adjustments of length and size; if it is a computer program, the instructions and messages must be unambiguous and understandable to users), soundtrack recording for multimedia slideshows and printing on paper and compact discs.

3 The mechanism of business network development in the internationalisation process The internationalisation process PSOs clients are mostly foreign entities and the company has one major client, which is a large foreign automotive concern. In 2010, its share of the company s sales amounted to 91% (83% in 2008). The foreign market on which the company operates most intensively is Germany (because of the translation language). PSO s mode of internationalisation is the export of services. It is hard to define the precise moment when PSO s internationalisation process began. The company signed an official cooperation agreement with its main client, the automotive concern, in 2004 but the actual collaboration with that entity began as early as In addition, PSO has cooperated with the Polish representative of the concern ever since it was established. The internationalisation process is formally embedded in PSO s business strategy. As its core business is translation, the company must devote a great deal of care and attention to the contacts with the foreign buyers it is actively seeking The company s initiatives on foreign markets are planned in advance but the company is also open to the market opportunities that may spontaneously emerge. As far as internationalisation activity is concerned, there has been a change since At that time, PSO s operations related to foreign expansion were a spontaneous reaction to opportunities emerging from contacts with prospective foreign clients. It may therefore be said that, despite the formal incorporation of internationalisation into the company strategy, the process was actually of a spontaneous nature. As of 2011, PSO has been much more actively engaged in internationalisation. Cooperation in the internationalisation process Because of the specific, and even niche, nature of its business activity, which is comprehensive and specialist translation, PSO is very open to cooperation with foreign entities. The firm mainly collaborates with buyers and assigns key importance to these relationships. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify a second group of foreign entities in the company s business network. These are foreign translation agencies which, in fact, are not final buyers. For example, PSO has performed services for a German client via a Hungarian agency. Depending on the perspective adopted, such entities may be viewed as buyers (PSO provides services for them), agents (the agencies act as mediators in PSO s contacts with final clients ordering services) or competitors (the final client could have been a direct client of PSO, if PSO had reached them before the agency). The company does not have foreign suppliers, nor does it cooperate with other types of foreign entities.

4 8.9. PSO Sp. z o.o. 167 In 2011, PSO was actively involved in establishing new contacts and seeking new foreign buyers. This initiative included launching a German website, positioning itself on Google Germany and other websites, mail-outs and phone calls to potential German buyers, whose details were obtained from a specially-purchased database. These activities were inspired by the ambition to expand, to extend the scope of the business and to diversify so that the company could become more independent of its main client. PSO s motivation for initiating contacts with foreign partners includes the need for diversification, the desire to make full use of its competences and production capacity (the company has full-time employees) and to expand. The acquisition of knowledge and know-how are additional benefits achieved by PSO through these relations. By introducing adaptations, the company is developing in parallel to its main client. The nature of cooperation on foreign markets PSO s clients include large companies, academic institutions and other translation agencies, which may also be treated as agents or competitors. The company has one major client, a large foreign automotive concern. In general, PSO does not engage in transactions with one-off, random buyers. The firm does not have many clients but this is a conscious decision, which is reflected in the fact that the average duration of its cooperative endeavours is a few years. As time passes and knowledge of the clients increases, so does the scope for cooperation and for relations of closer proximity. It is PSOs intention that relations with buyers on foreign markets should be lasting and long-term. The company places a high value on partnership marketing. The company is primarily interested in long-term cooperation with buyers, as this is of benefit to both parties. Clients gain better terms as defined in the framework agreement and, moreover, the company is willing to extend the scope of its services and acquire new resources and competences to suit the needs of regular clients. For PSO, on the other hand, long-term relations result in better service quality and cost reductions: by knowing the characteristics of a client s operations, the company is able to anticipate the orders, which helps schedule work and minimises idle time. The buyers on foreign markets are loyal to the company and the relationship with the main client is strong and enduring. PSO even defines its major client as very loyal. However, changes in the clients company in 2011 have made the situation uncertain for PSO. Maintaining cooperation with current buyers on foreign markets is vital to the company. This is partly because the firm does not have many buyers, and partly because of the intention to reduce costs, which, thanks to the translation memory,

5 The mechanism of business network development in the internationalisation process is possible in long-term relationships for these types of services. The company continues to make adjustments for the main client, such as learning new technologies, language education, employee training and, where required, certification. The relationships with some of the smaller clients, which have been established in the drive to diversify and expand, are of a slightly different nature and, as they are relatively new contacts, they are difficult to assess. The use of resources in the internationalisation process In the course of cooperation, business-network development and the internationalisation process, the major resources PSO has gained access to are finance, knowledge and know-how. The latter involves certification, employee training and learning new technologies and languages, which are resources of key importance both to translation and to the operations of the company. While PSO does not use outsourcing on foreign markets it does use it on the domestic market. This includes such areas as IT, accounting and some HR management functions, which all fall outside the company s core business. It should be noted that the company itself is a provider of outsourcing services for its main client. Company performance Owing to the nature of its services, PSO Sp. z o.o. operates on a largely niche market, which hampers an analysis of direct competitors. It does not help, either, that the financial data of translation agencies are not usually publicly available. Nonetheless, on the basis of its knowledge of its own position in the sector, PSO representatives assessed the company s performance in comparison to the competition using four indicators analysed in the research project. The analysis was performed on the basis of information included in the National Court Register (KRS). It was estimated that in terms of profit and return of investment, PSO s performance is similar to the competition s. However, in terms of the two remaining indicators, sales volume and market share, its performance was assessed as better than the competition. Summary In concluding, the specific nature of PSO s business network should be emphasised: its relationships are few in number, but strong, and they are dominated by links with one major client. The research conducted in 2008 classified the company s behaviour as conforming to type B Submissive with certain elements of type A Active. This is because,

6 8.10. Domus & Vents Group Sp. z o.o. 169 on the one hand, PSO was undoubtedly open to cooperation, its internationalisation process was officially part of the business strategy and it declared that it was active in developing business networks. On the other hand, however, despite the formal incorporation of internationalisation into the company strategy, the process was actually of a spontaneous nature. What is more, the majority of the relationships were initiated by the buyers themselves and were not the result of the actions or initiatives of the company. In 2011, the behaviour of PSO in the internationalisation process fully qualifies it as type A Active. The company is not only open to cooperation but has also increased its activity in developing network relationships. A distinct change in company behaviour from type B to type A has occurred.