In yet another step towards globalisation, Tata Steel has set up a Foreign Language Lab, which was inaugurated yesterday by Mr Niroop Mahanty, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel. Functioning as part of the Tisco Management Development Centre (TMDC), which is in the golden jubilee year of its excellence, the language lab is a pioneering effort to enhance the foreign language skills and knowledge of cross cultural business etiquette of Tata Steel officers.

As the focus of globalisation and global competition are making a deep impact on the steel industry, Tata Steel is rewriting the competency needs for its managers. With the investment in the 2 MT per annum in Nat Steel, based in Singapore, the steel major has gained market presence in seven countries across East Asia. In his inaugural remarks, Mr Mahanty stressed that knowledge of the popular languages spoken around the world and acculturation would become integral to organisational learning at Tata Steel. Familiarity with cultural issues and negotiating skills and styles across different cultures would be a significant advantage to individual managers aspiring to do business abroad and managing a diverse workforce, he added.

To begin with, Tata Steel has decided to offer French and Spanish Language course as its Foreign Language Lab. Other courses on the anvil are Chinese (Mandarin), Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. The lab is equipped with state of art learning aids including Pentium 4 Pcs with ergonomically designed head phones, LCD and overhead projection systems, digital media to support class room instruction with flexible self learning. Experienced foreign language instructors will conduct the language classes but the emphasis would be on e-enabled self-learning.

The learners will also get a chance to interact with visiting business delegations, invited languages experts and members of diplomatic mission/consulates. Each language course is designed to run for twenty weeks involves two hours of class room instruction followed by two hours of guided self learning per week at the lab. At the end of twenty-week course, the participants will have developed enabling skills in reading writing and speaking the language in a business context.