We all benefit when global business leaders share lessons learned from their failures

The Parker Pen Company has long advertised reliable fountain pens that will not cause embarrassment by leaking in pockets. The company’s slogan was once “Avoid embarrassment — use Parker Pens.” Unfortunately, when Parker Pen decided to enter the Latin American market, it translated the slogan into Spanish as “Avoid pregnancy — use Parker Pens,” apparently using the false cognate “embarazar” or “embarazo.” Talk about embarrassment!

Author David A. Ricks, in his book Blunders in International Business, applauds the Parker Pen Company for being “open and refreshingly frank” about the cause of this incident. He wisely notes, “All firms have at one time or another made mistakes. If more firms would be as helpful as the Parker Pen Company, then we would all more clearly understand the causes of these errors and avoid them in the future.”

Admitting a mistake can be difficult. Publicizing a mistake so that everyone else can learn from it requires even more courage. Companies that chart new territory and pioneer new ideas are bound to encounter bumps along the road, but they become leaders when they share their hard-earned knowledge with others. We all benefit when international businesses are not afraid to share painful lessons learned.

The Parker Pen Company has since done much to help others learn how to avoid similar language-related gaffes. Ricks gives additional examples of how Parker has successfully adjusted its marketing to be sensitive to Spanish language variations in Latin America. The company’s former vice president of worldwide marketing, Roger E. Axtell, published the book Do’s and Taboos around the World. This is certainly an example of true leadership in global business.

Microsoft is often singled out for various intercultural blunders, but let us be honest about the reasons why: Microsoft is liable to occasionally commit various intercultural blunders either because of its massive size or because it is the first to introduce certain products in many languages. Furthermore, few companies are as recognizable as Microsoft and few companies come close to doing international business on the same level as Microsoft. Trailblazers are almost certain to run into trouble now and again.