A business and its beliefs
When first published in 1963, IBM CEO Thomas Watson Jr.'s A Business and Its Beliefs gave readers an unprecedented look inside IBM's executive offices. Watson--son of IBM's founder-- candidly discussed how the company clung to its values during the first great technological shift, and how this refusal to compromise became IBM's strength. He also became one of the first CEOs to question business's place and responsibility in society, and openly discuss how firms could meet expanding social expectations while still turning a profit. The groundbreaking ideas in this book still resonate with today's managers. This newly published edition reintroduces Watson's ideas to a new generation of decision-makers in search of IBM-style standards for their own organizations. A to-the-point examination of the values and beliefs that built and sustained IBM, its message is as valuable today as it was four decades back--and will once again strike a resounding chord with executives everywhere.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
6mentions
2people
2018–2026years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Conquest of Mind
A Business and its Beliefs
On Tyranny
- They should read "A Business and its Beliefs", which advocates for the core tenets being
1. Respect for the individual
2. Service to the customer
3. Excellence must be a way of life
4. The goal is individual thought and individual action
- A Business and its Beliefs
Conquest of Mind
- Thomas Watson, Jr.'s A Business and Its Beliefs was published in 1963 and makes no allusion to the S/360 work. It makes for curious reading today, for unrelated reasons.
- With a bit of looking, you can find A Business and Its Beliefs by Thomas J. Watson, Jr., published as part of the McKinsey lecture series. He does cite the UNIVAC as the shock that made IBM understand what it had to do.
Unfortunately, the lectures were delivered before the S/360 was announced. It would have been interesting to read what he had to say about that.
- Conquest of Mind, A Business and its Beliefs, several sales books as a technical founder
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