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...
Read the rest at "We all benefit when global business leaders share lessons learned from their failures" by Adam Wooten in his International Business column on DeseretNews.com
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