Maverick And His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. And The Making Of Ibm Hardcover. - 2003
by Maney, Kevin
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
The first complete look at one of America's legendary business leaders, this groundbreaking biography offers fresh insight and new information on one of the twentieth century's greatest business figures--Thomas J. Watson.
Description
Standard delivery: 7 to 14 days
Details
- Title Maverick And His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. And The Making Of Ibm
- Author Maney, Kevin
- Binding Hardcover.
- Edition 1st Printing
- Condition Used - Vg/Vg Faint Wear & Edgewear To Dj. Pages Clean & Tight. Pages: 485.
- Pages 512
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.
- Date 2003
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Illustrated, Index, Table of Contents
- Bookseller's Inventory # MASTER342796I
- ISBN 9780471414636 / 0471414638
- Weight 1.94 lbs (0.88 kg)
- Dimensions 9.06 x 6.36 x 1.58 in (23.01 x 16.15 x 4.01 cm)
- Library of Congress subjects Computer industry - United States - History, International Business Machines Corporation
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2002014047
- Dewey Decimal Code B
About Vintage-Books Washington, United States
Welcome to Vintage Books, an independent family owned bookstore and mail order business. We have been serving book-lovers and auto enthusiasts for 35 years. We've always put our priority where our hearts are: the best book selection we can offer and the most knowledgeable, dedicated staff. Our staff are all passionate readers-- the diversity of our preferences can be seen on our "staff choices" shelves. We work hard to make your book buying experience easy, and treat your books with the care we would treat our own. If you were to visit our physical store, you will find us to be pretty low key. Plain pine bookcases, old rugs, old chairs and a small couch in the children's area. Blank vertical surfaces are covered with old ads, sayings, booklists and displayed books. We are unable to list our extensive selection of used paperbacks, some of the automotive items and hardbacks on-line, because our inventory changes daily.
Please indicate your preferred shipping method! Orders within the continental USA are shipped via media mail, unless otherwise arranged by you. We can also ship via USPS Priority Mail (uninsured).
Because of the USA situation with COVID and issues with USPS, we are currently shipping to USA addresses only.
If no shipping method is requested, we will ship via media mail (US Only). Washington state residents MUST add sales tax as per your local rate. All shipments are packed as carefully as possible. Larger books will cost more to ship Returns: You must notify us and return the book to us within 10 business days to receive a refund, with the item the same condition as when shipped. Shipping costs will not be refunded.
Summary
From the publisher
First line
From the rear cover
IBM is one of the most successful companies in American history; it ushered in the Information Age and dominated the information industry for more than seventy years. Yet the builder of IBM has never been thoroughly examined and brought to life. Now, award-winning journalist Kevin Maney, using thousands of documents never before made public, reveals the lasting achievement of the man who forever changed the world of business.
Watson was the rare businessman who transcended business. His fame and power echoes that of Microsoft's Bill Gates today and Standard Oil's John D. Rockefeller in an earlier age. Watson, in fact, created the role of the celebrity CEO. On a grander scale, Watson invented the modern concept of the corporate culture, and proved its power to make a company great.
Watson's story plays out on a global stage, intersecting with the major events and people of his time. A business failure as a young man, he rocketed to the top levels of National Cash Register before a federal antitrust trial nearly brought down NCR and seemingly crushed his career. The moment forever shaped Watson's business sensibilities and drove him to reinvent the American corporation. In 1914, he took charge of a struggling little entity called the Computer-Tabulating-Recording Company, infused it with his values, his competitive drive, and his personality quirks, and transformed it into International Business Machines-IBM.
Over and over, Watson made daring bets and won, each time vaulting IBM to a new level of size and power. In the 1920s, when information wasn't obviously going to become a big industry, he bet IBM's future on tabulating machines-the mechanical forerunners to computers.
In the Depression of the 1930s, Watson pumped money into R&D and kept factories running while most companies slashed budgets and jobs. When Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal created massive information demands, IBM was ready to fill them. The company's growth exploded, and Watson became the highest-paid American.
In his later years, Watson's life took a Shakespearean turn. He struggled with his son for power, and stayed on at IBM into his eighties, endangering the empire he'd built. He became entangled in controversy by accepting a medal from Nazi Germany, a mistake that haunts his legacy today. In the late 1940s, Watson and Thomas Watson, Jr. guided IBM through the torturous transition from mechanical technology to electronic computers.
With exceptional detail that takes the reader inside business meetings in Watson's office and into his relationships with presidents, business leaders, employees, and family members, Maney tracks Watson's rise from obscure cash register salesman to household name. Maney examines the profound impact Watson had on modern companies, the business lessons learned, and the personal motivations that spurred Watson's frantic energy and inexhaustible drive for success. The Maverick and His Machine for the first time reveals the true character of the man whose visionary leadership laid the foundation for the computer revolution.
Categories
Media reviews
Citations
- Business Week, 05/12/2003, Page 18
- Harvard Business Review, 05/01/2003, Page 24
- Library Journal, 06/15/2003, Page 81
- Publishers Weekly, 03/17/2003, Page 61