In 2002 a good friend of mine moved to Shanghai after graduating from college to do an internship for a chinese carpet company. In his first month there he'd g

In 2002 a good friend of mine moved to Shanghai after graduating from college to do an internship for a chinese carpet company. In his first month there he'd given a speech - in English - to 500 of China's most influential carpet executives, all of whom clearly knew more about the carpet business than he did. His boss played translator. I thought it was ridiculous, but clearly there's a worthwhile return on investment or the practice wouldn't still be happening.