Welocalize helping global brands grow and reach audiences worldwide

Welocalize is one of the world’s largest localization companies, helping many of the world's leading consumer and IT brands to effectively localize web content, marketing messages, learning & development content, contracts, patents, and other important documents for regional markets. The company started operations in Japan in 2007 via an acquisition of a local Japanese translation company.

Overseeing operations in Japan is General Manager Japan & VP Asia, Mark Shriner. Originally from Seattle in the U.S., Shriner has spent over 20 years living and working in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to moving to Japan four years ago, he was based in Singapore, serving as the CEO Asia Pacific for CLS Communication, a Swiss translation and localization company.

After moving to Japan, Shriner established ROI Asia KK to provide training, coaching, and consulting services to organizations in the Asia region. As part of his role at ROI Asia, he was the Japan Practice Leader for Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching, authored two books on sales, and co-created the Leading and Coaching High Performance Sales Teams program with Marshall Goldsmith and Will Linssen.

In his current position with Welocalize, Shriner is leading the commercialization of the business across Asia which includes more than 350 people in offices in Tokyo, Beijing and Jinan.

Was 2015 a good year for the company?

2015 was a good year for both the entire Welocalize company as we achieved record growth, and for the Japan operations as we started our transition from a production unit into a commercial business unit.

How do you plan to grow the business in Japan?

In the short term, we will target foreign multinational corporations that we have existing relationships with in other parts of the world. At the same time, we will work to expand our relationships with Japanese multinational corporations. We will develop these relationships via on-line and off-line marketing activities such as our participation in the upcoming LocWorld Tokyo event in April.

What services do you provide?

We help many of the world’s biggest brands localize manuals, marketing content, and legal documents into the languages of the overseas markets. Our clients include the largest search and smartphone makers, as well as leading network equipment producers.

In this era of globalization, do you think Japanese companies are lagging?

I think Japanese companies are particularly strong in industries that are capital intensive and require a long-term structured planning process. Traditional manufacturing or semiconductor industries could be examples. However, as the pace of global competition increases, market changes and disruptions happen at an increasingly faster rate. In many industries, Japanese companies are challenged to respond to these changes in a timely manner.

Are your clients in Japan multinationals or do you have Japanese clients too?

At this point, the majority of our clients are foreign multinationals. However, as we commercialize our business in Japan, we expect to see a shift over the coming 2-3 years, where we will have more Japanese clients in Japan.

How difficult is it to educate potential new clients on how you can help them?

Our technology, automated processes, and competitive advantage are very easy to explain and for our clients and prospective clients to understand. We have case studies and many examples of significantly reducing client costs and time to market requirements.

How do you market the company? Do you advertise in traditional media, social media, through networking or just rely on word of mouth?

We do both on-line and off-line marketing, attend a variety of industry and networking events, and also leverage existing client relationships.

You’ve worked in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore. What would you say are some unique characteristics of doing business in Japan?

With the possible exception of South Korea, the business climate in those other countries is much more transparent and transactional. In Japan, relationship, trust, planning, and risk avoidance are all very important factors. I can say that from my personal experience, things move much more quickly in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.

However, in Japan, while it may take longer to reach a consensus and move forward, once things do progress, they usually do so in a very smooth manner.

Where do you get your translators from?

We have a talent management team that is continually recruiting from industry associations and via on-line channels.

Did Welocalize develop its own translation management platform?

Welocalize is a technology agnostic company. That is, we adopt the best solution for each individual client. The platform we most often use is an open source solution. However, we do use proprietary solutions for some of our clients.

Are you still involved with ROI Asia?

Yes, I am the representative director for ROI Asia and serve as an advisor.

As an entrepreneur, are you optimistic about the Japanese economy? For example, what is your opinion of “Abenomics?”

I’m optimistic from the point of view that prices outside of Tokyo are incredibly competitive and the quality of life can’t be beat. Since Japan has a world class IT and transportation infrastructure, the opportunities for “geographic arbitrage” and moving to a more decentralized economy are vast.

Tell us about your team. How many employees do you have?

We have 45 people in our Japan office and almost 350 in our two offices in China.

What is a typical day for you?

There is no typical day. Sometimes I’m in the office at 7:30 a.m., and some days I’m out at client meetings or events. In January, I was traveling in China and the U.S. for almost three weeks.

What is your management style? What areas of the business do you tend to be hands-on and what areas do you prefer to delegate to your team?

I believe the most important thing I can do is hire and help to develop the right people. If you “get the right people on the bus” and then give them the autonomy and support needed to achieve their targets, most everything else will work itself out.

How do you promote a work-life balance in your company?

We have a relatively relaxed work from home policy that is based on the idea that as long as you do your work, it doesn’t really matter where you are. So some of our staff work from home 2-3 days per week. This allows them to avoid a timely commute and spend more time with their family.

When you are not working, how do you like to relax?

I’m a member of the YC&AC sports club in Yokohama and play on several different teams there. I also like cycling around Japan’s coastline and spending time with my wife and our three sons.

© Japan Today