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History of Transportation

Transportation was, is and will be one of the most important issues of peoples life. It accounts centuries. Definition of transportation can be different, as the reason, it can mean the trip between two places, two villages, for trade, war or maybe just for journey. It can be done using air, water or land. Transports transformed during centuries and today look much different than in nineteenth or at the beginning of twentieth century and much different than it was in early stages.

Transportation is an integral part of history, history itself, in point of fact, has often been determined by movement across the land-movement of armies, of whole peoples in migration and of trade.

In the early stages progress rate in land transportation was very slow. Man from the beginning was characterized by movement from one place to another, searching some food, attacking his neighbors, to find wife in other groups and so on. The main goals of man in early stages were: hunting and abduction. But all of these was often behind the human migration, the stronger conquering the weaker. Man for on his own feet could travel more than three miles per hour. Despite the flexibility of his physical structure, he was compared to other animals, which were stronger, more agile, and swifter, but the human animal had certain advantages, big brain, flexible hand structure, he had to walk upright, freeing his hands for the use of tools. Later man started to evaluate substitutes. Firstly he had dragged all the things he needed, but later the man understood that someone else also could do it by his direction and regulation. The animals: dogs, elephants, donkeys camels became the first, who appeared in the history of transportation.

The earliest vehicle seems to have been the sledge. Very possibly the sledge had its origin in a simple branch drawn behind a man or beast. For thousand years ago the Egyptians used much the same kind of vehicle, but with heavier and stronger runners, to transport immense blocks of stone , some weighing as mush as 800 or 900 tones. So as we see the sledge was very useful, but later however the wheel made its progress. The oldest examples of wheel are found in Mesopotamia and date from the fourth millennium B.C., among the Sumerians, Akkadians, Elamites and Chaldeans. Sumerians were the first people who reach the civilization, so they seem to have been the first who used the full wheel. At the beginning it was three planks of wood , which were pegged together in a rough circle. Soon they strengthened it, using a metal band or tire and finally hollowed out for lightness and equipped with spokes. For a long time the chariots was reserved for the nobility, for trade or by the common people as wagons, but it was later.

Sumerian chariot changed very little over a thousand years , until the introduction of the horse from central Asia. In the seventeenth century B.C. horse-drawn chariot made its appearance. It became the principal weapon of the Assyrians, who eventually subdues most of the civilized world. [1]

The biggest transformations in transport sector started from the construction of roads. Romans constructed a huge road system that made possible to use different types of vehicles and also develop new ones. They had 20 different types of vehicles, from the two-wheeled carpentum, which was very fast and light and had a leather hoot for protection of drivers , to the four-wheel carruca, which could carry whole family.

The first real roads, that were constructed were very short. Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar had its famous Procession street , which was made with large stones over a foundation of asphalt, which led through the city to a substantial bridge across the Euphrates. For facilitating the transportation of heavy blocks of stone the Egyptians built roads, which were short, but very broad.

Times changed and from year to year people started to invent more energetically and interesting things for transportation. Historically horse, pulling a vehicle was very useful for people, but later they started to create different kinds of apparatus, which provided for them more energy to get from one place to another, from time to time. And so we come to the curious mechanical vehicles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and which were operated by land levers.

First everything started with invention of different and small carriages, which was possible to drive without horses.

In 1645 Jean Theson create a small four-wheeled carriage , which was driven without horses for two seated man. Another invention was made by German , Hautsch around 1600, which also was used without horses.

The ancient Chinese had attached some sails for their cart, which helped them along, the elector Johann Friedrich built a vehicle of this type in Europe in 1543. In 1600 Simon Stevin a military engineer, built a famous chariot, it had two masts, a plough-shaped rudder and all kinds of ingenious devices for trimming or lowering the sails with dispatch.

In 1826 an English man , George Pocock launched smaller carriage, which he called ” flying Chariot”, of course without horses, it worked average from 15 to 20 miles an hour. There was also another wind-propelled vehicles , named ” Flying Coach” , which was invented by Non Jose Boscasa and Hacquet’s ” Eolienne” The latter , favored by a southwest wind, actually sailed through the streets of Paris one day in 1834.

The first steam carriage which actually worked and could not go faster than 4 miles per hour was Nicolas Cugnot’s ” fardier” , a large cart. Intended to transport guns or other heavy loads , it was made of stout beams and had three huge , iron-strapped wheels, with power delivered direct to the single wheel in front by two massive cylinders. A big boiler and firebox were suspended over the front wheel, making it even more cumbersome. This frightening monster , which was tested before the Minister Choiseul in 1769, had to stop every 15 minutes to get up more steam and vibrated so much that it finally escaped from its inventor and tore into a wall of the arsenal. Nevertheless, it was the first vehicle in which the thrust of pistons successfully turned a driving wheel; in order words it was really the first automobile .[2]

The ‘ fardier’ can still be seen at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris. On view at the Birmingham Museum is the second forerunner of the automobile, a small steam model built by William Murdock, Watt’s assistant in 1784. With its light wheels and little smokestack at the back it looks frail compared to the heavy ” fardier”. The third pioneer vehicle was Oliver Evans’s steam carriage, which he drove through the streets of Philadelphia toward the end of 1804. It was a huge amphibious boat which had been built to dredge the Schuylkill River. Evans named it the ” Orukter Amphibolos’ or the ” digger which works all ways” because it was equipped with wheels for land travel and paddlewheel for the water. And it actually worked ,lumbering several miles over uneven ground before entering the river, where the paddlewheel took over from the belts which drove the wheels.

In 1891 Richard Trevithick , helped by Andre Vivian, built a steam carriage with the engine in the rear which could carry about a dozen passengers at nine miles an hour. Two years later, before turning to the steam railway, Trevithick actually ran a steam tricycle through the streets of London. In the next 30 years or so quite a number of self -propelled steam carriages were built and operated on the new , hard surfaced roads of England and with considerable success. Outstanding was the steam carriage of Goldsworthy Gurney, which weighed two tones. By 1832 his coach was running on schedule four times daily between Gloucester and Cheltenham. In 396 trips it carried 3 000 passengers without mischance. Around 1834 Walter Hancock was operating several lines, including his Paddington-City of London run. But all these coaches disappeared and the same happened in France – even through Onesiphore Pecqueur in 1828 had invented true modern steering with two wheels, and the differential for a rear-wheel drive.

Later train became very popular among other transports, its success was irresistible, of course because it could go faster with great safety and economy and also could carry more passengers. The railroad interests combines with owners of horse drawn stages , with people who sold horses , with turnpike companies , and farmers who grew oats for fodder -pushed through a series of laws hampering and taxing the road locomotives, forbidding them to travel faster than four miles an hour and finally requiring a man with a red flag to precede each self-propelled vehicle on a public highway. The latter act was not repealed until 1896. thus with the failure of the steam coaches Britain was deprived of any chance for an early lead in the automobile field. Bollees, were father and sons , who brought steam back on the road. Their first machine was the ” Obeissante” a 15- horsepower monster weighing five tones and traveling at 24 miles per hour. It was well received when it was shown in Paris in 1873. Five years later the “Mancelle”, a much smaller machine ,made its importance, it was much more economical. By this time Bollee machines became known throughout the Europe. There was the “Marie-Anne ” , ” Nouvelle” of 1880 , which could do 27 miles per hour , per ” Avant-Courrier ” of the same year and the ” Rapide” of 1881.

Count Albert de Dion, with the mechanic Georges Bouton, worked out a little three-wheeler in 1883 which could be drive by one man. He followed it with others, faster and more economical. But the principal inconveniences remained: the driver had to stock water and coal, light the fire, wait for his car to get up steam and finally he had to abandon all thoughts of traveling faster then 24 miles per hour prescribed by law.

“There is a great need”. Baudry de Saunier wrote, ” to produce almost instantly and with little pressure the quantity of steam needed and to do it with a strictly non-explosive boiler.A» Leon Serpollet, last of the great steam-car inventors , did prissily this , making the Paris to Enghien-less-Bains run in 1888 on a kind tricycle which answered Baudry de Saunier’s equipments. In 1890, with Ernst Archdeacon , he made the Paris-Lyon run in ten days. At Nice in 1902 Serpollet achieved a speed of 75 miles per hour.

An eclectic automobile by Nicolas Raffard appeared in Paris in 1883 . About the same time an English man , Magnus Volk, brought out a similar car, while a carriage builder named Jentaud produced one with a seven horse-power engine that could make 15 miles an hour. Later on , a racing car by Jenataud achieved a world record- 56 miles per hour. This was finally capped by Camille Jenatzy’s electric “Jamais Contente”, which did 65 miles per hour. At the end of nineteenth century, when the gasoline automobile was still young, it seemed for a time as if the electric car might be the automobile of the future. Many were built -silent, powerful, and comfortable and were a common sight up into the 1920s, especially in the cities. But electric traction had a serious defect: the batteries often weighed a ton, and the driver had to stop frequently to recharge them. [3]

It is difficult to say, who was the inventor of the first engine . Philippe Lebon in 1800 planned to explode a medley of air and lighting gas in a cylinder to move a piston.. Other inventors used gases and hydrocarbons as fuel and experimented mostly in design. Combustion engine first became commercially successful in middle of nineteenth century with small gas engines,, whose inventor was French, Joseph Etienne Lenoir. The next was to compress the mixture before exploding it , an idea which was worked out in terms of the conventional engine by Beau de Rochas, in 1862 . The idea was taken up in 1867 by Nikolaus Otto, he produced engine two times, as economical one and as fast as Lenoir’s. His four-cycle ” Otto Silent” of 1876 led directly to the modern automobile engine.

Daimler, hitting upon gasoline as a fuel, produced a lightweight engine which he tested on a bicycle in 1885 , thus unwittingly inventing the motorcycle. His first automobile was a four-wheeler. Benz’s was a simple three-wheeler , but it had some features, that anticipated the modern automobile., a rudimentary water-cooling radiator, differential gear and electrical instead of flame ignition. Its engine was a four-cycle. Like the Daimler , its speed was around 10 miles per hour. .

Daimler sold his patent to Rene Panhard and the engineer Emile Levassor, who wanted to introduce the automobile to France. The first test was in 1890 and 1891 . The objective was to go from Porte d’Ivry to the Viaduct of Auteuil and back without engine trouble, an objective that was soon achieved. After this the firm of Ponhard-Levassor received its first order and soon was sharing it with Armand Peugeot who also used the patent of Daimler.

In 1894 by Pierre Giffard of the Petit Journal organized the first great race between Paris and Rouen-77 miles, the competition was between all types of automobiles: whether steam, electric, or gasoline. The winner was Count Albert de Dion, who averaged 13 miles per hour in the little steam car. In 1895 a second race was organized ,much longer and more difficult, fro Paris to Bordeaux and return, a distance of 744 miles. Steam was represented by one of count de Dion’s cars, two Serpollets, and Bollee’s ” Mancelle”, gasoline by a Panhard Levassor and three Peugeots and electricity by Jeantaud . From the 21 vehicles, which participated, Panhard Levassor was who won, completing the course in less than half of 100 hours anticipated by the organizers. The superiority of gasoline over steam and electricity was proved beyond a doubt. The race proved also that an automobile, like a bicycle could and should ride upon air. Michelin Brothers had been proved a success -even through they had to be changed by the drivers every 93 miles.

The next round was infernal and murderous, right up to the Indianapolis race of today , the ” 24? hors of the Le Mans , of Monte Carlo, of other places. There was the Tour de France, from Paris to Berlin, the Paris-Vienna , the Gordon Bennett Cup and the bloody Paris- Madrid race of 1903, in which was killed Marcel Renault. During the Competition the roads between cities were turned into mad circuses filled with surging crowds. Out of the noise was born Germany’s Taunus meet, Italy’s Monza, Englands Brooklands and in the United States , the Atlantic City. From year to year the automobiles improved. Then there were rallies and competitions, which sent the automobiles in different sides of the world.

The United States , saw its first successful gasoline automobile in 1893-that of Charles and Frank Duryea. It was a small, four-horsepower phaeton with little engine. American Automobile industry comes form 1896, when the Duryea Motor Wagon Company produced 14 cars. The First Packard introduced in 1899. But the real contribution of United States was in mass production and the start player , her was Henry Ford, who is famous for all of us.

Henry Ford first started with stem, but later he left the idea. He put together his first successful “gasoline buggy “in 1896, then series of cars “999”, the “Arrow” and others and could not decide , which one of them was better. The answer on this question, later was received in Europe , first by Citroen and then by others. The immediate result was the Model T Ford. In 1909 Henry Ford had written that that the automobile of the future must be superior to the present car to beget confidence in the man of limited means , and sufficiently lower in price to insure sales for an enormously increased output. He said: ” the car of the future must be a car for people…the market for a lower-priced car is unlimited.” [4]And latter, every one saw ,that he was really write, because the number of sold cars sharply increased. Between 1908 and 1928 there were sold more than 15 million Model T Fords. During 1925 , only in one day alone, more than 9000 were built.[5] Later the competitors and successors followed the example of Henry Ford, because it was really good idea, who else could imagine and do it.

The First design of carriage in Italy , which could run without horses , was done by famous artist Leonardo da Vinci, if we look back. But Father Barsanti and Professor Mattenci were, who together took out a patent for a gas engine in 1854. In 1894 Colonel Bordino produced a small automobile. But the real beginning was in 1895 , the year the celebrated Agnelli created the no less celebrated ” Fiat ” in Turin. A Fiat in 1907 won a magnificent triple victory: the Traga Florio, the Sarthe circuit and the Emperor’s Cup. The road had been prepared for the elegant automobile, for automobiles, which are named as Lancia, Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa-Romeo.

Now the automobile has everything it needed, things such as four-cylinder engine, wheels of the same size all around, electric lighting, an electrical self-starter , and for all of that we have to be thankful for American inventor Charles Kettering, who invented this automobile in 1911. [6]

Looking at all these historical points we saw that the transportation was important not only in nineteenth century and today, but it comes from much earlier period, people used transportation for different reasons .During many years transportation transformed and the period from the nineteenth century to the present was the period of amazing changes and progresses in automobile industry. Transportation started by foots with man from early stages and today continues with luxury automobiles. In past we saw that the automobile was very luxury and very expensive pleasure for people, but today it is very necessary thing, which has almost all families and use them for different necessity , but as it was as in past , today automobile industry also feels and faces many different problems . What will be tomorrow nobody knows, how transportation and automobile industry can transform, maybe we can dream about something more, about something unbelievable in this sector.

Meaning ofCommon Transport
Policy

Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Rome in 1958, the transport industry ,faithful servant that it is ,has undergone significant change in order to adopt to the growth and needs of international trade. [7]

The Treaty of Rome provides the legal basis for the creation of a common transport policy . Next to agriculture and commercial policy the Common Transport Policy is one of the three common policies specially mentioned n Article 3 of the Treaty as one of the activities the Community must pursue in order to “establish a common market and progressively to and progressively approximate the economic policies of the Member StatesA». Irrespective of the Treaty provisions, transport policy left under the control of the Member States . The Member States pursue different transport policies and proceed from different bases for State intervention. [8]

Common policy means reformulating the policies of Member States to form a single Community policy: a process of integration culminating is supranational transport policy. [9] The main aim of the policy is to shun the difference between Member States.

Transport industry has few differences from other industrial sectors. When we are talking about economic fields:

Transport is used as an instrument of State economic policy. Transport is a major industry by such criteria , that ii is measured : employment , investment and etc. [10]In transport sectors are employed high percentage of workers . Transport sector of EU-15 employed 6.2 million people, and that increased to 7.4 million after enlargement of 2004.[11]
Transport industry is important activity to other industrial sectors and its levels of rates are crucial to the State’s economy. In a market promoting specialized production, the consumer and the producer , both depend on transport , to meet their each others needs. The independent carrier, occupies a central position in the market as a whole: this his policies, unless regulated, can hinder international trade by discriminating as to charges between producers or also between consumers.
Some regulations are important for modes which are covered but Transport , such as road rail, inland, waterway, sea and air, because most of them are competing with each other and sometimes conflicts are irreversible.
Transport is an industry with public service obligations, where governments often intervene by obliging some services and also by controlling the tariffs. Railways are used an instrument of economic policy, where public financing of the infrastructure is very common. In case of roads, the building of roads often depends on the State, but once the roads are built and open to traffic many different types of users take advantage of their existence.
Transport industry is characterized by undertakings of dissimilar structure, which provides interchangeable services. Inelasticity in the supply of transport owing of the “perishability “of its services makes full freedom of competition impracticable.
Transport sector is subject to many international agreements, whose some of the Member states are parties and have to fulfill international obligations.
In area of inland waterways, the Commission has incomplete competence because of relationships with third countries. The Rhine regime, which is established by the Mannheim Convention in 1868 , with Central Commission implementing its provisions, cannot be ignored. The Central Commission, within the EC territory governs the most important single constituent in inland transport. The area of air and maritime transport are governed by many international treaties.

All this factors which are mentioned above made difficulties for the Union to develop such as policies, which will spirit the integration of transport services and satisfy the needs of the single European market. [12]

The most important changes in European Transport industry started from 1970s, when increased the usage of road transport. This gross was really dramatic and it effected the railway transport. During the 1970s the rail’s share of the passenger market has fallen from 10.2 % to 6.3 %.[13]

European railway increased investment on developing fundamental new techniques and infrastructures, such as high speed trains: TGV, Eurostar and etc., for competition with other transport’s modes. Also was mentioned the high increase in air transport for long-haul journeys and maritime transport has been relegated to the short-haul ferry market. [14]

In the European Union transport sector is very important issue, it provides 4% of the GDP. Also as we already mentioned above, it provides employment for EU citizens. In 1991, employees in the transport sector constituted between 4 % and 5% of waged labor. It amounted to 5.6 million people, 2, 509000 of them were employed in road transport, 897000 in rail transport , 24 000 in inland waterway transport , 217000 in maritime and 349000 in air and 1569000[15] in other sector which are related to transport industry.

Transport sector is the growth industry in European Union. The demand In industry is generally proportionate to Gross Domestic Product. Taking the average annual economic growth in the European Union since 1970 as 2.6 %, the growth in goods transport services has been 2.3 % and passenger transport services 3.1%.

Transport is the link which brings together people and products from all European regions, above all the remoter regions.

Transport in European Union was and is characterized by a great measure of government invention and a confused network of bilateral and multilateral inter-state agreements in which the Member States used to and still participate. [16]

When we speak about Common Transport Policy it is important to distinguish three phases of this policy. First phase of the transport policy started after the entry into force of Treaty of Rime and continued till 1973-1974. During this phase , the European Community , was concentrated on creation of common market fro transport by road, inland waterways, rail and opening the national market between all Member States for competition. This idea was formulated in 1961 Memorandum by Commission and in 1962 Action Programme. [17]

First phase of Common transport policy involved discussions between Member States and Commission, because the provisions giver by the Treaty were not concreted to what it should contain.

At the end of the second phase, from 1973 , the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom to the European Community introduced more liberal and less land-centred views into inactive transport policy [18] At the end of 1973, The development of Common Transport Policy was determined again by the Commission and The Council .

In 1974 in maritime and air transport sector two important events took place for development of Common Transport Policy : the Court gave judgment in the French Seamen case and under the auspices of the United Nations, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Code of Conduct for Liner Conference was adopted. [19]

Third phase started from 1983, when the various proposals for structured development of the Common Transport Policy , in several memoranda concerning the inland ( 1983), air (1984) and maritime ( 1985) sectors.[20]

Speaking about Transport policy it is important to mention the main factors, which influence , such as: geography, technology, wealth.

The oldest influence probably lies in the physical features of European geographical environment, which can encourage or discourage travel. It is relatively easy to travel up and down a river valley such as the Rhine and Danube , much harder to cross major physical barriers such as the Alps or the Pyrenees other then by air. Most traffic crossing the English Channel or the Baltic has to go by the sea, though there is now a Channel Tunnel Between England and France, opened in 1994 and the Oresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden, opened in 2000. There are four rail tunnels through the Alps and seven road crossings, but some of these are open in summer only, and the two road tunnels between France and Italy, opened in 1965 and 1980, are single-bore with just one line of traffic in each direction. Heavy-goods traffic is heavily dependent on these two narrow tunnels, another under the Gotthard Pass in Switzerland and the one major four-lane highway which crosses the Brenner Pass at 1, 372 meters. The only significant rail and road crossings of the Pyrenees follow the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. Since these mountain chance and sea crossing generally coincide with national frontiers, which indeed they have often determined, they also contribute to keeping national transport policies separate. [21]Sometimes the national frontiers doesn’t coincide the physical barriers.

People always thought about travel and trading goods in places ,where they can use their own language , were their rights are respected and they have easier access to the education and medical system. It is very interesting in this case to mention the situation in German after the Second World War .When Germany was divided into two parts its system of roads and railways , built to facilitate military and civilian communications on East and West axis, had to be reconfigured to strengthen North-South communications on either side of the Iron Curtain.[22]

After the reunification European Union is reducing the importance of national frontiers, for example with the creation of single currency of Europe-Euro, but for some people it is difficult to cross the borders and go to study or work , for few of the it is unbelievable to cross national borders, even where are no the physical barriers , who can avoid them. Even with the single European market, the volume of international trade in 1994 was only about 7% of the tonnage mowed within national frontiers.[23]

Second important influencing on transport policy is technology. As we already mentioned, when we discussed the history of transportation , transport sector developed many times, during many years, first the feet presented the main transport for people, then transports developed by wheel , sail ant etc and over the past 250 years the steam engine, internal combustion engine, the jet engine , and electric traction have each facilitated a step-change in technology [24] the main objective of such as technological revolutions are to make transportation more comfortable, easier, cheaper and safer.

The third factor which has the major influence on transport policy is wealth. There is very strong correlation between economic performance as measured by gross domestic product and the growth of goods and passenger transport. It seems that the more we earn , the more we spend on travel and on the consumption of goods which themselves have to be transported over long distances to reach our homes .And there is no sign as yet that these trends will not continue to generate a steadily increasing demand for transport. In 2001 Transport White Paper, the commission estimated that GDP growth of 43% between 1998 and 2010 will generate increases in the movement of passengers and goods of 24% and 38% receptivity. [25]

Transport policy as we already mentioned above is very important issue for European Union , because it is important policy for economic sector of the Union, for Environment, for Labor Market and also for competition. And European Union always tries to implement different strategies to improve and reconstructure this policy for the weal-being of the citizens.

Modes of Transport

Transport sector covers different modes such as: road transport, railway, waterway and air transport.

Development of all these modes is different by times and by structures. In this part we will discuss recent developments in European different modes of transport sector.

Personal mobility has more then doubled from 17km a day in 1970 to 38km in the late 1990s.Road transport is Europe’s dominant transport mode and its dominance continues to grow. Private car ownership in the EU -15 increased from 232 per thousand in 1975 to 469per thousand in 2000 and continues to grow .[26] Road transport at the end of 1990s represented 44% of the goods transport market compared with 44% for short sea shipping, 8% for rail and 4% for inland waterways. In passenger transport it represented 79% of the market, 5 % of air and also 6% of railways.

Development of road transport is very important and interesting case , because during last years the volume of road freight grew by 3.5% a year and 7% in the case of cross-border freight. The roads now take about 75% of freight traffic within the EU , compared with less than 50% in 1970. As regards road transport, the key mode is the private car and growth in car use. During last 30 years the number of cars tripled, at an increase of 3 million cars each year. For 1975 there were 232 cars per 1000 people and now there are 444 cars per 1000 persons.[27]

For promotion of more safety transport , European Union introduced some legislations on the driver qualifications, inspection of cars

When it comes to the transportation of hazardous material by plane normal procedures of safety do not apply. There are very specific sets of rules and regulations that must be adhered to in order to be licensed to transport by an airliner any material that is classified as hazardous. Why do we need regulations? After all, aren’t regulations always a source of headache for most ethically ran properly maintained businesses? One would like to believe this, however, as planes come crashing down investigations can often times reveal negligence in the handling and transport of materials that cause cataclysmic devastation. In this paper we will explore what is classified as a hazardous material and then we will slide right into who regulates transportation and how transportation of these materials is regulated.

What is classified as a hazardous material? Any material that can be labeled radioactive, allergenic, poisonous, a biohazard, corrosive, toxic, asphyxiating (lack of oxygen to the brain), explosive, oxidizing, flammable, pathogenic (dangerous living organism usually a virus), or magnetic can be classified as a hazardous material and requires a highly trained professional to handle and transport for the safety of all those in close proximity to the material. Wait? Did I say magnetic? Yes. Magnetism inside an aircraft other than normal currents can adversely influence an aircrafts sensitive computer systems, gauges, and mechanical systems. This could cause the plane to fly in circles or, worst case scenario, cause a serious malfunction that would ultimately conclude with a fiery ball of flames and the demise of the flight crew and, quite possibly, other fatalities and casualties. Many materials fall into more than one of these categories. Poisonous and asphyxiation for example could be listed on a material that poisons the body and as a result asphyxiates the poor soul. But who has the authority to classify materials as such listed here?

The Department of Transportation was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966. It began operations on April 1, 1967. It is the purpose of the DOT to guarantee “a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future (DOT 1966).”A Inside the borders of the USA it is the DOT who regulate and enforce all laws that govern transportation in even its simplest form, walking. In respect to air transport of hazardous material they have a strict set of guidelines that must be adhered to that ensures they meet their motto. In later paragraphs in this essay we will examine a few of those guidelines. The Department of Transportation mandates that all employees who handle hazardous material will be required to participate in a training class that will entitle them at the end to receive a license to handle hazardous material. Outside the borders of the USA each country has its own department that regulates transport but each country has to adhere to the guidelines of both International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA). If a country utilizes air transportation to deliver any hazardous chemical or material to another country then it has to abide by a strict set of guidelines set forth by ICAO and IATA. However, if an American business wants to move materials considered hazardous as described above then it will adhere to the guidelines of the DOT.

As stated by DOT 49 “Sec. 175.79 Orientation of cargo. (a) A package containing hazardous materials marked “THIS SIDE UP” or “THIS END UP”, or with arrows to indicate the proper orientation of the package, must be stored and loaded aboard an aircraft in accordance with such markings. (b) A package containing liquid hazardous materials not marked as indicated in paragraph (a) of this section, must be stored and loaded with closures up (other than side closures in addition to top closures).” This means that if a box or container arrow pointing in any direction – up, down left or right – the container must be stood up or laid down according to the arrows. This is called material orientation. If the box says this end up then that end must be at the top. If a box is laid on its side when it should be standing up as indicated by the arrows and a hazardous material is contained inside the consequences of this error could be devastating. An example of a devastating consequence can be identified by the wreck of cargo jet shortly after taking off, killing three crew members and disintegrating the aircraft. The accident was due in part by a leaking container in the aft cargo hold. Zimbabwe is not governed by the Dept of Transportation so their rules and regulations for cargo transportation are slightly different from the United States. Apparently, a chemical leaked onto some of the important electrical wiring and sent the plane hurtling into the ground due to electrical failure. The rules and regulations set forth by the Dept of Transportation are designed to keep pilots, co-pilots, all personnel, whether they are on land or in the air, and innocent civilians safe from tragedies such as this. In the United States it is estimated that one cargo plane carrying a hazardous material will either be forced to land or will crash due to deviation from the rules and regulations set forth by the Dept of Transportation. Material orientation is easy compared to securing hazardous material.

Looking at a container and identifying its orientation is the easy part. When securing hazardous material it must be secured properly as to make no forward, backward, or sideways movements. If the hazardous material moves even in an inch it is no longer in compliance with is Title 49 Section 175.81 which states, “packages containing hazardous material must be secured in an aircraft in a manner that will prevent any movement in flight which would result in damage two or change in the orientation of the packages.” If a transportation agency is found to be in noncompliance the Dept of Transportation can fine the agency or can temporarily suspend or permanently revoke the agency’s license to haul hazardous material. If the noncompliance resulted in damage to hazardous material containers the hazardous material will be thoroughly inspected for damage and or leaks after being unloaded from the aircraft.

According to Title 49 Section 175.90 part B in the case of a package which is leaking the employee must ensure that the remaining packages in the delivery do not have leaks or contamination. According to part C of the same title the package identified as being damaged or contaminated will not be placed aboard an aircraft for further transport. Hypothetically, you are carrying a material that has a label saying, “dangerous when wet,” and the plane is also carrying barrels of water to the same destination you do not want the material marked “dangerous when wet” to come into contact with the barrels of water. Most likely, they plane will not be carrying both materials as a precaution however not all countries abide by American regulations and common sense. When the pilot performs an inspection of his cargo and finds a damaged container he will immediately remove the container according to regulations for the removal of hazardous material and he will ensure the rest of the shipment is unharmed. He will not risk the safety of his passengers and personnel by placing the damaged container back on board the aircraft. If the Dept of Transportation receives evidence that he has done so the pilot will have his license revoked and his wings stripped. He may even be slapped with a fine as determined by the offense. The rules and regulations set forth by the Dept of Transportation for the transportation of hazardous material are designed with safety in mind.

Many organizations believe that these rules and regulations are way too restrictive. Even so, many companies may actually lose money while trying to adhere to these rules and regulations. The necessity of rules and regulations such as these were designed to protect society from plane wrecks, explosions, system disorientation, birth defects caused by radiation, fatalities and casualties, chemical spills, radiation poisoning, poisonous gas plants causing asphyxiation, etc. The Dept of Transportation is not sympathetic to a company losing money trying to adhere to these regulations. The Dept of Transportation is a committee designed to protect society from the mission Giddings of bad business in transportation. It is their sole duty to uphold safety, efficiency, speed, reliability, convenience, and accessibility of all transportation. Any organization found to be in noncompliance with the rules and regulations of the Dept of Transportation can be fined or terminated by the department for noncompliance. There are many rules and regulations set forth by the Dept of Transportation for the transportation of hazardous materials that I have not covered but these are the basics. It is, in the United States, the Dept of Transportation and regulates all transportation. Internationally, it is ICAO and IATA.

Introduction:

The paper is aimed at forming a backing about the good habits of a driver. It explains the combination of driving practices and actions of which a driver is conscious of, for forming good driving habits. People have always a difference of opinion on what is good or bad. This applies at the driving habits too, perception about good and bad of a driver and his habits may differ, yet a common approach is generally under study in the following report. The report includes the background of the topic, explaining its virtues and driving habits in detail. It will then include the concluding comments and recommendations based on the discussed topic.

The topic is important as driving is the serious matter and people need to develop proper skills of driving before they turn their vehicles on the road. Proper driving skills are mandatory in case of saving oneself and others from the minor to major road accidents. Thus, a driver needs to follow the rules and regulations to keep him, and others save from any kind of injury and trouble.

Background

Good driving abilities, like all other aptitudes and skills, can fade or weaken without practice. Therefore there are specific propensities that can make the whole process much smoother over the long haul. Taking after certain driving consideration instructions may very well improve a driver and enhance his security on the open street.

Numerous drivers fall into the propensity for doing whatever feels most good concerning controlling. Some like to control their autos with single hand, while others want to place both hands at the “steering” wheel. It’s amazingly vital to have both active; the hands on “steering”, and in the best possible position, at all times so as to get ready for a minute ago moves. (Molla, 2015)

Vehicles experience a gigantic measure of troubles with starting and breaks consistently, so it’s no big surprise that mechanical issues can now and then leave the woodwork. It’s generally a decent propensity to tap the brakes much sooner than the ceasing point as opposed to hammering on the brakes finally, which can deliver a great deal of superfluous wear and tear. Falling into these great propensities can make driving more secure, more pleasant and less upsetting. (Good driving habits. (n.d.), 2015)

For developing safe driving habits and being a good driver, one needs to follow the below points;

Learn Defensive Driving
Watch out for other awful drivers
Stay away from in auto diversions
Don’t drive when tired
Utilize your turn signals
Keep a separation between the autos before you and yourself.
Lessen your rate of speed when passing close street perils or in terrible climate.
Keep your auto tuned up and kept up.
Check your blind sides.
Verify your safety features. (Top 10 Habits of Safe Drivers | Alternative, 2014)
Driving issues related to UAE:

The most recent measurements reported by traffic control administration in UAE, has claimed a noteworthy change in movement security in the course of recent years. As per the reports, it is noted that because of this noteworthy decrease, fatalities created by run-over mishaps dropped by 54%, auto collisions by 40%, fatalities brought about by car crashes by 35%, and genuine wounds diminished by half. Likewise, movement related fatalities diminished by 59% every 100,000 occupants, notwithstanding the expanded number of enlisted vehicles by 12% over the period.

There is a consistent change in the levels of activity security as indicated by the directorate’s constant and thorough endeavors in executing the complete arrangement, which was produced and sanction in 2010.

As a main driving concerning activity, awareness messages are telecasted through different radio stations over the UAE in three separate dialects (Arabic, English and Urdu). The “Awareness messages” will be conveyed by students of both genders (male and female) around 11-14 years of age and were prerecorded at “Security Media Department” radio. In conclusion, the activity goes for upgrading and advancing the movement security society among folks and additionally the different fragments of street clients. (SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT – TRAFFIC AND LICENSING, 2015)

Issues and Problem:

Speeding is a major issue in the UAE, and especially so in Dubai. The city’s transient populace and a regularly changing gathering of drivers mean the way of life of Dubai driving is deficient with regards to development.

Dubai has a general more youthful driver demographic than numerous different nations, and more youthful individuals are clearly less experienced than more seasoned individuals, and mentally more obligated to make misguided thinking calls while driving. The UAE has a much higher extent of new drivers over a wide age range, and the probability of new drivers having a mischance amid their initial year and a half of driving is high,’ he clarifies.

At that point there are the issues under focus:

A few drivers don’t understand motoring is a genuine hobby that obliges 100 percent fixation.
Decreased “visibility” because of tints, shades, roller-screen blinds and a mixture of different dangers is an alternate reason for concern.
A few drivers can barely see out of their vehicles in sunlight, not to mention nightfall or night.

Nobody less than 25 years old ought to be permitted in the driver’s seat of such an effective vehicle, and particularly not without extra preparing to handle a high-fueled auto. A few merchants offer supplementary preparing to drive execution autos securely, however in this district individuals don’t take up the offer of such offer assistance. (AroundTown, 2015)

Comments:
What are general precautions and measures taken by the UAE government to take control on youth behavior?
What has caused to decrease the rate of accidents and roadside mishaps in the region?
Why is there a need for broadcasting the awareness message and to what extent the message has been made viral so that it influences the people?
What will lead to the future of driving?

My research at college will help answering these questions by providing a brief note on the overall statistics about UAE policing of traffic control. Speeding is becoming a major concern among youth who likes to drive fast as an adventure. My study highlights the dangers and threats along with the precautions to drive safe.

Bibliography

Top 10 Habits of Safe Drivers | Alternative. (2014, July 11). Retrieved Feb 25, 2015, from http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/07/top-10-habits-of-safe-drivers-2373393.html

Good driving habits. (n.d.). (2015). Retrieved Feb 25, 2015, from https://www.keys2drive.com.au/learning/driving_skills__tips/forming_good_driving_habits/a_list_of_good_driving_habits.aspx

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT – TRAFFIC AND LICENSING. (2015, Mar 3). Retrieved Mar 15, 2015, from UAE- Interact: http://www.uaeinteract.com/german/news/?ID=295

AroundTown. (2015). What causes accidents on Dubai’s roads. Retrieved Mar 15, 2015, from http://www.timeoutdubai.com/aroundtown/features/45764-what-causes-accidents-on-dubais-roads

Molla, T. (. (2015). Better Driving Habits Help Family Finances and the Environment. Retrieved Feb 25, 2015, from http://www.ase.com/News-Events/Publications/Glove-Box-Tips/Better-Driving-Habits-Help-Family-Finances-and-the.aspx

Introduction

The present monograph is an attempt to demonstrate the fact that Translation Studies is not a mere branch of linguistics but an extensive discipline with many branches and very significant results. In the next pages, there will be four main parts: the first part will focus on the development of translation studies from writings on translation to translation studies as an academic discipline. The second part will deal mainly with the Islamic culture and its principles, and will try to give an answer to the question “Is the Islamic culture translatable?” The third part will be an introduction to the different types of culture and will show their different levels of untranslatability. The same part will also focus on the translator’s skills introducing them as major factors leading to a better target text. As a final step, the fourth and last part will link translation to the Islamic culture, in an attempt to highlight the untranslatability of the Islamic culture in the Qur’anic discourse, especially the material side of it, and also to state the comments of Muslim scholars on the translations of the holy Qur’an.

Translation is a process based on the theory that it is possible to abstract the meaning of a text from its forms and reproduce that meaning with the very different forms of a second language.

“Translation, then, consists of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context of the source language text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, and then reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context.” (Larson l998, p. 3)

In practice, there is considerable variation in the types of translations produced by translators. Some translators work only in two languages and are competent in both, while others work from their first language to their second language, and still others from their second language to their first language. Depending on these matters of language proficiency, the procedures used will vary from project to project.

On the development of translation studies

“I see translation as an attempt to produce a text so transparent that it does not seem to be translated. A good translation is like a pane of glass, you only notice that it’s there when there are little imperfections- scratches, bubbles. Ideally, there shouldn’t be any. It should never call attention to itself.”

Introduction

First, it has to be clearly asserted that there exist many traditions concerning the first writings on translation, and as it is impossible to mention all of them, the focus will be about Europe and the Arab world. This chapter deals with the emergence of the earliest writings on translation and also the birth of the new discipline “translation studies” in the last few decades.

Writings on Translation Europe

Among the first writings on translation were Cicero’s[1] Libellus de optimo genere oratorun, Horace’s[2] Ars poetica of circa and the translation of the Bible as a practical side. For this reason, Europeans believe that translation started with the Romans and the Greeks, but it is very important to bear in mind that translation might have started so long before. And there are proofs for that in many parts of the world. Hung and Pollard (1998:366) claim that there were government officials with responsibility for translation in China 9th century BC. But Cicero and Horace gave much importance to the problems of translation, produced different theories and highly influenced the next generation of translators. “It is they who initiated the distinction between ‘word to word’ and ‘sense for sense’ translation, which retains its significance till now”[3]. It is a fact today that India, china, Iraq and Spain have in many ways shaped the European culture. In the ninth and tenth century in Baghdad the scientific and philosophical works of ancient Greece were translated into Arabic, with the emergence of the famous library called “beitu al hikma” established by the Abbasside khalifa “Al Ma’moon”. Those translated into Arabic books which transmit the Greek Culture, including religions, mythology and philosophy, spread to Europe through Spain which was at that time under Muslim governance. Later on, with the school of Toledo, translations were made from Arabic to Latin and helped in the European Renaissance.

Another important tradition that was influential in Europe is Bible translation. It is believed that with the translation of Bible started the first thoughts about translation theory. It was very important, for Bible translators, at that time, to respect the sacred scripts, and at the same time to guarantee that the target text would be understandable after translation. The first translator to complete the translation of the Bible into English is John Wycliffite who believed that everyone in the world should have access to the word of God in one’s language. After that came the translation made by forty-seven scholars and translators, eight years after the accession of King James to the English throne[4], which is the principle version adopted in many Christian countries.

The “modern period” of Bible translation started by the revisions of the Bible, and new translations have been made. Nida (1998:27-28) says that Bible translators (in the modern period) often work in teams of three to five full time translators.

One notices that Bible translators in the modern period made great efforts to make the target text as clear and understandable as possible, without neglecting the addition of the necessary background information using the footnote system and other techniques in order to respect the original text.

The Arab World

The early translations in the Arab world date back to the period of Syrians. They translated into Arabic a large heritage. Syrians were highly influenced by the Greek translations. Syrian’s translations were more literal and faithful to the original claims Ayad (1993:168, qtd by Addidaoui, 2000)[5]. According to Addidaoui, Jarjas was one of the best Syrian translators; his famous Syrian translation of Aristotle’s book In The World was very faithful and close to the original.

In addition to that, the coming of Islam was very significant to the development of translation in the Arab world; Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him tried to spread Islam through different means. One of those means was communication; he communicated with Jews, Romans and others, and that is what pushed him to encourage the learning of others’ languages and to look for translators to help in communication. At that period of time, Prophet Mohammed exchanged letters with kings of Persia, Syria, Jews and Rome, and Zaid Ibn Tabet was the Prophet’s translator.

The history of translation in the Arab world highlighted also the name of Al Jahid; one of the important theorists in translation. The theories of Al Jahid are still used today by many professional Arab translators. Al Jahid (1969:75) says: “the translator should know the structure of the speech, habits of the people and their ways of understanding each other.”[6] In addition to the structure and the habits, Al Jahid talked also about the significance of re-translating and put a wide range of theories in his two books Al-Hayawan (1969) and Al-Bayan WA Attabyyin (1968).

In short, the history of translation in the Arab world knew many changes, and became very rich in theories. New theorists appeared in each era with new perceptions and new ways of analyzing. Translation in the Arab world, today, started to develop, and new fields of research in translation appear each year, especially with the efforts of the Arabic Academia in Translation studies.

Translation Studies: An academic Discipline

“Translation studies” is an academic discipline which concerns itself with the study of translation[7]; the term today is understood to refer to the study of the academic discipline at large, including non literary translation, interpretation, pedagogy and other issues.

As an academic discipline, ‘translation studies’ is just a few decades old. Starting from 1950, scholars and experts were interested in forming coherent theories and conducting research on translation, but it is also true that not so much had been done within the framework of this new discipline, and there are still issues to be analyzed and discussed. That is because scholars went deeply in relating “translation studies” to other disciplines such as psychology, anthropology and, very recently, cultural studies.

One has now to acknowledge the fact that translation studies as a discipline found its place among other academic disciplines and has become independent.

Thanks to the Dutch scholar James S. Holmes, translation studies is defined as a discipline being concerned with “the complex problems clustered round the phenomenon of translating and translations” (Holmes 1988b/2000: 173)

Mona baker, in 1997, stated that the new discipline is very rich and it brings together scholars from a variety of more traditional disciplines.[8]

The Islamic culture

“If everybody is looking for it, then nobody is finding it. If we were cultured, we would not be conscious of lacking culture. We would regard it as something natural and would not make so much fuss about it. And if we knew the real value of this word we would be cultured enough not to give it so much importance.”

Introduction

In the present chapter, several points are to be accentuated. First, the notion of culture; what is meant by the word ‘culture’ from different points of view. Second, I will try to relate culture to Islam; I will define the Islamic culture and discuss its levels and I will mention some principles of the Islamic culture and hopefully clarify them. The last point to be dealt with is the translatability of the Islamic culture; to what extent is the Islamic culture translatable?

The notion of culture

Culture is the customs, ideas, civilization, etc. of a particular society or a group of people[9]. It is a set of ideas, beliefs and ways of behaving of an organization or a group of people[10].

The notion of culture is quite very hard to define. The two meanings stated above are the most widespread; they define culture as “a summary of human gaining in its interaction with its physical and social environment and religious sources”[11].

It is extremely necessary to keep in mind that there are some dominant cultures, may be for the reason that they are powerful, and as a result influential.

Translation, involving the transposition of thoughts expressed in one language by one social group into the appropriate expression of another group, entails a process of cultural de-coding, re-coding and en-coding. As cultures are increasingly brought into greater contact with one another, multicultural considerations are brought to bear to an ever-increasing degree. One is not just dealing with words written in a certain time, space and sociopolitical situation; most importantly it is the “cultural” aspect of the text that should be taken into account. The process of transfer, i.e., re-coding across cultures, should consequently allocate corresponding attributes vis-a-vis the target culture to ensure credibility in the eyes of the target reader.

Indeed, correct translation is not word for word substitution from one language into another, but it requires some understanding of the way people live and think. The meaning of a word in a language is derived from its culture and represents the main connection between language and culture.

Religion and culture

It is universally acknowledged that religion represents the very first element in a group of people’s culture which noticeably influences their way of living. For this reason, peoples’ cultures differ as the religions differ.

It is a fact that most of the expressions used, by a group of people, in the language of everyday life is generally based on religious vocabulary. One may discover the culture of the others only through their speeches, especially those people who keep on being faithful to the religious language. Muslims, for instance represent the most noticeable case for there are many Qur’anic expressions in Muslims’ daily life; in Moroccan Arabic it is common to say: “?? ?? ??? ?????”. This expression is derived from the Qur’an “they said “pray to your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what kind it should be.”” “They said “pray to your Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what its color should be.”[12] This expression is used in the Moroccan Arabic to express how difficult it is to do or possess something.

The principles of Islamic culture

One of the dominant cultures today in the whole world is the Islamic culture. This culture has two main aspects: the first is stable (Sacred Sources) and the second is changing (the interaction with environment).[13]

The Islamic culture, as all other cultures, has principles most of which are shared with other human communities:

Respect of the other.
Co-operation with others.
Reliance on science and knowledge.
Mutual help and support.
Disapproval of wrong deeds.

These are considered the most important principles of the Islamic culture.

The Islamic culture: Translatable?

The question that can be raised, in this part, is: to what extent is the Islamic Culture Translatable?

It is a fact that the Islamic culture shares a lot in common with other cultures with different religions. E.g. the word “????” exists in some other languages, the speakers of which also believe that there is one «God». As a result, the word “Allah” is translatable. But there are words and senses which are specific to the Islamic culture, and which will be dealt with in the last part of this paper.

This highlights the fact that the terms dealing with the religious aspects of a culture are the most difficult, both in understanding the SLT and providing the best equivalence in the TLT, Larson (1984:180). The second point which is important as well is that “sameness cannot exist between two languages”, Bassnett (1991:30), for the reason that the TL reader is not aware of the different aspects of meaning involved.

Cultural untranslatability “A translation is no translation, he said, unless it will give you the music of a poem along with the words of it.” Introduction

Modern linguistic studies showed that language is not a mere physiological, but also a cultural phenomenon, and translation is by nature a very important aspect in cross-cultural communication. The role of translation, therefore, is to introduce one culture to another by means of translating. But very often cultural factors become the barrier in translation and result in untranslatability.

Types of cultural untranslatability

According to some translation scholars, such as Nida, there exist five distinct types of culture: historical culture, geographical and psychological culture, material culture, customs and traditions as well as religious culture.

Historical Culture

It refers to the culture settled and formed during a nation’s development. The historical culture differs from one society to another because the historical development differs as well. This kind of difference impedes intercultural communication. To best illustrate this impediment, “Adam’s apple”, which refers to the lump on the front of a man’s throat, can never be translated into Chinese except by its literal meaning because this term is originated from a Biblical story.

Geographical and psychological culture

Different nations’ geographical and psychological culture is also a main barrier in translation. Because of the different geographical environments and different nations’ mentalities, the same word will have totally different meanings in two different cultures. “East wind” in Japan and English is a vivid example. Japanese people favor the east wind, for it is always a symbol of “spring” and “warmness” while people in Britain dislike the east wind, because the east wind is from the northern part of the European continent, so it always symbolizes “coldness” and “sadness”. In Britain the favorite wind is the west wind. That is the reason why word for word translation never works.

Also meanings of some “colors” are different. In English, “green” is always connected with “envy” and “blue” with “moon”, so there are such expressions “green with envy” and “once in a blue moon”. Those expressions cannot be translated into Arabic using the words “green” and “blue”. Thus, they are translated as ????- ??? ?? ????? instead.

Material culture

One should pay much more attention when translating words which reflect the material culture. For example, the word “cricket” is an important word in the English language, for it is a popular outdoor game in Britain, and plays an important role in people’s daily life. The following saying “It is as significant as a game of cricket.” best illustrates this point. If we want to translate this sentence, we should add some background information for the TL reader considering that playing cricket is not widely spread in other countries.

Another example is the term “meat technologist”. Moroccan readers may feel confused if the term is translated as “???? ????”. While according to its cultural background, this term simply means the “butcher”, because “meat technologist” is a euphemism for the “butcher” in western countries. By using this term, butchers may think highly of their profession.

“Food is for many the most sensitive and important expression of national culture; food terms are subject to the widest variety of translation procedures” (Newmark, 1988:97). The terms coming under this category are further complicated due to the “foreign” elements present. One such case is the reference to the brightly colored patisseries tunisiennes. Translating according to the French idea of patisseries would imply using the English “cakes” or “pastries” yet in the context of Tunisian culture this hardly seems appropriate, bearing in mind the difference in form of the TL reference. This illustrates the theory developed by Mounin (1963) who underlines the importance of the signification of a lexical item claiming that only if this notion is considered will the translated item fulfill its function correctly. In this case the translation as “sweets” seems to correspond to the idea of the original signification, even if it is a more abstract translation of the French original, and is therefore more appropriate concerning its function in the TT than a translation of formal equivalence.

Another example of material culture includes an eponym, namely bouteilles de Sidi Brahim. In France this low-quality, Algerian wine is widely known and is the traditional drink with North African dishes, therefore widely sold in supermarkets as well as this type of small shop. This example can be seen as corresponding to the new ideal reader as described by Coulthard, having different cultural knowledge (Coulthard, 1992:12) as an English-speaking reader would not necessarily know the name of this wine and even less its associations. By using strictly formal equivalence, all meaning would be lost. It would however be possible to neutralize the original term Sidi Brahim by translating as “wine” or else to introduce a form of componential analysis, translating as “cheap, Algerian wine.” Sidi Brahim being the area where the wine is produced, it seems appropriate to keep the original term in the TT but it is necessary to add a qualifier, here “wine.” In this way, although the cultural implications are not as strong as for an “initiated” French reader, the information is passed on and elucidated by a qualifier. The cultural implications automatically understood by the ST reader, namely the notion of cheap, low-quality wine, are not however conveyed, the emphasis in this context being on the exotic nature of the product as conveyed by Sidi Brahim and not on the low cost.

Customs and traditions

The different customs and traditions in the daily activities around the world reflect the different cultural mentalities. For instance, In China, when people meet each other in the street, they always greet like this “where will you go” or “what will you do”. In fact, this kind of greetings is very rude and impolite in western countries, for it is an interference with privacy. Instead, they are translated as “hello” “good morning” or “how are you”.

Religious culture

Religious culture means the culture formed by a nation’s religious beliefs and common sense. This type of culture usually impedes the transfer of meaning to a TL since different peoples have different religions. The phrase (?? ??? ????) is an Arabic term “God willing” or “If it is God’s will” is a good example. It derives from Islamic scripture, Surat Al Kahf (18):24:

“But only If God wills!’ And remember your Lord when you forget”

This phrase is now used excessively in Moroccan Arabic. Unfortunately, it is often used to delay events or to avoid giving a definite answer.

Levels of Cultural untranslatability

Catford states that Cultural untranslatability takes place when a relevant situational feature in the SL is absent in the TL. This cultural untranslatability has different levels. The level changes for the reason that some words are completely untranslatable whereas other words are very hard to find equivalence to in the TL. For this specific reason, the translator has to be skillful and experienced. The translator has to be bilingual as well as bicultural in order to have a better TLT.

The translator’s skills: an important factor

It is now a common belief that the translator’s skills play a major role in delivering a good translation. A good translation is one that carries all the ideas of the original as well as its structural and cultural features. Massoud (1988)[14] sets criteria for a good translation as follows:

A good translation is easily understood.
A good translation is fluent and smooth.
A good translation is idiomatic.
A good translation conveys, to some extent, the literary subtleties of the original.
A good translation distinguishes between the metaphorical and the literal.
A good translation reconstructs the cultural/historical context of the original.
A good translation makes explicit what is implicit in abbreviations, and in allusions to sayings, songs, and nursery rhymes.
A good translation will convey, as much as possible, the meaning of the original text.

Enani (1994:5)[15] defines the translator as “a writer who formulates ideas in words addressed to readers. The only difference between him and the original writer is that these ideas are the latter’s”. Another difference is that the work of the translator is even more difficult than that of the artist. The artist is supposed to produce directly his/her ideas and emotions in his/her own language however intricate and complicated his/her thoughts are. The translator’s responsibility is much greater, for s/he has to relive the experiences of a different person, states Antar S. Abdullah[16].

To conclude, the above analysis shows that “translating is an activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural traditions” (Toury, 1978: 200)[17]. As this statement implies, translators are permanently faced with the problems of how to treat the cultural aspects in a source text (ST) and of finding the most appropriate technique to successfully convey these aspects in the target language.

Translation and the Islamic culture

“Indeed, there has come to you light and a clear book from Allah; with it (the Qur’an) Allah guide him who seeks His pleasure into the ways of safety and brings them out of utter darkness into light by his will and guides them to the right path.”

(Almaidah V: 15-16)

Introduction

The Qur’an, for the Muslim, comprehends the complete code for all human beings to live a good, chaste, abundant and rewarding life in obedience to the commandments of Allah. It is the “chart of life” for every human being, and it is the “constitution” of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The Qur’an was an oral text throughout the lifetime of Muhammad. It was also a fluid text. The complete text resided only in the memories of Muhammad and his followers. As he added verses and reorganized the text, his followers would rememorize the text in the light of the additions or edits. This means that the Qur’an was a living text during the lifetime of Muhammad. Certain verses revealed to Muhammad were later repudiated by him as “satanic” verses revealed not by Gabriel but by Satan. These verses were expunged from the text that so many had memorized.

The untranslatability of the Qur’an

Because the Qur’an is for every human being, it transcends the boundaries of the Arab world and goes beyond it. The Qur’an is addressed to all peoples without exception. It carries a universal message to all human beings regardless of their race or color.

It is true in our days that the translation of the Qur’an represents one of the most important elements in the Qur’anic studies, mainly, because it is the first book non-Muslims encounter when attempting to well understand Islam.

The Qur’an exists in its original language, i.e., Arabic. Some Muslim scholars agree that the true Qur’an is in Arabic, in its original wording as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); therefore, it should only be recited in the Arabic language. The translations however are the work of humans. And since these translations subtly change the meaning, they are often called “interpretations.” For instance, Pickthall (1930) called his translation The Meaning of the Glorious Koran rather than simply The Koran.

Part of the miracles of the Qur’an is said to be based on I’jaz ????? , or Inimitability. Even for native Arabic speakers, the Qur’an is a difficult document. Its archaic language and verse structure are difficult hurdles to cross. People always admitted their inability to produce something similar to the Qur’an. And the translations of the Qur’an are considered, by some scholars, to be one form of trying to produce a similar Book.

Translators of the Qur’an, it is important to note, encounter many difficulties in the process of translation. Those difficulties encountered are due to different reasons.

First, some verses in the Qur’an complement each other, for that reason the translator of the Qur’an has to go back to the related verses in order to translate one verse; this stresses the idea that word for word translation is not to be used, especially in this context. The verse ???? ???? ????? ???? ????? best illustrates this difficulty. This verse has two meanings: an internal meaning which is, trading is licit while usury is illicit, and it has also an external meaning: the two terms are different; they are not the same. This second meaning is not included in the text, but understood when one goes back to the previous verse:

The external meaning, it has to be clear, is necessary in order to understand and translate a verse of the Qur’an. And that is the reason why some of the early translators of the Qur’an fell in ambiguities.

The second problem that impedes the translation of the Qur’an is that some verses may be general; the form used in those verses includes everything, but the meaning of the verse is related to another verse which is specific. The verse: ??? ???? is considered a vivid example in this case. The reader cannot know the religion of the slave to free. But, if the translator goes back to the verse 92 of Surat Anissa’:

The question of whether or not one should attempt to translate the Qur’an should be seen, mainly, in the context of translatability in general, instead of always relating it to the Arabic language.

The Material Culture of the Qur’an

Material culture includes all of the physical objects that people create and give meaning to. Clothing, architectural elements, and handmade carpets would be examples. An object only becomes part of culture after meaning has been given to it. Human beings perceive and understand the material things around them as they have learned to from their culture.

In Arabic, there exist many terms that, even if they have their equivalence in other languages, they cannot be easily translated because they have a particular connotative meaning. Larson (1984: 132) warns the translator of the problems of the SL connotative meaning. In some verses of the Qur’an, there is reference to the donkey and the dog. Those two words have a negative connotation in Arabic, but they are neutral when translated into English for instance.

The two words, in English, have a different connotative meaning. For example, the word “dog” is a symbol of loyalty (the dog is the man’s best friend), whereas the donkey is considered, in the Islamic culture, a symbol of utter stupidity.

Translation of the Qur’an and the Muslim scholars

Because the Qur’an stresses its Arabic nature, some Muslim scholars believe that any translation cannot be more than an approximate interpretation, intended only as a tool for the study and understanding of the original Arabic text. They argue that the Qur’anic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult. This factor is made more complex by the fact that the usage of words has changed a great deal between classical and modern Arabic. They argue also that the task of translation is not an easy one; some native Arab-speakers will confirm that some Qur’anic passages are difficult to understand even in the original Arabic. As a result, even Qur’anic verses which seem perfectly clear to native speakers accustomed to modern vocabulary and usage may not represent the original meaning of the verse.

The original meaning of a Qur’anic passage will also be dependent on the historical circumstances of the Prophet Muhammad’s life and early community in which it originated. For this reason, one finds a detailed historical background in the introduction of any interpretation of the Qur’an.

Conclusion

The four parts discussed in this research project are not to be viewed as complete products, but they need to be polished and enriched further with other examples.

The four main parts of this monograph seem to be very distinct, but, at near scrutiny, these parts are so closely linked because they share the same aim which is to highlight the fact that translation, as a field of knowledge, is very rich, and may be related to many other fields.

As an interdisciplinary discipline, translation studies borrows much from the different fields of study that support translation. These include comparative literature, computer science, history, linguistics, philology, philosophy, semiotics, terminology, and so forth.

The present monograph, being an attempt to relate translation to other fields, tries to bring together translation and Islam in an attempt to show the untranslatable side of the Islamic culture, starting with a definition an

Introduction

Under the circumstances of globalization, the demand for high-quality and high- speed translations has been increasing worldwide. Satisfying these demands may result of the increasing of time and cost for translators and translation companies. Thus how enhance the quality and productivity with low cost is one of the problems. In order to achieve the time and cost saving, the computer assisted translation (CAT) tools is playing an important role in translation industry. The CAT tools enabling to cover the whole translation process at a time has been created and commercialized by the language industry in recent decades (Austermuhl, 2001). Amongst translation tools, translation memory (TM) systems are considered as the effective tools due to increasing translation productivity by offering previous translation automatically (Austermuhl, 2001). However, there are various TM systems worldwide and which is the most effective may vary depends on individual requirements such as language system or text types. This essay will attempt to assess two TM systems, SDL Trados Studio and Wordfast classic, by comparing each feature of operational functions. To compare and assess two TM systems, the concept of TM systems, features of respective TM systems first will be explained as background knowledge of the discussion in this essay.

The outline of TM systems

Translation memory is a database of multilingual texts which allow to storage both the source and target text segments in parallel and retrieved accordance with the set criteria (Austermuhl 2001 cites Expert Advisory Group on Language Engineering Standards, EAGLES ). Namely, the target text is first divided into segment units and stored in TM through translation process. These stored segments are available to be reused for the new translation project. If the segments stored in TM are perfectly matched or similar to the new source text, TM offers the previous translations automatically to a translator. The translator can decide whether these offered translations should be accepted or not. Also it is possible to revise the previous translations in TM through and after translation.

Esselink (2000) points out some disadvantage of TM as follows:

The Final layout of translated text is not displayed until finishing the translation. In this case, proofreading after the translation is required.
Some problems may occur in TM management, especially in the case of multilingual project.
Revising TM after re-converted into the original style is not available, namely, in order to update TM, the translated file is required to be converted into TM’s acceptable format again.
Time consuming due to the requirement of converting the source text into the appropriate format for translation.
TM filter is not updated when the source text is a new file format. As a result, some arrangement is required in order to be accepted.
Changing the structure of the text is not available within paragraph.
It is necessary to create the file filter depend on the file format if it is different from the default.

Considering above mentions, he (2000) suggests that the material text should be examined before translation, and translators should decide whether to use TM, because in some cases, translating without TM is more effective than using TM system.

Meanwhile, TM has recognized as effective and time-saving technology for massive translations, especially technical or manual text which include some repetitive use of technical terminology (Mitkov 2007). This is mostly due to the effectiveness against reducing duplicative work and to enhance the uniformity of terms. For example, in the case of the continuous translation project of the specific field, the TM is offered to the translator and the technical terms will be transferred from TM precisely to the new source text. By this means, TM allows translators to share the unique terminology used in the specific field and contributes to maintain the translation quality.

The specific features of Wordfast Classic TM operational functions

Wordfast Classic is defined as “a CAT tool designed as a Microsoft Word™ add-on. Its lightweight, flexible structure makes it easy to install and use (Wordfast 2010)”. This CAT tool comprises some useful operational functions, such as terminology management, importing exporting glossary and TM, document conversion, analysis and alignment (Wordfast 2010).

Amongst the operational functions, some beneficial features of Wordfast Classic will be explained here.

ITI Bulletin (2006) points out that Wordfast Classic is simple to use, which can not only apply to Word but also to Power Point, Access and Excel files by connecting directly with Word application interface. It is also compatible with other machine translation programs such as PowerTranslator™ and other CAT tools such as Trados, by converting TM into another format which is appropriate for respective program and exporting it (ITI Bulletin 2006). Importing other TM to Wordfast is also available (ITI Bulletin 2006). In addition, alignment function allows editing the translation stored in TM after translation.

Since this CAT tool is available of free download to own computer with some limitations, those who are considering to use this tool can try and examine how useful or not for them before paid registration(ITI Bulletin 2006). If download PlusTools™ and add-in to the source document, Wordfast Classic is available for a variety of file format from HTML/ XLM to other tagged files (Miller 2002).

However, there are some important reminders for using Wordfast Classic. One of them is that it is necessary to do clean-up TM after translation for updating the TM database (Miller 2002). Since database is stored as txt. format, revising the translated text is possible without Wordfast (Miller 2002). Thus translators tend to forget to update TM and glossary. As a result, the accuracy of TM will be lost and TM can not apply to other new translation project.

The specific features of Trados TM operational functions

Trados TM which comprising the source and target segments, is created in the Translation Memories view (Trados 2010). Respective segment pair of the source and target is called a translation unit and it is possible to add some information for each translation unit such as when it was created and updated, and who created it (Trados 2010). Thus it might be useful to manage the translation history. The translation unit is displayed in parallel, which is conducive to comparison of the source and target segment when editing.

There are three types of matching function: fuzzy, context and 100% match (Trados 2010). Although the default of Fuzzy matching rate is set at 70% or over, this rate is able to be changed (Trados 2010). Context match is applied when the source text and TM segment match perfectly and have the same context (Trados 2010). 100%match means the source text segment match exactly with the TM segment (Trados 2010).

In terms of the segmentation, Trados can customise the segmentation rules depend on respective languages; Chinese, French, English, German, Spanish and Japanese, which are supported by Trados (Trados 2010). Therefore, there is not required to adjust the segmentation each time.

As mentioned above, fuzzy match is applied when the matching rate is 70% or over (Trados 2010). This indicates that if the matching rate between the source and the TM segment is less than 70%, TM will not return any translation (Trados 2010). Therefore, if preferring more or less than 70% matching customise of the fuzzy matching rate should be required.

Comparison of feature between Wordfast and Trados TM

With the avobe description as background, the feature of Wordfast and Trados TM will be compared and assessed.

First of all, in terms of using TM in othe tranlation tools, both Wordfast and Trados can import/ export TM database by converting the file type into the acceptable format for respective TM. For example, Wordfast TM is stored in txt. format, while Trados TM is stored in sdltm. format. If converting Trados TM to Wardfast, it is necessary to export to a tmx.file. Then open it with MS Word and open Wordfast, then select it as TM. Likewise, Wordfast also can export its TM by converting TM into tmx.format, open Trados, creating new empty TM and import the txt.file.

Secondly, although creating or opening Wordfast TM is almost as simple as that of Trados, Trados TM is enriched with various optional functions, such as Enable character-based concordance search and fuzzy match threshold, compared with Wordfast.

However, when compareing the source segment with target segment for translaiton, Wordfast seems to be more useful than Trados. In wordfast, the segment is highlighted with gray color and it is not allowed to jump sentences till click the icon which represent to confirmation each time. By contrast, Trados does not have any specific functions which privent from moving to the next segment. As a result, skipping segment sometimes occur in Trados. Since generally translation project have a tendency to demand for high-speed and quality, translators are often forced to work long hours a day. This will result in a higher rate of translation leakage.

Finally, while Wordfast can not allow a user to confirm the translated text layout during translation, Trados can display the finished translation within the edditing window. Therefore, the TM user can available to confirm the translated text layout even during translation. This display function of Trados might be effective to time saving, because the mistranslations or text layout and presentation can be recognized easily and translating and modifying can be available simultaneously in the editing window.

Conclusion

Although Wordfast and Trados share certain simiralities in those operational functions such as the availability of importing/ exporting TM, some merit and demerit of respective TM were also recognized. It is difficult to recommend which is more excellent CAT tool, bacause the detarmination of merit and demerit is affected by the situation. In the case of the massive translation team project, Trados may be more effective than Wordfast due to a variety of optional function. On the contrary, if translating relatively simple and short text, Wordfast may be convenience due to its simplicity of program configuration process. Therfore, it might be significant to examine which CAT tool is suitable for the translation text or project.

Strategic analysis is a process which is based on three stages: analysis, planning and management. We can divide it into two types: function sense, and tool sense. In case of the function sense strategic analysis is a set of actions which diagnose both. the organisation and its environment, and thus enable build strategic plan and its development. When it comes to the tool sense, strategic analysis is a set of analysis methods which help examine, assess, and predict the future states of selected company’s elements and its environments in order to make it survive and develop on the market. Every manager in the corporation must think strategically. The idea of strategic thinking is to create a long-term plan and vision of the company, by understanding the situation, analyzing the chances, setting the goals and rules to use resources. What’s more, it requires the use of different techniques and analysis and synthesis methods which will help realise these goals and gain all the needed information. Strategic thinking is characterised by the constant need of changing areas and forms of the company’s actions in accordance with its vision and its environments condition.

There are different types of analysis in the company, however, what differs strategic analysis from the others are two characteristics:

Two ways of perceiving management and information resources: researching the environment and company at the same time, and then confronting all results. This way has its roots in the art of war, and is opposite to traditional company’s analysis
Use of the qualitative and quantitative methods, from the different fields: economy, finance, sociology, psychology, statistics, and marketing

Strategic management development had a strong influence on the strategic analysis. Since 50s and 60s there has been a rising instability and complexity of the world that surrounds the company, and thus caused scientists to create methods which could help it adapt to all changes by rational and planned manners. Long-term planning was the first issue that came into existence, but it was changed into the strategic planning term. Since 80s we can talk about the strategic management development. New concepts were made when the old ones did not work, and therefore helped companies be effective on the market.

While developing the strategic management idea, there was a big pressure put on the rules and techniques of formulating the strategy. After that scientists were focusing the empirical researches, and basing on them they were classifying. In the last stage, the final characteristics of the researches and analysis are as follows: organisation strategy multi-dimensional treatment, strategic thinking focus, and trying to create strategic management concept.

Strategic management development helps understand the evolution of methods and strategic analysis techniques, changes in the way of its use in the company’s management, and treating the moment of the strategic analysis creation as a separate analysis category. There is a big increase in demand for these types of practices, which help assess the current and future situation of the company and then predict the future conditions of its functioning. It’s connected with the increase of the environmental complexity, and then putting into practice long-term, and then strategic planning. Strategic planning, mainly in the global corporation, required more effort and thus analysis of the competitive environment, macro-environment, and measurement of the company’s strategic position.

The main factors that forced people get deeply into the strategic analysis and strategic planning were tough times of the sudden changes in the global economy, technology development, and worse economic factors. Companies improve their strategic analysis, because they face repeating organisation crises, worse internal development, lower market shares, or change of the target market. What’s interesting, these changes are very often influenced by the management board changes, or new strategy development and its implementation.

According to Richard Koch (1998) there are two consulting companies, which implemented the strategy analysis into their businesses and thus became successful in the early 50s: Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey.

Until the end of 70s, there were created seven school of the strategic thinking, which were connected with the two important management paradigms: strategic rationality ( Harvard School, Strategic Planning School, Matrix Positioning School, and Quantitative school ) and strategic behaviours ( Behavioural school, System School, Incrementalists school ) .

First paradigm describes ” strategy’s technical-economical dimension, normative approach, which create rational patterns of behaviours, assessments and way of acting” ( Gierszewska et al, 2007). The first group of schools is described below:

Harvard school – is characterised as a will to analyse the company and its competitive position against the environment, and to search for both positive and negative factors connected with functioning of the company in the different markets and its strengths and weaknesses. There are three best known strategic analysis models created by this school:
LCAG model ( developed by E.P. Learned, H.K. Christensen, K.R. Andrews, W.D. Guth ). The idea of this model is to describe the search and research of the influence on the strategic choices of the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities and threats that are connected with the environment. It has been used by the specialists in the field of management, until there were developed a better methods of the strategic analysis
Contingency model ( A.D. Chandler, P.R. Lawrence, J.W. Lorsch )

This model permits to implement different solutions to the strategic problems. These solutions differ according to the situation of the company

Industry analysis model ( M. Porter )

Michael Porter suggests to assess the company’s situation that concentrates on the competitive environment. Additionally, it leads to the assessment of the sector attractiveness extent, in which company would like to operate

Strategic Planning School – as a term says, it is about the strategic planning, however it doesn’t bring any models nor strategic analysis methods which help in the strategic management. It proves, that the rationality of the actions is a good plan.
Matrix positioning school – used qualitative and quantitative analysis tools, and helps gain precise techniques of the company’s competitive position measurement. Presents the company’s product portfolio and compares the dynamics of change between past and the future
Quantitative School – methods and techniques that are strongly connected with the multi-criteria and statistics analysis. It is based on the econometric modelling.

Second paradigm is defined as ” exposing of the socio-political strategy dimensions and strategic analysis ” ( Gierszewska et al, 2007 ). Basing on this paradigm, there were created three schools of the strategic thinking. They are as follows:

Behavioural.

It has four fathers: H.A. Simon, J.G. March, R.M. Cyert, and H. Mintzberg. The idea of this school are the real processes of formulating and implementing the company’s strategy, without any information background, how to make strategic decisions

System

D. Katz, R.L Kahn and M. Crozier are the founders of this school. This case describes the role of the person in the formulating strategy process, relations between participants, and ” highlights the social background of the organisation ”

Incrementalists school

C.E. Lindblom, T.J. Peters, and R.H. Waterman –

This school represents the pragmatic management approach. The only way to improve the quality of management is to follow already proved patterns implemented in the business by the successful companies. What’s more, motivation of the participants in the management process and example of the other successful corporations plays here a very important role. It is the basis of the further future success ( Giermaszewska, 2007 ).

As we can observe, these schools provide us with the different approaches to the analysis methods improvement and strategic management. According to Giermaszewska ( 2007 ), and……., schools based on the paradigm of the strategic rationality are more valuable than schools based on paradigm of the strategic behaviours. Harvard and positioning matrix schools bring more concretes and details, and thus bring and require more practical approach. The other schools focus the theoretical analysis methods and strategy creating.

French scientists divided the strategic analysis models and put them on the continuum. They begin from the sociological models ( which are general and synthetic ) to the microeconomic models ( more complex, and bring more concrete analysis tools and techniques ).

Sociologic models Macro-economic models

LCAG-ANSOFF-PORTER-McKINSEY-ADL-BCG

These classifications, schools evaluation, and strategic analysis models indicate the direction of the analysis evolution. New classifications ignore the latest schools and methodology propositions. M.F. Gouillart has chronologically ordered best known strategic analysis schools, and thus presented nine of them. He began from the early 60s, and ended on the 90s.

Strategic analysis development, according to M.F. Gouillart:

SWOT Analysis – 1965
Portfolio analysis – 1970
Japanese influence – the role of quality, production and technology – 1975
Shareholders benefits analysis – 1980
Porters Model ( Porter’s 5 forces ) – 1985
Price of perfection – 1990
TIme-based competition
Goal and strategic skills
Strategic change

Stage one presents LCAG analysis from the harvard school, portfolio analysis corresponds to the matrix positioning school, Porter model stands for the industry analysis model, and “price of perfection” stage represents the incrementalists school. However, M.F. Gouillart has enriched this group with two models more. They are as follows: analysis of the shareholders benefits, and Japanese influence. He adds also three issues that occurred in the early 90s: time-based competition, goal, strategic skills, and strategic changes.

Analysis of the shareholders benefits – type of the company’s position assessment. It comes together with the financial analysis signification increase, and capital market forecasts. Moreover, it focuses shares value increase as a main goal of the company, and implementation of the financial analysis into the strategy formulation

and its development

Japanese influence – this term was created in the 70s, when Japanese economy became very successful and was admired by the western companies. “Just-in-time” inventory strategy describes well the idea of this school, which puts pressure on the precision and punctuality, one of the main key success factors.

Time-based competition – time advanced companies have a serious advantage over the competition. Main tools used in this stage are techniques which help elaborate the “dynamics of the given phenomenon, processes, and organisation” ( Gierszewska, 2007 ).Time is one of the main factors which influence the result of the rivalry between companies.

Goal and strategic skills – the main role of the organisation is to define the mission and most important goals of the company. Basis of the success lays in the ability to use the company’s strategic skills.

Strategic change – it describes the problem of the company’s and executives adaptation to the changes in the environment and in the organisation. If there is too much attention put on the changes, the goal of the strategic management is lost from the horizon. This means, that “elaboration and implementation of the strategy development” are not taken into consideration ( Gierszewska, 2007 )

All these methods do not go out, while the more attractive ones are being implemented. “Useless methods are rejected, useful just improved and adjusted to the needs of the company, and technical and information capabilities ” ( Gierszewska, 2007 ). What’s more, the older methods from 50s and 60s are still being used in the consulting companies and business schools. LCAG method, product life-cycle, and BCG matrix are invaluable help for the beginning analysts.

There is one more classification of the strategic management schools that has to be mentioned. One of the best known polish economists, Krzysztof Obloj, has named and described them as follows:

Traditional ( planning ) – first thing to be considered is a detailed environment, and second creation of the formalized strategy
Evolutionary – more behavioural and politics-focused. Strategy “is an evolutionary seeking for the common pattern”. It is in the ” middle of the case and many organisational processes: tender for power, customer needs fulfilment, fixation of the activities routine “
Positional – idea of this school is achieving the competitive advantage. It assumes that the strategies are characterised by the product-market concept, and put the pressure on the situation of the company in the environmental sector
Resources and capabilities – company’s key capabilities and resources are the basis for its development strategies

Modern strategic analysis is partially based on the methodology of science, such as sociology, psychology, economy, and management. This connection helps in listing the following characteristics of the strategy analysis approach:

Use of the financial analysis

Technology development has simplified complex methods of the financial analysis, and therefore it is more understandable for the specialists and the managers. Strategic financial analysis is used both, in the assessment of the company’s financial condition and the structure of the capital, and in the assessment of the competitive position of the organisation. Additionally, it helps estimate sector entry and exit barriers, and became a basis for the production portfolio estimation. What’s more, strategic costs, price strategy, and strategic alliances planning are also very important issues to consider.

Quality factors

The idea of quality factors is to make company be aware of its soft elements, such as “culture, qualifications, and peoples motivations, strategic mission, ecological management aspect, and ethical side of the strategic analyses” ( Gierszewska, 2007 ). These elements relate especially to the information about the competition, which is used in making decision process.

Situational approach

Company focuses the correct approaching procedure, and capability to interpret the analysis results without already selected tools and imposing assessments. Analysis is a tool, used by the managers in their everyday job. Thus, strategic planning departments are liquidated, information is being decentralized, and moreover company creates special group which takes over this task.

O Complex character

Company takes into account both internal and external factors from all of it subsystems and environment. In this case it explores relationship between these two factors ( Gierszewska, 2007 ).

1.7.1 Strategic Planning Methodology

The purpose of this factor is to set information needs and methods of carrying on the strategic analysis in the company. First issue that must be considered is the analysis of the environment, in which company operates, and its internal background, such as strengths and weaknesses, staff development, and its potential to develop the process of the new strategy. Knowledge about the past, presence, and capability to predict the company’s future and its environment, helps in building the strategy that will adapt to the reality. A good strategic plan helps the company use its potential and strengths to fight the threat and not to loose any opportunity offered by the market. Managers can just set “the strategic goal and during implementing the chosen scenario change the ideas into the concrete plans” ( Gierszewska, 2007 ), but they may face some problems in the meantime, for example lack of precision in formulating the goals of the actions.

Strategic planning is based on determining the sequence of decisions that have been made earlier, but have to be put into practice.

Strategic management means, that the strategic decisions have to be put in the right order, “findings in the different areas must be coordinated, and on the different levels of the management” ( Gierszewska, 2007 ). The following methods, presented by Grazyna Gierszewska and Maria Romanowska ( Gierszewska et al, 2007 ), are very helpful in putting the company’s strategy on the right track, plan different types of operations, and management functions.

Levels of the strategic management ( Maria Romanowska, 2007 ) ( STR 32, Gierszewska )

Levels of the management Types of the strategy

Management Board Company development strategy

Section management

The most important decisions for the company come from the management board. Portfolio operations ” depend on the number and type of sectors of the future activity, type of technology, and geographical scope of sales ” ( Gierszewska et al, 2007 ). So, according to what is said the corporate strategy should be considered as a first step to the further internal solutions.

Strategy of the company is also responsible for the number of the ” different sectors, technologies, and markets, and investment priorities as well ” ( Gierszewska, 2007 ).

Sector strategy is divided into two sub-groups: suppliers strategy, and competition strategy. Strategy making process in all these cases is limited by the goals and hierarchy that was implemented in the company development process. If corporations that operate only in one sector, there are no two strategic planning levels. They are just treated by the management board as a one strategic plan. However, they appear only when company wants to enter a brand new sector

Last type of the strategy are the functional strategies. Their object is to ” evaluate the goals and ways of achieving them in the area of the financial management, marketing, personal policy, structure shaping, focusing the management procedures, and technology development” ( Gierszewska, 2007).

To conclude, the aim of the functional strategies is to oversee all strategic plans in the whole organisation.

1.7.2 Scope of the strategic analysis

Strategic management requires capability to differentiate internal and external events/phenomenons. Managers are able mainly to research internal problems of the company rather than external ( Gierszewska, 2007 ). External problems estimation needs help of the consultants, and thus managers fail to analyse the environment. Corporation which constantly observes the environment is prepared for the threat that may occur. Situation on the market helps the company prepare the good strategy and plan the future. tells what steps should be taken in order to therefore

The pioneering work of Sir Frank Whittle in developing the jet engine.

The pioneering work of Sir Frank Whittle in developing the jet engine helped transform the way civil aviation operates today. Indeed, it is probably true to say that without the jet airliner, there would be no package holiday business today and air travel would have remained an exclusive activity. However, the invention of the jet alone did not make these changes possible. Aircraft manufacturers too had their part to play in building aircraft types that were economic to operate for airlines. There are a variety of important aircraft models, all equally impressive in their own rights, which helped shape the air travel business. We shall focus on three of the most notable product lines: The Boeing 7?7 series, the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 series, and the Airbus 300 series, all of which have utilized varying degrees of speed, fuel efficiency, service, and passenger capacity to make air travel accessible and attractive to the common person.

It is worth briefly mentioning here that the American aircraft manufacturers had a built-in advantage in the jet passenger craft market coming out of World War II, for a fairly straightforward reason: The American aircraft industry was completely undamaged, in contrast to the European and Asian companies which had been devastated. So aircraft manufacturer Boeing, makers of workhouse American bombers such as the B-17 and B-29, was well-poised to enter and dominate the commercial jet aircraft arena. The first commercially successful venture, unsurprisingly, was the Boeing ‘7X7’ Series, four-engine large-payload jets, the first of which was the 707. This remarkable craft was airborne within two years of the announcement of the project’s commencement, taking to the skies on May 14, 1954 on its first test flight, and carrying its first commercial passengers a relatively short time later (December 20 1957), thanks to Pan American Airways’ agreement with Boeing to purchase and operate a large number of 707s to form the backbone of Pan Am’s worldwide fleet. The first model, the 707-120 (medium-range jets), carried up to 181 passengers, and subsequent versions including the 707-320 (longer-range jets), carried up to 200 passengers. Cruising speeds for the 707 reached up to 1000 kilometers per hour, making even international travel a speedy, convenient, and more affordable process. In all, 1,010 707s in its various incarnations were produced in an astonishingly lengthy commercial production run from 1954 to 1978. (Boeing continued to produce 707s for the military until 1991.)

The American passenger airline business benefited greatly from government deregulation in the 1970s, opening the way for an explosion comprised of a perfect storm of more carriers, lower prices, and higher customer demand. The aging 707 series, venerable as it was, simply did not carry enough passengers or boast adequate fuel efficiency to remain economically feasible for production and continued use. Some airline industry analysts felt Boeing was slow to realize this, but the company responded with remarkable agility by announcing in 1966 that it would begin production of a line of so-called ‘jumbo jets’ within four years, spurred again by a huge order from Pan Am, who was gambling on twenty-five brand new jets, sight unseen. This was no minor undertaking – the development and production of this revolutionary new behemoth airplane nearly bankrupted Boeing. In 1970 — right on its announced schedule, yet against all outside predictions — Boeing introduced the 747, a colossal double-decker jet which will have held the record for largest size jet until late 2006, when it will be surpassed by the introduction of Airbus Industries’ A380 (more on the Airbus later). Like the 707, Boeing’s 747s were rolled out in a progression of improving and size-varied series, ranging from the 747-100 to the 747-400s. Though the 747’s cruising speed is a tad slower than the 707 (910 kilometers per hour), the latest models transport an astonishing amount of human cargo — between 415 and 525 passengers (up from the earliest models’ 374-passenger maximum). Its better fuel efficiency, compared to the 707s, allowed it to travel longer distances without refueling, as well, for example, from New York to Hong Kong nonstop. In addition to meeting the market demand of more people to fly for less money, the 747 also accommodated those who were willing and able to pay more to fly in style. Another clever feature of the 747 was the refinement of the idea of different ‘classes’ of passenger service. The original evolution of passenger air flight in general, not just the 747, was simply along the lines of making air travel affordable for the maximum number of people. Once this goal was achieved, the airlines modified their business plans to accommodate the fact that certain travelers, particularly those traveling for business purposes, would be willing to pay higher fares for added amenities such as larger seating, better food, free alcoholic beverages, priority boarding, etc. The 747’s upper deck was designed for such so-called ‘first-class’ passengers and Boeing produced, for various airlines, a variety of configurations that included such amenities as a piano lounge and standup cocktail bars for its more upscale clientele. In all, over 1,200 747s have been produced, and with the advent of the 747-8 series in late 2005, the line lives on.

Another important jet was McDonnell-Douglas’ DC-10, which flew its first passenger flight in 1971. It was designed to compete directly with Boeing’s 747 and its creation, like the 747, was spurred in large part by the demand from a particular airline. In the DC-10’s case, American Airlines specifically asked McDonnell-Douglas if it could manufacture a plane capable of flying the same long routes as the 747 but which could accommodate shorter runways and standard gate sizes found at many airports. The result was a three-engine aircraft that could carry between 250 and 380 passengers in its various incarnations. Its speed was essentially comparable to the 747, at 982 kilometers per hour, with less fuel consumption, again making it more affordable. United Airlines, pleased with the results of McDonnell-Douglas’ fruits, also purchased a number of DC-10s. Unfortunately, the DC-10 was not to have as celebrated an era of service as the 747. In the 1970s, several horrific and well-publicized disasters occurred involving DC-10s that were traced to design flaws. The most noteworthy of these problems was the design of the cargo doors. Most passenger jets utilized designs in which the doors opened inward; the DC-10 cargo door opened outwards, requiring a complex and heavy locking mechanism to withstand the heavy outward-directed force of cabin pressurization. The locking mechanism was prone to a variety of dangerous pitfalls, ranging from human error to mechanical failure, any of which could cause a catastrophic blowout of the door. There were a few near-misses in the early 1970s in which a door failed, including a 1972 incident in Detroit, but no accidents transpired. Tragically, however, a complete and utter disaster befell a Turkish Airlines DC-10 on March 3, 1974. The plane took off from Orly airport in Paris; within seconds, its cargo door blew out and the resulting depressurization severed the control cables, rendering the aircraft unmanageable by the pilots. The plane crashed 77 seconds after takeoff into the dense Ermenonville forest outside of Paris, shredding the plane and its passengers to ribbons. All 364 people aboard were killed. Subsequent investigations by the French and American governments revealed that McDonnell-Douglas was well aware of defects in the cargo door design, but made inadequate efforts to correct it. Under legal pressure and rebellion from passengers who simply refused to fly on a DC-10, McDonnell-Douglas corrected the flaw. But after yet another catastrophic crash of a DC-10 in 1979 at Chicago O’Hare airport, the DC-10 never regained its footing and eventually, production was halted in 1988 after a comparably small production run of 446 planes, ending what could have been a healthier competition between the 747 and DC-10 that would have continued to benefit airlines in their fierce competition for passengers.

Lastly, Airbus Industries’ Airbus model is important to mention, both for its successful, albeit relatively short track record and the simple fact that it is not a product of American design and manufacturing. Airbus was formed in 1967 by a consortium of European aviation manufacturers with the express purpose to compete with Boeing’s overwhelming dominance in the passenger jet market. In the intervening 38 years, Airbus has fought a pitched battle with Boeing, both politically and commercially, and achieved remarkable parity. It narrowly edged out Boeing in total number of orders received in 2005, 1055 jets to 1002. Airbus did not get off to an auspicious beginning, however. Only 81 of its A300 model were in service by 1979 despite its entry into the world market in 1974. However, the introduction of the A320 model in 1981 was a smashing success, with Airbus having taken 400 orders from airlines before the first model even left the ground. Though the A320 typically only carried approximately 150 passengers, its reliability, speed (approximately as fast as a 747) and fuel efficiency made it an attractive choice that could compete with Boeing’s smaller jets including the 737, and Airbus wasted little time in expanding the passenger capacity of the A320 and subsequent models. In fall 2006, Airbus’ A380 will overtake the 747 in maximum passenger capacity – 555. The competition between Airbus and Boeing has become so fierce that it has escalated into conflict between the United States and European Union, with unfair subsidy accusations and threats of trade wars flying across the Atlantic Ocean as often as the jets.

Certainly, Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, and Airbus were not the only major players in the passenger jet business since its advent. Other notables include American manufacturer Lockheed and a host of minor foreign manufacturers. None, however, have matched the dominance and industry-changing models of Boeing 7?7 series and Airbus 300 series, or the unfortunate inability of McDonnell-Douglas to live up to the potential of the maligned DC-10. Each of these planes played a key role in making long-distance air travel more competitive, more affordable, more international, more accessible, and safer (ironically, in the case of the DC-10) with each passing year.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/707family/

http://www.aviation-history.com/boeing/707.html

http://www.aircraft-info.net/aircraft/jet_aircraft/boeing/747-400/

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/index.html

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/planes/747.html

http://www.aircraft-info.net/aircraft/jet_aircraft/mcdonnell_douglas/DC-10_MD10/

Johnston, Moira. The Last Nine Minutes: The Story of Flight 981, Avon Publishers, 1976.

http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/

Contrada, John Della. “Subsidy war could harm Boeing more than Airbus, UB researcher says,” The University of Buffalo Reporter, 24 June 2004.

Medical Translation: functionalist approaches

Translation is used in every day life and is used in multiple fields of work. Translation is defined in the Collins Dictionary as “a piece of writing or speech that has been translated into another action” and as “the act of translating something”. The two definitions point to the two different ways translation is explained, the first as being the product produced by the translator and the second as the actual process of translation. The dictionary of Translation Studies additionally introduces “sub types” of translation such as “literary translation, technical translation, subtitling and machine translation. . .interpreting” (Hatim, Munday: 2004). The sub type I shall be discussing is medical translation.

“At every milestone, translation was the key to scientific progress as it unlocked for each successive inventor and discoverer the minds of predecessors who expressed their innovative thoughts in another language” (Fischbach: Wright1993). Translation has been used since Hippocrates and Galen in Greek and was translated primarily into Latin and Arabic, Arabic especially in the Middle Ages. This spread knowledge to the Western world producing translations into Castilian and English. [1]

Whilst medical translation shares many features with other sub types in that it involves adapting to cultural differences, using technological tools and communicating through linguistic barriers, this sub type has many “specialties” of its own. When translating a medical text, one must be careful to communicate the specific knowledge correctly. “Factual complexity and accuracy” becomes a main priority for the translator. Medical terminology, communicative situations (among specialists, in the mass media, in education, to patients, in campaigns and internationally), medical genres and medical ethics also influence the way in which translation is produced. I shall be focusing on functional approaches to translation, introducing Vermeer’s Skopostheorie, Reiss’ theory of text types and functional equivalence and lexical equivalence, applying them to the aspects of specific audiences, Latin based terms, medical English standardisations and medical texts.

Functionalism is the broad term used for the many theories that approach translation using functionalist methods. It focuses on the importance of the function or functions of the target text rather than the linguistic equivalence to the source text.

“Texts are produced with a specific purpose or function in mind. The starting point for any translation is therefore not the linguistic surface structure of the ST, but the purpose of the TT” (Nord: 1997).

It also includes the notion of translation as communication. Translation is defined as a purposeful, transcultural activity whose linguistic form depends on the function or the purpose of the target text. Action, communication and cultural theories are included under the title of functionalism. Skopostheorie, translational action theory and Reiss and Vermeer’s general theory of translation will be discussed in further detail.

The main theory within functionalist approaches is Skopostheorie, (Skopos meaning purpose in Greek) by Hans J. Vermeer. Vermeer believes that linguistics alone is not enough for translation as he believes not all problems can be solved solely through language abilities but that “the prime principal determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translational action” (Vermeer: Nord1997). He understands translation as a human action and that all actions are intentional and purposeful behaviours.

“Any form of translational action, including therefore translation itself, may be conceived as an action, as the name implies. Any action has an aim, a purpose. [. . . ] The word Skopos, then, is a technical term for the aim or purpose of a translation” (Vermeer1989).

He also adds that these behaviours take place in situations which happen in cultures which consequently leads to the Skopostheorie being culture specific as Holz-Manttari explains in further detail.

From this thought, Vermeer derives a general Skopos rule, which states:
“translate/interpret/speak/write in a way that enables your text/translation to function in a situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function”. This rule is designed to solve dilemmas such as free vs. faithful translation or dynamic vs. formal equivalence.

Another general rule mentioned which will be discussed again later is the coherence rule which concerns the target text must be coherent to allow the intended users to understand it in their situational circumstances. Another important factor of Skopostheorie is that of the addressee which is the receiver or the audience. The translation must be directed towards them, which is why purpose and the coherence rule are so important. ***

Holz-Mantarri’s translational action theory goes further than the Vermeer in that she completely disregards the word “translation”, referring to it instead as message transmitters. She describes translation as “a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose”. The purpose of this theory is to create the ability to send messages across culture and language barriers by experts (translators). She also highlights the actional aspects of the translation process such as the translator, initiator, message receiver and the situational conditions in which the action (of translation) takes place. She calls this intercultural cooperation.

The audience, as mentioned before, is one of the most important factors in Skopostheorie. Medic al translation requires the translator to be faithful to the client as well as the source text***

In the medical field, there are two main types of audiences: the lay audience and the expert audience. Often, when translating medical technical terms, which is very common and can cause problems, terms can be changed or borrowed in order to make sense in the target culture. Because Latin was once the lingua franca of medicine and Greek was the original language of medical text, there still exists today a great amount of Latin and Greek based words and the use of Latin and Greek suffixes and prefixes. This topic has proved difficult for translators as it challenges the Skopostheorie in that linguistic equivalence is not necessary. We see here that this is not always the case. The use of Latin words is extremely common in English; words such as pneumonia and appendicitis are very common amongst both types of audiences. When translating into romance languages and even into Germanic languages, the word tends to be equivalent to that of the English with minor spelling changes:

English Spanish German

Pneumonia Neumonia Pneumonie

Appendicitis Apendicitis Appendizitis

However, in some countries such as Germany and Denmark, Latin continues to act as the lingua franca in medicine and therefore is not understood by the lay audience. They are replaced by more popularized terms in order to reach out to a larger audience:

German Danish

Expert: appendizitis expert: Appendicitis

Non- expert: Blinddarmentzundung non-expert: blindtarmsbetoendelse

Expert: Pneumonie expert: pneumoni

Non- expert: Lungenentzundung non- expert: lungebetoendelse

MARKET AND COMPETITION ANALYSIS

Shareholders, employees with their families and collaborators with their families benefit from the beer business. According to the industry estimates this branch and cooperating industries employs almost 200 000 workers in Europe, and 600 000 is the number of employees who would like work for the brewing industry in the future. Polish brewery market employs about 15 000 people, and sectors that cooperate with it have higher employment rate ( 56,2 thousand employees ). People are hired in HORECA and trade and almost 186,000 of them make a living by working for the breweries. This makes 740,000 families altogether that owe their financial stability to this industry.

Investors

After the fall of the communism in 1989 polish brewery market has been dominated by the multiple foreign investors. They knew that this market has a potential, and needs money, technology, and experience in order to be successful. At the beginning of the 90s consumption of the beer was not exceeding 30 litres per person per year. It was of a poor quality and the beer consumption culture did not equal the western reality. This investment needed big money, and therefore investors decided to start the brewery business on the polish market from the scratch. For example SABMiller has spent almost 2 billions zloty ( PLN ) on the development of its four brands, and thus one of them, Tychy, became the largest in Europe.

Brewpole, an Australian company, was the first leading investor on the market. It created new production lines and introduced a new brand: EB. Then it gained almost 16% of the market shares. However, later on it had to merge with the Zywiec Group ( because of some of its advertisement failures ). Finally, production scale and good marketing were the most important issues that must have been considered. Big players were taking over smaller ones, and others were just closed down because were not profitable.

Foreign investors have helped the polish brewery market by putting into it $ 1 billion – and now it is the most modern in Europe. Almost 80% of the beer production is under their control. Therefore technology development in the brewery industry has been influenced by them, and this has led to increase of the beer production between 1990-1997.

Today polish brewery industry belongs mainly to the global corporations. They knew Poles are patriots, and therefore decided to take advantage of this attitude. Tyskie, Okocim, Lech, Zywiec, Warka, Lomza and Strzelec sound polish, and thus are the most popular on this market in Poland. This shows that the foreign investors respect polish tradition and decided to combine it with their corporate global culture.

External
Customers

Beer is one of the most popular global products. According to the data men are a vast majority when it comes to the beer consumption ( 65%). In case of women, 45% of them does drink beer. 76% of the beer drink consumers are in the age below 47, and what’s interesting, 35% of people between 18-29 declare to be the loyal beer purchasers and its consumers. When it comes to frequency of the consumed beer, 47% of the consumers are between 30-65.

What’s surprising, there is a huge difference in the education of the beer consumers. People with the Masters degree and over make up only 8% of the beer fans. Almost 26% of people with the basic education belong to this group, 34% with the vocational education does drink beer, and 37% with the secondary education are loyal beer consumers.

72% of the consumers usually drinks beer at home, 21% in pubs and the restaurants, and only 6% while enjoying the nature. They prefer light beer rather than dark. The reason for his choice lays not only In the taste, but also In its healthy properties. Light beer strengthens our bones, helps fight the osteoporosis, and bone tissue disease, which leads to the multiple fractures. For the last 10 years Poles have been drinking beer more than before. They treat beer as a substitute for wines and vodkas. According to the researches, 60% of the overall annual alcohol consumption goes to beer, 10% to vodka, and only 10% to wine. Poles are patriots and therefore almost 98% of them chooses polish beer. But when it comes to the quality of beer and its price, 45% definitely chooses German, Dutch or Czech products. . The price is usually too high In Poland, and thus the consumers are forced to buy the imported beers. However, the quality and taste of the beer are improved every year, and therefore beer consumption increases by a few percent.

Suppliers

Brewery industry requires specific type of suppliers. This sector is supplied by the hop, and metal and glass packaging producers. Moreover, brewery industry focuses also the printing plant services.

Brewery industry is supplied with the hop by the foreign importers and domestic suppliers. More than a half of the imported hop is used in the beer production, and suppliers are usually Hungary and Czech Republic, from the agri-food branch. Breweries sign with them the hop supply contracts in order to avoid the sudden price changes of the resource on the market.

Domestic producers are the second group of the hop suppliers. They do not strongly influence the breweries, which then do not fell threatened by them. The reason for such situation is that there is a low duty and low prices that encourage the breweries to import rather than use the services offered by the domestic suppliers, which subsequently focus only the brewery with the best parameters.

Next type of suppliers for the breweries are those who supply glass and/or metal packages. There is a strong competition, and each of them tries to make his offer more attractive for the customer than the others: low price, good quality, and possibly best parameters. Most of the producers have a very attractive offers, and thus the breweries feel free in the choice of the offers.

Printing plant services are in the same situation as glass and metal packages suppliers. Because of the strong competition on this market, they try to make their offers attractive as it is possible, and thus make the customer to choose them. Large breweries use mainly the services offered by the bigger plants.

PEST analysis

PEST Analysis is a combination of parts of the environment, that are put together in order to be easily researched by the company. It considers influence of the politics on the market, economy, social aspects, and technological development. Brewery industry challenges increase every time when European countries start to join the European Union, for example Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic in 2004, and decide to co-operate with the non-European countries. There are many opportunities and limitations which breweries have to challenge.

Governments policies which consider alcohol sales include price regulations, sales limitations ( such as age, unsober customers, time when alcohol can be sold, place of selling and consumption ), and license for sale. Governments try to influence the price rivalry by limiting the advertisements or licensing the alcohol sales. They also increase prices in order to increase states revenues, and prevent increase of the consumption ( and alcoholism problems of the society ), especially among young people. Government wants to minimise the negative effects of the alcohol consumption, such as car accidents or its overdose. Sales licensing helps control whether the alcohol companies adhere to the sales rules and pay taxes. State monopoly is the factor which does not apply to the brewery industry.

Economic and social environments are the most favourable factors for the industry’s development. There are different economic systems in the countries of operation, and therefore there needed different approaches. However, European Union rules are similar for all of its members: common trade policy and rules of the export trade policy. Exchange policy is another issue to consider. There are still some countries that haven’t changed their currency yet ( f.ex. Poland ). Effects of the global financial crisis in 2009 are still felt on the currency market, and therefore polish zloty varies every day. “Labour costs are on the employer’s (demand) side of the labour market framework”. The average hourly labour cost in 2006 in the European Union was 20,35 Euro. However, there was a 20% increase in 2008 in Czech Republic, Russia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania. Year 2009 was economically disadvantageous for every country, but the prognosis seem to be optimistic and look forward to improvements on the market. During the last years inflation has influenced GDP growth rate, and the following table shows how it was changing between years 2006-2010.

As we can conclude from this table, GDP growth rate varies every year by 0,1%, however, it declines until the year of the financial crisis in 2009, where it drastically fell down by 1%-2% ( -2,5% was the lowest and the worst moment ). Luckily GDP started to catch up on losses quickly in 2010, and seems to follow the statistics from year 2006. Financial crisis had also influenced the employment rate – almost 34 mln people have lost their jobs in Europe, and 212 mln all over the world. 13,4% of the young and 5,2% of the older people were among the unemployed.

Social and cultural influences in business are different in all countries. The dominant religion in the world is Christianity – 33% of respondents claim they do believe in God, Islam – 21%, Atheists – 16%, Hinduism – 14%. The following picture presents all known religions and their followers in percentage ( out of the whole humanity ):

Brewery industry will not find its potential consumers among Muslims, because their religion forbids them to drink any kind of alcohol.

Older generation is usually very traditional and therefore sticks to the domestic products, that are proven and are mostly with the tradition. Young people perceive foreign products as unique and attractive, therefore they have positive attitude towards innovation and modernity of the foreign products and services. But in order to get their loyalty and trust brewery companies must consider the cultural and linguistic differences. Moreover, society’s wealth influences the possible sale of the product. Western countries, such as France or Germany, unlike Poland, Lithuania or Estonia can afford expensive products, without violating much their budget ( for example German retirees going for a holidays abroad ).

Modern technology plays also important role in the production. It helps make products cheaply and with a good quality. Foam of the beer is more stable, and the taste is more adapted to the consumers needs. Moreover, technology can be implemented in order to save the natural environment. Adnams, the British brewery, has invested in such a technology, without influencing negatively the nature and taste of its ecological product – East Green. During the brewing process offset minimises CO2 emission to zero.

Porter’s 5 forces

This method helps analyse the sector by researching factors that make it attractive for the current and potential investors. There are four entry barriers in the brewery industry: scale of economy, no access to the distribution channel, lack of the capital, differentiation of products, and the state policy. Technology used by the brewery companies and their developed production allow them produce at the lowest unit costs. However, company which decides to enter the market cannot produce at a unit cost that is lower than the market price. Next problem company must challenge is lack of the distribution channels. Market belongs to the brewery corporations, and thus the new competitor has look for the other distributors. More over, it has also to invest in the beer producing technology, for the marketing and promotion, market research, and acquisition of the raw material. What’s more, government policy counters by the social insobriety ( anti alcohol legislation ), therefore alcohol sales are impeded. Last barrier is the product differentiation. Some brands, such as Heineken or Lomza have achieved high positions on the brewery market, and thus the new competition may have problems with gaining trust and loyalty of its target group.

Bargaining power of suppliers in the beer market has been strongly influenced by the reduce of the aluminium costs control, and therefore this has led to the increase of the packaging materials costs. In order to avoid being dependent on these materials some breweries started to run recycling programmes.

Brewery target group are the beer consumers. They choose whether they want to buy the product or not, and therefore influence sales of the company. Thus breweries care about the quality of their products, packaging, add some gadgets, and consider the way the product is served to the customer. He has a wide range of beers to choose and is given an information about each of them. Therefore he can choose the brand that mostly fits his taste. The functioning of the company depends largely on his beer choice.

There are no substitutes for the beer, because there are no substitutes for hop. Brewery industry is very specific, because new products from this area are rarely launched to the market. However, they don’t influence the beers consumption. Even non-alcohol beers haven’t increased its volume sales.

Competition within the brewery industry is very active. Success of the brewery companies depend on the good advertisement, economies of scale benefits, costs minimisation and attractive packaging. Leaders on the global beer market are Heineken and Carlsberg. Smaller breweries try to reach their position and claim to have 40% increase in sales, and therefore bigger corporation try to save their position by comparing their successes to the weaker competition. Smaller players on the market increase their shares by selling the low quality products, and thus encourage potential investor to take over the brewery. Breweries try to reach their customers by selling them cheaper products. Customer looking at the low price resigns from the quality. Middle breweries dominate the segments with the low price products. Bigger corporations promote their brands by investing big capital in the marketing and promotion campaigns. Smaller companies can’t afford such a big investment, and thus they just encourage and motivate their salesmen to be more effective.

SWOT analysis

Brewery industry is one of the most developing industries in the world. Its internal ( strengths, weaknesses ) and external ( opportunities, threats ) factors can be audited by using the strategic environment analysis called SWOT analysis. It is presented below:

All these factors relate individually to each of the companies operating in the brewery industry. Strengths shown in the table are their resources and capabilities that are used in order to develop their competitive advantage on the market ( Garbarski et al, 2000 ). There will be always a high demand for beer, and developed technology will be the background for the products improvement and making it more attractive for the customers. This creates a relationship between both, product and its consumer.

Strengths prevail over the weaknesses, however they strongly influence the market operations of the companies. High advertising costs are a main financial burden for the smaller and medium players. Moreover, because of the low budget they have to deal with the narrow product line, and thus the weak and slow distribution. However, If the industry considers its opportunities that appear during the analysis of the environment, it may observe some growth and generate more profits. Demographic increase and smaller range of age for drinking alcohol help reach a wider range of customers. However, tax increases, changing customers tastes, or anti-alcohol campaigns may threaten actions taken to improve the financial situation within the industry.

INTERNET WEBSITES:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/about-statistics/user-guidance/lm-guide/concepts/costs/index.html

http://ecodzien.pl/2010/01/07/najbardziej-ekologiczne-piwo-swiata/

http://unia.realnet.pl/panstwa_czlonkowskie.php

http://wyborcza.biz/biznes/1,101562,7526063,Przez_kryzys_34_mln_ludzi_stracilo_prace.html

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/GDP-Growth.aspx?Symbol=EUR ).

http://www.newsweek.pl/artykuly/sekcje/nauka/jasne-piwo-zdrowe-dla-kosci,53372,1

inwestor.msp.gov.pl/download.php?s=4&id=4146

http://agro.e-bmp.pl/index.php?art=1742

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of functionalist approaches to translation in the 1970s and 1980s was quite revolutionary in that it marked the move from what Munday (2001: 72) describes as ‘the static linguistic typologies of translation shift’, a term defined by Catford (1965: 73) as ‘departures from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to the TL’, to a consideration of the overall function of the Target Text (TT) in the Target Culture (TC). However, these approaches have been criticised on various grounds. This paper investigates one of these criticisms and whether Chritiane Nord’s notion of ‘function plus loyalty’ adequately addresses the issue.

SKOPOSTHEORIE

As a term, functionalism is used to refer to the aggregate of approaches to translation that focus on the overall function(s) of a text or translation (Nord 1997:1). In other words, functionalism has been expressed or practised differently by different scholars and translators. However, they all appear to have drawn inspiration from what Vermeer has called skopostheorie, the birth of which apparently marked the beginning of functionalism (Honig 1997: 6).

According to Vermeer (2004), ‘[t]he skopos of a translation is … the goal or purpose , defined by the commission and if necessary adjusted by the translator’ (236) and this notion of skopos can be applied in the translation process, the translation result as well as the translation mode (230). This skopos determines whether a text should be translated word for word or paraphrased or even adapted. As Nord (1997) puts it, the ‘Skopos of a particular translation task may require a ”free” or a ”faithful” translation, or anything between these two extremes, depending on the purpose for which the translation is needed’ (29). Thus a single text can beget different translations according to the different translation briefs provided.

This approach was quite novel in that it, to a large extent, addressed the ‘eternal dilemmas of free vs faithful translations, dynamic vs formal equivalence, good interpreters vs slavish translators, and so on’ (Nord 1997: 29). However, it has also received quite a number of criticisms. One of such attacks came from Pym (1996) who questions the ability of functionalism to provide a basis for a professional ethics of translation. He then asks:

Can such a theory generate a way of discerning between good and bad purposes, between good and bad translation strategies? Or is its aim merely to produce mercenary experts, able to fight under the flag of any purpose able to pay them? (2)

Pym questions the apparent neglect of the ST, undue emphasis on the TT and the ‘freedom’ skopostheorie gives the translator to produce any kind of text as dictated by the translation brief, whether or not the said brief is a far cry from the intentions of the author of the source text. In response to such criticisms, Nord added the concept of ‘loyalty’ to functionalism.

FUNCTION PLUS LOYALTY

Chritiane Nord maintains that the loyalty principle is meant to ‘account for the culture-specificity of translation concepts, setting an ethical limitation to the otherwise unlimited range of possible skopoi for the translation of one particular source text’ (2007:2-3). Loyalty is used to refer to the responsibility of translators, as mediators between two cultures, towards their partners namely, the source-text author, the client or commissioner of the translation, and the target-text receivers (Nord 2001: 185). It may also be seen as ‘taking into account the intentions and expectations of all the partners in the communicative interaction named translation’ (195). Though the client’s brief determines the skopos of the translation, it is not the only determining factor for the translation. The translator should be loyal to the ST author by ensuring that he not produce a TT that falsifies the author’s intentions (Nord 2005:32). In other words, loyalty ensures some compatibility between the ST and the TT. The translator should also be loyal to the target audience, who have some expectations of what the translations should be like, by explaining in a footnote or preface how they arrived at a particular meaning, the thought-process involved.

Nord distinguishes loyalty from fidelity or equivalence. While she sees the former as an interpersonal relationship between the translator and his partners, the latter she sees as concepts used to refer to the linguistic or stylistic similarity between the source and the target texts, regardless of the communicative intentions involved’ (2001: 185)

HOW ADEQUATE?

This section looks at the adequacy of Nord’s function plus loyalty principle to translation, especially in relation to Pym’s accusation of skopostheorie producing only mercenary experts.

In the first place, it checks the apparent freedom of the translator to produce any kind of translation in accordance with the client’s brief. While function requires that the translation be modelled to fit into the brief provided by the commissioner, loyalty requires the translator to justify their choice of translation method by considering the interests of all the participants involved in the translation, not just that of the client. A translator should not produce a translation that goes contrary to the brief; they also should satisfy the expectations of the target audience as well as not falsify the intentions of the author. So if the brief betrays the communicative intentions of the author, it is then the translator’s duty to draw the attention of the client to this apparent anomaly. Pym (2007: 132) quotes Nord as saying that ‘If the client asks for a translation that would mean being disloyal to either the author or the target readership or both, the translator should argue this point with the client or perhaps even refuse to produce the translation on ethical grounds’. So the translator is not a mere mercenary since they do not accept whatever skopos is given them. Downie puts it this way: ‘With the addition of the notion of ”loyalty” the translator is now ethically and professionally responsible to either observe the expectations their partners have of their work or to tell them why these expectations have not been met’ (2), This principle reduces the number of skopoi that could be generated for a single translation text.

Two questions may be raised against the loyalty principle, one of which has been partly answered in Downie’s quote above namely: is it always possible for every party to be made happy by the translator? According to Nord, the translator has the moral obligation not to translate on a brief that will falsify the author’s intention. If after explaining the situation to the client and the client insists on not modifying the brief to make up for the defect, the translator has the moral responsibility to refuse to do the translation. Downie has already highlighted what the translator should do if the translation goes contrary to the expectations of the receiving audience. In Nord’s words, ‘if the target culture expects the translation to be a literal reproduction of the original, translators cannot simply translate in a non-literal way without telling the target audience what they have done and why’ (1997: 125). This increases the level of confidence the audience has on the translator and makes them more ready to accept the translation as of a good quality even if their (the audience’s) expectations are not met.

This raises the second question: will the adoption of the documentary translation in situations where the source culture is markedly different from the target culture, seen in the additional explanations the translator has to make for the reader, not affect the reception of the work since the audience is aware that the text is not the original, but a translation? Though the reader might be affected by the realisation, the style shows that the translator has some respect for the reader and will help build their confidence in the translator for taking the pains to explain their strategy and choices.

One other issue the loyalty principle addresses is the supposed ‘dethronement’ of the source text. This is also one of the bases for Pym accusation of translators as being mere mercenary experts since the ST may result in TTs with which it shares a very tenuous relationship. Loyalty insists that the communicative intentions of the author be reproduced in the TT. And this can only be achieved when a detailed analysis of the ST is done to appreciate its place in the source culture, temporally and spatially. Nord insists that the interpretation of a text goes beyond the linguistic, that it ‘is a product of the many variables of the situation (time, place, addresses) in which it originated’ (1997: 119), and that ‘the analysis of extratextual factors such as author, time, place, or medium may shed some light on what may have been the sender’s intentions’ (125-6). The translator then does a similar extratextual study of the target situation to identify the expression that best reflects the author’s intentions in the target situation. So in the main, the TT intentions are hinged on those of the ST.

CONCLUSION

It is axiomatic that a text is open to multiple interpretations, and translations. But Nord’s notion of function plus loyalty has indeed restricted the otherwise arbitrary production of translation briefs and translations that are a far cry from the message of the ST. It also weakens the criticism that functionalism advocates a ‘dethronement’ of the ST. However, the satisfaction of every party involved in the translation process is only but an ideal, not always practicable. But loyalty has made the translator more responsible and conscious of their translations and increased the confidence of other participants on the translator. Indeed if translators will adhere to this charge of being loyal, the problems of mistranslations will be greatly reduced.

REFERENCES

Catford, J. C. 1965. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Oxford.

Downie, Jonathan. ‘The End of an Era? Does skopos theory spell the end of the free vs literal paradigm?’ online: Pneuma Foundation: In depth resources: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/resources/in_depth.jsp

Homig, Hans G. 1997. ‘Position, power and practice: Functionalist approaches and translation quality assessment.’ In Current Issues in Language and Society. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 7 – 34.

Munday, J. 2008. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Nord, Chritiane. 1997. Translation as a Purposeful Activity. Manchester: St Jerome.

Nord, Chritiane. 2001. ‘Loyalty revisited: Bible translation as a case in point.’The Translator. Vol. 7 No 2, pp. 185 – 202..

Nord, Chritiane. 2005. Text Analysis in Translation: Theory, Methodology, and Didactic Application of a Model for Translation-Oriented Text Analysis. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Nord, Chritiane. 2007. ‘Function plus Loyalty: Ethics in Professional Translation. In Genesis Revista Cientifica do ISAG. Vol 6, pp. 7 – 17.

Pym, Anthony. 1996. Material text transfer as a key to the purposes of translation. In Albrecht Neubert, Gregory Shreve and Klaus Gommlich (eds.) 1996, Basic Issues in Translation Studies. Proceedings of the Fifth international Conference Kent Forum on Translation Studies II, Kent/Ohio: Institute of Applied Linguistics, 337-346.

Pym, Anthony. 2001. ‘Introduction: The return to ethics in translation studies’. The Translator. Vol. 7 No 2, pp. 129 – 138.

Vermeer, Hans J. ‘Skopos and commission in translational action.’ In L.Venuti (ed) The Translation Studies Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, pp. 227 – 238.