IBM: The Rise and Fall and Reinvention of a Global Icon

Description

A history of one of the most influential American companies of the last century. For decades, IBM shaped the way the world did business. IBM products were in every large organization, and IBM corporate culture established a management style that was imitated by companies around the globe. It was "Big Blue, " an icon. And yet over the years, IBM has gone through both failure and success, surviving flatlining revenue and forced reinvention. The company almost went out of business in the early 1990s, then came back strong with new business strategies and an emphasis on artificial intelligence. In this authoritative, monumental history, James Cortada tells the story of one of the most influential American companies of the last century. Cortada, a historian who worked at IBM for many years, describes IBM's technology breakthroughs, including the development of the punch card (used for automatic tabulation in the 1890 census), the calculation and printing of the first Social Security checks in the 1930s, the introduction of the PC to a mass audience in the 1980s, and the company's shift in focus from hardware to software. He discusses IBM's business culture and its orientation toward employees and customers; its global expansion; regulatory and legal issues, including antitrust litigation; and the track records of its CEOs. The secret to IBM's unequalled longevity in the information technology market, Cortada shows, is its capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and technologies. Series Page......Page 2 Title Page......Page 3 Copyright Page......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Table of Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 12 I: From Birth to Identity: IBM in Its Early Years, 1880s–1945......Page 25 1. Origins, 1880s–1914......Page 26 2. Thomas J. Watson Sr. and the Creation of IBM, 1914–1924......Page 50 3. The Emergence of IBM and the Culture of THINK......Page 83 4. IBM and the Great Depression......Page 110 5. IBM in World War II, 1939–1945......Page 137 II: IBM the Computer Behemoth, 1945–1985......Page 161 6. IBM Gets into the Computer Business, 1945–1964......Page 162 7. How Customers, IBM, and a New Industry Evolved, 1945–1964......Page 190 8. System 360: One of the Greatest Products in History?......Page 215 9. “The IBM Way”: How It Worked, 1964–1993......Page 243 10. “The IBM Way”: What the World Saw, 1964–1993......Page 266 11. IBM on the Global Stage......Page 290 12. Two Decades of Antitrust Suits, 1960s–1980s......Page 330 13. Communist Computers......Page 357 14. “A Tool for Modern Times”: IBM and the Personal Computer......Page 380 III: A Time of Crisis, 1985–1994......Page 417 15. Storms, Crisis, and Near Death, 1985–1993......Page 418 16. IBM’s Initial Response, 1985–1993......Page 435 17. How IBM Was Rescued, 1993–1994......Page 465 IV: IBM in the New Century......Page 494 18. A New IBM, 1995–2012......Page 495 19. Hard Times, Again, and Another Transformation......Page 535 20. THINK: IBM Today and Its Legacy......Page 566 Author’s Note: In the Spirit of Transparency......Page 602 Bibliographic Essay......Page 605 Index......Page 614