Thomas J. Watson and the Business-Government Relationship, 1933–1956

Stebenne, David

doi:10.1017/s1467222700014294

Enterp. soc.

2005

DOI: 10.1017/s1467222700014294

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Thomas J. Watson and the Business-Government Relationship, 1933–1956

David Stebenne¹

Abstract: The precise nature of the relationship between the American business community and the New Deal has been a lively topic of debate in recent years. This article looks at an important figure and firm in that relationship (Thomas J. Watson of IBM) to increase our understanding of it. This article focuses chronologically on the period from the early 1930s through the mid-1950s, when New-Deal-era public policy innovations were most influential. The overall picture that emerges from this study of the U.S. business-g… Show more

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Cited by 4 publications

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IBM Rebuilds Europe: The Curious Case of the Transnational Typewriter

Paju¹,

Haigh²

2015

Enterp. Soc.

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In the decade after the Second World War IBM rebuilt its European operations as integrated, wholly owned subsidiaries of its World Trade Corporation, chartered in 1949. Long before the European common market eliminated trade barriers, IBM created its own internal networks of trade, allocating the production of different components and products between its new subsidiaries. Their exchange relationships were managed centrally to ensure that no European subsidiary was a consistent net importer. At the heart of this system were eight national electric typewriter plants, each assembling parts produced by other European countries. IBM promoted these transnational typewriters as symbols of a new and peaceful Europe and its leader, Thomas J. Watson, Sr., was an enthusiastic supporter of early European moves toward economic integration. We argue that IBM’s humble typewriter and its innovative system of distributed manufacturing laid the groundwork for its later domination of the European computer business and provided a model for the development of transnational European institutions.

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IBM Rebuilds Europe: The Curious Case of the Transnational Typewriter

Paju¹,

Haigh²

2015

Enterp. Soc.

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Cousins Once Removed? Revisiting the Relationship between Oral History and Business History

Crawford

Bailey²

2019

Enterp. Soc.

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This article analyses the evolving relationship between mainstream oral history and business oral history, and explores the ways in which the latter has been deployed and discussed in business history journals. Business historians have, until relatively recently, tended to utilize oral history as a means to fill gaps in the archive. Interviews thus made important contributions to business history studies, but much of their potential remained untapped. Recent critical engagement with issues of methodology and interpretation has seen a discernible shift in the ways that oral history is being understood by business historians. This article outlines this evolution and the possibilities that it raises for both business and oral history.

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Red, White, and “Big Blue”: IBM and the Business-Government Interface in the United States, 1956–2000

Hart¹

2007

Enterp. soc.

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This article describes the evolution of IBM's effort to manage its relationships with the U.S. government from the time that Thomas Watson, Jr. became CEO. While the Watson family controlled the firm, the family members served as the main bridges between IBM and the government. This personalized approach began to give way in the 1960s, as the intensity and scope of pressure from the firm's political environment grew beyond the capability of any individual to handle. During the 1970s and 1980s, IBM constructed a managerial hierarchy, with a newly opened Washington office at its center, which could gather more detailed intelligence and execute more sophisticated political strategies. The firm's crisis in the early 1990s provoked a second major restructuring of the interface, as IBM became more of a Washington “special interest.” Yet, some traces of the Watson imprint remained, even in the Gerstner era. Tracing IBM's evolution helps us to understand better the broader interactions between U.S. firms and their environments in this period. These interactions entailed adaptation by firms to environmental change but also efforts by firms to exert control over external forces, including public policy.

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Thomas J. Watson and the Business-Government Relationship, 1933–1956

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

IBM Rebuilds Europe: The Curious Case of the Transnational Typewriter

IBM Rebuilds Europe: The Curious Case of the Transnational Typewriter

Cousins Once Removed? Revisiting the Relationship between Oral History and Business History

Red, White, and “Big Blue”: IBM and the Business-Government Interface in the United States, 1956–2000

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