# entreprise (société, structure) de taille humaine



## tamarisk

Bonjour,

Dans un document à traduire, j'ai du mal à trouver une bonne traduction pour "une société de taille humaine" - je sais ce que ça veut dire mais je n'arrive pas à trouver une phrase equivalent en anglais...
- des suggestions??

*Note des modérateurs : *nous avons fusionné plusieurs discussions pour créer ce fil.


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## Fred-erique

human scaled society


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## virtdave

perhaps slightly more idiomatic: _a society on the human scale _. i.e., as opposed to an Orwellian monolithic one.


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## tamarisk

I've opted for "the human scale of the company"

Thanks to both


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## LMorland

I'm translating a document for a small post-production video company. Would you all very kindly help me with this translation?

Structure de taille humaine et très réactive, *XXX* garantit un suivi direct et personnalisé 7/7, et une qualité artistique qui lui permet de travailler pour l'ensemble des chaînes Françaises, et cetera, et cetera....

Here's my free translation:

XXX is a _boutique firm _highly responsive to its clients' needs [...]

Thanks very much in advance.

*Moderator note*: This new question has been added to an existing thread on the same topic.


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## Saltillo

Bonjour, 
je dois traduite "une entreprise à taille humaine"... quelqu'un peut m'aider? je ne suis pas certaine que le mot à mot "human size firm" soit la meilleure solution?


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## Suehil

Hi Saltillo, welcome to the forum!
I would go for 'a business on a human scale'


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## Saltillo

it sounds better!
thanks


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

a human-scale business / firm


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## albor

How could we translate 'une entreprise de taille humaine' into English?


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## Floor

A company/business on a human scale


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## albor

thanks, that's the translation I came up with too . But I wanted a second opinion, to be absolutely sure.


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## byabya

Hi,
How can you translate "une société à taille humaine" in English?
Thank you


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## tilt

_Société _can translate in different words according to the context, but I guess you means _human-sized company_.


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## byabya

Thank you for your reply.
Somebody suggests "Company on a human scale". What do you think?


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## tilt

Well, Google is not always relevant, but since it returns about twice more references for _human-sized company _than for _company on a human scale_, I'd rather go for the former.
The opinion of a native English speaker would be welcome, yet.


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## MathildeDxb

human-sized


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## dlucotte

Thanks a lot!


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## megustalagasolina

i realise this is quite late, but i'm looking for a translation for this now. i think to be honest there is no good equivalent in eng. I would say that the closest is "*family run business"* as it has the positive connotation that a business might use to advertise itself by. However, the trouble is that the wording restricts it to family. shame


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## Santana2002

LMorland said:


> Structure de taille humaine et très réactive, *XXX* garantit un suivi direct et personnalisé 7/7, et une qualité artistique qui lui permet de travailler pour l'ensemble des chaînes Françaises, et cetera, et cetera....
> 
> Here's my free translation:
> 
> XXX is a _boutique firm _highly responsive to its clients' needs [...]



How about:  _'A small-scale firm, XXX provides a direct and personalised response to its clients' needs_ [...]

[Moderator note: Translation trimmed to avoid proofreading and focus on the expression in the title of the thread.]


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## fran10

Hi i know there is already a forum on 'entreprise a taille humaine' but i still don't really understand the english translation in this forum, i.e someone translated it as: ''human sized company''. I do not understand this translation. 
I would like to translate a similar expression: ''une structure a taille humaine'', it is an advertisment on a internship advertised in France. It says ''vous recherchez une structure a taille humaine''? . 

I would translate this as ''are you looking for a friendly personal work environment''? 

But i''m not very happy with this translation. Please could any of you french native speakers help me? 

Merci d'avance 
Fran


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## Michelvar

Hi!

here "human sized company" or "structure à taille humaine" refers to this : 

In a big company, let say Total, it would take a lifetime to meet everyone, you have to be a computer if you want to know every names, you don't know the boss of your boss, and himself has another boss that you will never met. You would be unable to say what belongs to the company, and who owns the company. So this is not human sized.
In a "human sized company", you know everyone, you can have social relationship with them, get to know their wife and kids. You know who is your boss and you can spend some time with him when you have a problem. When the CEO wants to know something he asks you, not ernst & young.


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## fran10

thanks! excellent definition. I understand now


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## Notafrog

Hello, native English speaker here. I would never, EVER use the terms human size or human scale. I suspect nearly all the Google results you find with this phrase are translations. But it's a lazy way of translating.

I found the term "tightly-knit" among the translations returned by Linguee, and I have to say hats off to the translator who came up with that. It's perfect.
A tightly-knit company, structure, etc. – it says everything.


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## qusiemargo

In total acgreement with the never-heard phrases "human scale", "human-sized".
Thank you for the "tightly-knit", I also found "reasonably sized", which is the right size but we lose the people-factor.


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## expat66

Notafrog said:


> Hello, native English speaker here. I would never, EVER use the terms human size or human scale. I suspect nearly all the Google results you find with this phrase are translations. But it's a lazy way of translating.
> 
> I found the term "tightly-knit" among the translations returned by Linguee, and I have to say hats off to the translator who came up with that. It's perfect.
> A tightly-knit company, structure, etc. – it says everything.




THANK you for saying this.  I've been Googling "human-sized company" or "human-scaled business", or some variation thereof.  I've just started translating for a business university, and I am discovering that I'm way behind current business terms.


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## Notafrog

On a similar theme, a recent client of mine keeps using the same phrase with regard to events (notably exhibitions): "un salon à taille humaine".
Now although "tightly knit" might be ideal for describing a company or business, a "tightly knit" exhibition sounds like somewhere outsiders are unwelcome!
My solution: a "friendly sized" exhibition. Maybe that will help someone in the future.


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Objectively, what is simply meant by "à taille humaine" is small (and possibly also medium-sized"), isn't it?


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## Squiggle

This is one I am still struggling with. I'm not sure about "tightly-knit" as this implies everyone is close and somehow united. I have worked for companies that are of "taille humaine" but were horrible in terms of atmosphere etc. I think we're really looking for a word to describe the size of the company rather than the attitude of those working for it. Also, earlier threads mention "family run" companies, but the one does not necessarily mean the other - after all, Donald Trump's empire is family run!


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## tartopom

manageable size ?


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## Notafrog

The thing is there aren't that many alien-sized companies in comparison with the average company. Companies are in fact by default "human sized" (which I guess would be roughly 1m75).
In all cases I've come across of companies bragging about their human dimension, they're talking about the perceived rather than the actual size. They want to persuade people they're not going to be bounced around from pillar to post. It doesn't really matter what goes on inside the company as long as the interface is simple and efficient. What I'm really saying is that it's marketing-speak. Whatever you choose to call it in English, it doesn't have to be a statement of truth.


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## expat66

Notafrog said:


> The thing is there aren't that many alien-sized companies in comparison with the average company. Companies are in fact by default "human sized" (which I guess would be roughly 1m75).
> In all cases I've come across of companies bragging about their human dimension, they're talking about the perceived rather than the actual size. They want to persuade people they're not going to be bounced around from pillar to post. It doesn't really matter what goes on inside the company as long as the interface is simple and efficient. What I'm really saying is that it's marketing-speak. Whatever you choose to call it in English, it doesn't have to be a statement of truth.


LOL!

I do like the terminology "human dimension".  I think that will fit most of the time I come across it.
Thank you so much!


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