Word: ibm
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Aggressive Ideal. Learson, whose present yacht is named Nepenthe (says he: "She's the Greek goddess who induces a pleasurable sensation of forgetful-ness"), went to work as a salesman for IBM immediately after graduating from Harvard in 1935. Offered a higher-paying job by competitor Remington Rand, Learson nonetheless chose IBM because its machines were electrical rather than mechanical. He rose to general sales manager at a crucial time. Learson still admits that parts of computer technology are "over my head," but in the early 1950s he and Tom Jr. strenuously argued, against the elder Watson...
...global standard. In the supposedly languid Orient, industrial Japan adheres to a Germanic punctuality, while mainland China moves at a much brisker pace than it did before the Communist revolution. In Latin countries, even the siesta may one day yield to technological advance and a yearning for managerial efficiency. IBM, alas, has yet to invent a computer that grows drowsy after a heavy, wine-laden lunch-or unplugs itself for a 4 o'clock dalliance and an exchange of punch cards with a Univac down the hall...
OTTO ECKSTEIN, Harvard professor and former member of the Council of Economic Advisers. DAVID GROVE, vice president and chief economist of IBM...
Watson's note, sent to IBM managers, warned that "too many of our people are beginning to exceed the bounds of common sense in their business attire." Because "the midstream of executive appearance is generally far behind the leading edge of fashion," he continued, modish threads might well offend potential IBM customers...
Recognizing that he ran "the risk of appearing arbitrary," said IBM's chairman, he nonetheless had decided to give each manager "the responsibility to establish and enforce conservative dress and appearance standards." Watson did not dictate a specific uniform, but to most employees his message was clear: back to the button-downs. The sartorial retrenchment at IBM, so the story goes, was inspired by a young man in hippie clothes who happened to catch Watson's eye one day in a bank. When Watson asked a bank official why he permitted employees to dress that...