Culture and communication: a case study

Abstract

The paper presented is the result of an exemplary study taken at SAP AG, Germany by the authors. During this study we interviewed several of our English-native speaking colleagues to learn whether at all and if so, what challenges they have to overcome when writing in their native language abroad for international readers. For reasons of liability and non-disclosure, we created an exemplary technical writer (or Information Developer) and took a fictional project from a newcomers' training course, against which we describe some problems that were encountered. We do not cover all services SAP provides for information development, only those that many English writers mentioned to be important for them. Among them, the following can be found: gathering information, cleaning terminology, writing according to standards and guidelines, attending quality review circles, copy editing, and aspects of translation.