This work explains that IBM’s success is due to its culture of “THINK,” more specifically to “think,” “learn,” and “take action,” based on data and practical thoughtfulness. Applying these “exhortations” to customer suggestions created the perfect combination of technology/engineering and sales/customer knowledge.

The book is filled not merely with Chandlerian-style corporate history, but is also flavored with interesting (and important) facts. For example, by 1920, for the first time in history, most of the US population lived in cities rather than the countryside.

The book describes how IBM profited during the Great Depression (as opposed to being crushed). Certainly there were new products, low costs, and an increase in productivity and teamwork, but above all there was the sales expansion to new markets, both outside the US and domestically, when president Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, which demanded computing power from many companies and enterprises. The author also describes how IBM played a significant role during the Cold War, as well as the computing efforts associated with communism.

Later chapters provide an entertaining description of IBM’s defense against antitrust lawsuits, which lasted for over a decade in the 1970s. The final chapters describe the latest evolution of IBM from hardware to software, that is, its transition to a company of services and consulting.

Note that although the author is a former IBM employee, the book manages to remain unbiased and clear.

I strongly recommend this book for people interested in the history of computing and the history of computing companies--really, history in general.

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