It’s fashionable today to enthuse over globalized markets and cite glowing examples of standardized marketing winners around the world. True, some markets are globalizing, and more companies are taking advantage of them with signal success. But the rosy reports of these triumphs usually neglect to mention the complexities and risks involved; for every victory in globalization there are probably several failures that aren’t broadcast. It’s not fashionable to talk about failure.
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 1989 issue of Harvard Business Review.
