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A researcher for IBM in San Jose, Calif., Johnson led the team which developed the computer disk drive in 1956. Faster to access than tape, the "Random Access Method of Accounting Control" drive revolutionized the way data were stored. Delivered to its first customer on September 13, 1956, RAMAC used as many as fifty 24-inch platters and had a capacity of 5 MB; it weighed 2,000 pounds. Johnson did not dislike tape, however: he also developed the half-inch video tape cassette for Sony, as well as the "Scantron" grading system using answer sheets filled in by millions of students with a No. 2 pencil during multiple choice tests. Johnson died September 15 of cancer at age 92. From This is True for 12 September 1998 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Louis V. Gerstner Jr. List Price: $27.95 Amazon Price: $19.85 Editorial Review: In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the computer industry had changed so rapidly the company was on its way to losing $16 billion and IBM was on a watch list for extinction -- victimized by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent. Then Lou Gerstner was brought in to run IBM. Almost everyone watching the rapid demise of this American icon presumed Gerstner had joined IBM to preside over its continued dissolution into a confederation of autonomous business units. This strategy, well underway when he arrived, would have effectively eliminated the corporation that had invented many of the industry's most important technologies. Instead, Gerstner took hold of the company and demanded the managers work together to re-establish IBM's mission as a customer-focused provider of computing solutions. Moving ahead of his critics, Gerstner made the hold decision to keep the company together, slash prices on his core product to keep the company competitive, and almost defiantly announced, "The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision." Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? tells the story of IBM's competitive and cultural transformation. In his own words, Gerstner offers a blow-by-blow account of his arrival at the company and his campaign to rebuild the leadership team and give the workforce a renewed sense of purpose. In the process, Gerstner defined a strategy for the computing giant and remade the ossified culture bred by the company's own success. The first-hand story of an extraordinary turnaround, a unique case study in managing a crisis, and a thoughtful reflection on the computer industry and the principles of leadership, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? sums up Lou Gerstner's historic business achievement. Taking readers deep into the world of IBM's CEO, Gerstner recounts the high-level meetings and explains the pressure-filled, no-turning-back decisions that had to be made. He also offers his hard-won conclusions about the essence of what makes a great company run. In the history of modern business, many companies have gone from being industry leaders to the verge of extinction. Through the heroic efforts of a new management team, some of those companies have even succeeded in resuscitating themselves and living on in the shadow of their former stature. But only one company has been at the pinnacle of an industry, fallen to near collapse, and then, beyond anyone's expectations, returned to set the agenda. That company is IBM. Lou Gerstener, Jr., served as chairman and chief executive officer of IBM from April 1993 to March 2002, when he retired as CEO. He remained chairman of the board through the end of 2002. Before joining IBM, Mr. Gerstner served for four years as chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco, Inc. This was preceded by an eleven-year career at the American Express Company, where he was president of the parent company and chairman and CEO of its largest subsidiary. Prior to that, Mr. Gerstner was a director of the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Co., Inc. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  By: Thomas J. WatsonPeter Petre List Price: $21.00 Amazon Price: $21.00 Editorial Review: In this eloquent first-person account of a family drama that changed the face of American business, the man who transformed IBM into the world's largest computer company reflects on his lifelong partnership with his father--and how their management style and shared dedication to excellence united to create a unique corporate culture that became the blueprint for the entire technology boom. In the course of sixty years Thomas J. Watson Sr. and his son, Thomas J. Watson Jr., together built the international colossus that is IBM. This is their story: a riveting and revealing account of two men who loved each other--and fought each other--with a terrible fierceness. But along with the story of a father and son, this is IBM's story too. It chronicles the management insights that shaped its course and its unique corporate culture, the style that made Thomas Watson Sr. one of America's most charismatic bosses, and the daring decisions by Thomas Watson Jr. that transformed IBM into the world's largest computing company. One of the greatest business-success stories of all time, Father, Son & Co. is a moving lesson for fathers who dream for their children, as well as a testament to American ingenuity and values, told in a disarmingly frank and eloquent voice. Promising to remain an important business reference as we move into the next century, FATHER, SON & CO. takes a look at the management insight that helped to shape IBM's course and unique corporate culture. It looks at Watson, Sr., one of America's most charismatic bosses, and Watson, Jr., who spurred IBM into the computer age. Ten years after its original publication, FATHER, SON & CO. remains a uniquely honest book. Watson's willingness to write about the loving but ferociously combative relationship he had with his father and the turbulent battles behind some of IBM's most far-reaching decisions gives readers rare insights into the realities of leadership. -->  By: Kevin Maney List Price: $16.95 Amazon Price: $11.53 Editorial Review: The first complete look at one of America's legendary business leaders This groundbreaking biography by Kevin Maney, acclaimed technology columnist for USA Today, offers fresh insight and new information on one of the twentieth century's greatest business figures. Over the course of forty-two years, Thomas J. Watson took a failing business called The Computer-Tabulating-Recording Company and transformed it into IBM, the world's first and most famous high-tech company. The Maverick and His Machine is the first modern biography of this business titan. Maney secured exclusive access to hundreds of boxes of Watson's long-forgotten papers, and he has produced the only complete picture of Watson the man and Watson the legendary business leader. These uncovered documents reveal new information about how Watson bet the company in the 1920s on tabulating machines-the forerunners to computers-and how he daringly beat the Great Depression of the 1930s. The documents also lead to new insights concerning the controversy that has followed Watson: his suppos ed coll usion with Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. Maney paints a vivid portrait of Watson, uncovers his motivations, and offers needed context on his mammoth role in the course of modern business history. Jim Collins, author of the bestsellers Good to Great and Built to Last, writes in the Foreword to Maney's book: "Leaders like Watson are like forces of nature-almost terrifying in their release of energy and unpredictable volatility, but underneath they still adhere to certain patterns and principles. The patterns and principles might be hard to see amidst the melee, but they are there nonetheless. It takes a gifted person of insight to highlight those patterns, and that is exactly what Kevin Maney does in this book." The Maverick and His Machine also includes never-before-published photos of Watson from IBM's archives, showing Watson in greater detail than any book ever has before. Essential reading for every businessperson, tech junkie, and IBM follower, the book is also full of the kind of personal detail and reconstructed events that make it a page-turning story for general readers. The Maverick and the Machine is poised to be one of the most important business biographies in years. Kevin Maney is a nationally syndicated, award-winning technology columnist at USA Today, where he has been since 1985. He is a cover story writer whose story about IBM's bet-the-company move gained him national recognition. He was voted best technology columnist by the business journalism publication TJFR. Marketing Computers magazine has four times named him one of the most influential technology columnists. He is the author of Wiley's MEGAMEDIA SHAKEOUT: The Inside Story of the Leaders and the Losers in the Exploding Communications Industry, which was a Business Week Bestseller. "Watson was clearly a genius with a thousand helpers, yet he managed to build an institution that could transcend the genius." "Like all great biographers, Kevin Maney gives us an engaging story. . .his fascinating and definitive book about IBM's founder is replete with amazing revelations and character lessons that resonate today."  By: Sara J. Moulton Reger List Price: $29.99 Amazon Price: $19.79 Editorial Review: "This is the book for people who never get past page two of a management book--it is as close as the genre comes to being a compulsive page turner. Its main thesis is built on at least three big ideas that are individually persuasive and cumulatively compelling. They naturally fit into an alignment tool that is applied to the range of day-to-day and exceptional challenges all enterprises face, including the Holy Grail of transformational change." --Donald Macrae, general counsel and chief knowledge officer, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, England "Having been in the business of cultural transformation and alignment for many years, I've carefully looked for a thoughtful strategy and an intentional approach to bringing about healthy and thriving cultures. Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? is simply the best--it is the most thoughtful and practical work I've seen in this growing and critical area. This is a must buy!" --Dr. Ron Jenson, Future Achievement International, international author, speaker, and consulting and executive coach "Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? is a superb account of how to manage the 'soft side' of mergers and acquisitions, but it has great value for managing many other new business practices as well, such as Open Innovation. It provides a powerful, practical method to identify conflicts, develop alignment, and achieve effective coordination between two parties that would be tremendously helpful in a variety of collaborative contexts, such as alliances, research partnerships, or joint ventures. Moulton Reger and her colleagues at IBM should be congratulated for a thoughtful, insightful book." --Henry Chesbrough, professor at University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business, author of Open Innovation "Numbers are neat and clean. Human beings are often messy and complex. If everyone in your organization knew what to do and when, how, where, and--most importantly--why to do it, how would your organizational culture be defined? The authors of Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? have introduced new ways to proactively address culture and, most importantly, tie it to bottom-line benefits." --James H. Amos, Jr., chairman emeritus, MBE/The UPS Store "This book is a must read for leaders hoping to change their organization's culture as well as those attempting to merge firms with uniquely different cultures. Moulton Reger's insights are grounded in theory and real-world experience.In this unique book, culture change is a complex concept broken down into bite-sized pieces and presented in a way that any leadership team can embrace at its own pace. " --Merrill J. Oster, author of Vision Driven Leadership, founder Oster Communications, Inc. "Here at last is a business book that takes culture seriously and isn't intimidated by it. The method described can be used with practically any type of business problem in any industry, and the book does an excellent job of drawing on research and theory while keeping the focus practical. The three elements of Outcome Narratives, Right vs. Right, and Business Practices are significant ideas in their own right--each is a unique insight. All three ideas have been around in various guises for several years, but have not been as well crystallized or as focused on complex business problems as they are in this book. The authors' achievement is extraordinary and goes a long way toward making the juicy idea of culture something to be built on and worked with." --Peter Vaill, professor, Antioch University "The Achilles heel for any major organizational change is that organization's culture.In every change, consultants talk about culture, but few provide specific sequential steps designed to actually do anything about it. This book provides such steps, and provides them in ways that makes sense. 'Makes sense' is the key because the steps provided can be easily adapted to virtually any organization, large or small." --George Falldine, Air Force civil servant, Air Force Materiel Command "Sara Moulton Reger is one of the premier organizational design consultants in the country, and this book reflects her in-depth knowledge of and experience with the subject matter. This book is essential reading for those striving to achieve greater results from ongoing change initiatives. Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? contains a broad range of concepts, examples, and specific steps culled from Moulton Reger's direct experience. Such a complete presentation of strategic and tactical advice makes Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? a mandatory addition to every manager's bookshelf."--Steven Bragg, CPA, author of twenty-eight business books, CFO of Premier Data Services "This is a serious book that gives intelligent guidance to anyone who leads an organization and takes creating and managing culture seriously. The section on Outcome Narratives is the best 'how to' on casting a unifying vision that I have seen. If you're a leader and take your role in creating and managing corporate culture seriously, then you should read this book." --Regi Campbell, principal, Seedsower Investments, author of About my Father's Business "I don't read most 'culture change' books--waste of time. This book is different. Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? combines both soft and hard approaches, with a continuous focus on how-to and results. Buy it. But, more importantly, read it." --Jack Grayson, founder and chairman, American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) "We used Right vs. Right to help integrate an important acquisition--one that brought many differences we needed to carefully leverage to achieve IBM's business objectives. I found it to be a powerful technique for quickly reconciling strategic views of the business model and different operating preferences.Now, a few months later, we have the business results--and employee satisfaction--to prove Right vs. Right works." --Jim Corgel, general manager, Small and Medium Business Services, IBM "Leaders wouldn't think about doing a major project without a plan and a project manager, but how many consider the cultural implications? This book fills a key void because it clarifies the topic of culture so that it is easier to understand, and includes examples for applying the framework to many types of situations, including business-to-business alliances and crossgeography teams." --Cindy Berger, vice president, American Express "There is no question that the biggest hurdle to achieving a successful merger is culture. Market opportunities may be staggering and synergies may seem perfect, but, without a cultural match, odds are the merged company will struggle. Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? can help you avoid the problems. Even if you are not contemplating a merger, Moulton Reger's deep insight provides an excellent management primer and interesting historical perspective. A worthwhile read." --John R.Patrick, author of Net Attitude, president of Attitude LLC "This is an excellent book that provides a pragmatic approach to identifying and alleviating cultural issues created when two groups of people must work together. Effectively blending business cultures is a key requirement for successful outsourcing, and most companies lack the tools necessary to do this. Companies looking to reduce outsourcing risk should follow IBM's Tangible Culture approach." --Lance Travis, vice president, Outsourcing Strategies, AMR Research "This book will help leaders and cultural-change practitioners take a practical, well-architected approach to creating the culture they need to support their strategies. Thanks, IBM, for sharing what you have learned from your own transformation." --Valerie Norton, vice president, Talent Management and Organizational Effectiveness, Merck & Co., Inc. "Based on IBM's own experience with organizational transformation and mergers, this book belongs on the reading list of any executive contemplating major changes to their business."-- Peter Richerson, professor, University of California Davis -- "Finally, a book that goes beyond just declaring 'it's the culture change' and gets to a real recount of why and how to move on that need. This is a practical approach for senior leaders in large corporations and government to address the most pressing issues in modern business life!" --Kenneth I. Percell, executive director, Warner Robins Air Logistic Center "I like the way the authors move the idea of organization culture from intangible (values) to tangible and practical. They offer that culture can be viewed and changed by examining and discussing what people do. Using the techniques described in Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? will demystify culture clash." --Lynda Aiman-Smith, Ph.D., North Carolina State University "A must read for leaders charged with planning and executing major change initiatives involving a single organization or multiple organizations. The book is original, thoughtful, thorough, and pragmatic. The elements of Can Two Rights Make a Wrong? and their interrelationships that work to drive successful change are particularly beneficial.The authors demonstrate a hands-on grasp of this important subject and the related literature. The material is presented in a concise, easy-to-understand format, with lots of tables, charts, and illustrations to help guide the reader." --Stephen W. Brown, Edward M. Carson chair in services marketing, professor and executive director, Center for Services Leadership, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University "Many have observed that mergers and acquisitions will fail to achieve their goals without proper attention to human and cultural factors, but few have shown us the way to manage these factors in any meaningful way. This book takes up that challenge and delivers a real solution by identifying business practices as the crucial element of 'culture' that can make or break a merger or acquisition, and by providing a hands-on methodology for managing and aligning differences across cultures." --Marietta Baba, dean of the College of Social Science, professor of Anthropology, Michigan State University "Sara Moulton Reger's application of Business Practices, Right-vs. Right, and Outcome Narratives to business transformati...  By: Emerson W. PughLyle R. JohnsonJohn H. Palmer List Price: $75.00 Amazon Price: $75.00 Editorial Review: No new product offering has had greater impact on the computer industry than the IBM System/360. IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems describes the creation of this remarkable system and the developments it spawned, including its successor, System/370. The authors tell how System/360's widely-copied architecture came into being and how IBM failed in an effort to replace it ten years later with a bold development effort called FS, the Future System. Along the way they detail the development of many computer innovations still in use, among them semiconductor memories, the cache, floppy disks, and Winchester disk files. They conclude by looking at issues involved in managing research and development and striving for product leadership. While numerous anecdotal and fragmentary accounts of System/360 and System/370 development exist, this is the first comprehensive account, a result of research into IBM records, published reports, and interviews with over a hundred participants. Covering the period from about 1960 to 1975, it highlights such important topics as the gamble on hybrid circuits, conception and achievement of a unified product line, memory and storage developments, software support, unique problems at the high end of the line, monolithic integrated circuit developments, and the trend toward terminal-oriented systems. System/360 was developed during the transition from discrete transistors to integrated circuits at the crucial time when the major source of IBM's revenue was changed from punched-card equipment to electronic computer systems. As the authors point out, the key to the system's success was compatibility among its many models. So important was this to customers that System/370 and its successors have remained compatible with System/360. Many companies in fact chose to develop and market their own 360-370 compatible systems. System/360 also spawned an entire industry dedicated to making plug-compatible products for attachment to it. The authors, all affiliated with IBM Research, are coauthors of IBM's Early Computers, a critically acclaimed technical history covering the period before 1960. |
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