DISCERNING READERS
  • Home
  • About
  • Books / Bibliography
    • THINK Again! >
      • Preface
      • Foreword
      • Introduction
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • A View from Beneath >
      • Preface
      • Resource Actions >
        • Two R.A. Days Hit Home
        • R.A. Day Kills Productivity
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • The World's Greatest Salesman >
      • Preface
      • Introduction
      • Workplace Safety
      • Images and Quotes
      • Book Trailers / Videos
    • Essays on Leadership >
      • Democracy in Business
      • We Are All Assistants >
        • Frank Venner: We Are All Assistants
      • We Forgive Thoughtful Mistakes
    • Bibliography Overview >
      • IBM >
        • IBM Books >
          • IBM Classics
          • IBM Executives' Books
          • IBM Employees' Books
          • IBM Outsiders' Books
        • IBM Publications >
          • THINK Magazine
          • Business Machines
          • IBM Heart and Soul >
            • Endicott Memorial Day
            • Poughkeepsie Memorial Day
          • IBM Art Books
        • IBM Situational
      • Industrialists >
        • Anthologies >
          • The Book of Business
          • New Ideals in Business
          • Master Workers' Library
          • The Age of Big Business
          • Famous Leaders Series Home Page >
            • Leaders of Character
            • Leaders of Industry: 1st Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 2nd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 3rd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 6th Series
          • Forbes' Anthologies
        • Armour, J. Ogden >
          • The Packers
          • The Packers: Second Look
        • Baldwin, William H.
        • Beatty, Edward
        • Bell, Alexander Graham
        • Carnegie, Andrew >
          • Carnegie Quotes
          • Carnegie Autobiography
          • Carnegie Biography by B. J. Hendrick
          • Round the World
          • The Empire of Business
          • An American Four-in-Hand
        • Eastman, George
        • Edison, Thomas A. >
          • Edison: His Life and Inventions
          • Edison: My Friend
        • Farquhar, A. B.
        • Filene, Edward A. >
          • The Way Out >
            • Captains of Industry vs. Captains of Finance
          • Successful Living >
            • Rules of Success
        • Firestone, Harvey S. >
          • Men and Rubber
          • Making an Organization
        • Flint, Charles R.
        • Ford, Henry >
          • Books by Henry Ford
          • The Last Billionaire
        • Gary, Elbert H.
        • Guggenheim, William
        • Hill, James J.
        • Hollerith, Herman
        • Johnson, George F.
        • Patterson, John H.
        • Penney, James C. >
          • Fifty Years With the Golden Rule
        • Procter, William C.
        • Rockefeller Sr., John D.
        • Rosenwald, Julius
        • Sloan Jr., Alfred P.
        • Swope, Gerard >
          • Swope of G.E.
          • The Swope Plan
          • Selected Addresses
        • Verity, George M. >
          • True Steel
          • Character & Success
        • Wanamaker, John >
          • A Business Biography
          • Retail Firsts
        • Watson Jr., Thomas J. >
          • A Business and Its Beliefs
          • Management Briefings
          • Father, Son & Company
        • Watson Sr., Thomas J. >
          • Human Relations
          • Men-Minutes-Money
          • The Lengthening Shadow
        • Young, Owen D. >
          • Selected Addresses
          • New Industrial Leader
      • Capitalists >
        • Baruch, Bernard M. >
          • My Own Story
          • The Public Years >
            • A Review
            • Second Thoughts
        • Schiff, Jacob H.
      • Journalists >
        • Baker, Ray Stannard >
          • Autobiography
          • The Color Line
          • Woodrow Wilson
        • Crowther, Samuel >
          • Articles >
            • Bantam Ball Bearing
          • Biographies
          • Industrialist Anthology
        • Gunther, John >
          • Eisenhower
        • Steffens, Lincoln
        • Sullivan, Mark >
          • Overview
          • Our Times
        • Tarbell, Ida M. >
          • Overview
          • Lincoln Centennial
          • Lincoln Publications
          • Corporate Publications
          • Fiction Publications
          • Other Publications
      • Publishers >
        • Forbes, B. C. >
          • Men Who Are Making America
          • Men Who Are Making the West
          • Automotive Giants of America
          • Little Bits about Big Men
          • America's 50 Foremost Business Leaders
          • Scrapbook of Thoughts on Business of Life
          • America's Twelve Master Salesmen
          • 101 Unusual Experiences
        • Shaw, A. W. >
          • Handling Men >
            • Why We Are Hiring Women
          • The Companion Series
      • Politicians >
        • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
        • Hoover, Herbert >
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • The Problems of Lasting Peace
        • Lincoln, Abraham
        • Mesta, Perle
        • Roosevelt, Teddy
        • Wilson, Woodrow >
          • The New Freedom
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Life and Letters >
            • Volume IV: President
            • Volume V: Neutrality
            • Volume VI: Facing War
          • Woodrow Wilson's Last Words
      • Educators >
        • Booker T. Washington >
          • Up From Slavery
          • Character Building
    • Research Sites
    • Acknowledgements
  • 21st Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • Comparing KPIs
      • Brand Performance >
        • Forbes' Best Employer
      • Patent Performance >
        • 2021 Patent Performance
        • 2020 Patent Performance
        • 2019 Patent Performance
        • 2018 Patent Performance
      • Revenue Performance
    • Corporate Practices >
      • Acquisitions >
        • Acquisition: Red Hat >
          • A $35 Billion Gamble
          • IBM + Red Hat 2019 Results
        • Acquisitions: Goodwill
        • Acquisitions: Since 2001
      • Centralization >
        • A Lost Federation
        • The Need to Decentralize
      • Divestitures >
        • Kyndryl Analysis
        • Kyndryl Top Questions
        • Martin Schroeter
      • Employees >
        • Resource Actions
        • Age Discrimination >
          • Cutting Old Heads
        • Employee Engagement
        • Aren't Buying Into IBM
        • Massive Work Slowdown
        • Failure of Work at Home
      • Financial Engineering >
        • Workforce Rebalancing
        • Aggressive Bookkeeping
      • Shareholders >
        • Share Buybacks
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Employee Engagement
        • Warren Buffett's Mistake
        • Do Share Buybacks Work?
    • CEO Performance >
      • Arvind Krishna Overview >
        • Overall Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Employment Security
        • First Year Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Share Buybacks
        • The First 100 Days
      • Ginni Rometty Overview >
        • Shareholder Value
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Share Buybacks
        • Dividend Strategy
        • Acquisition Strategy
        • Revenue & Profit Productivity
        • Revenue & Profit Growth
        • Revenue & Profit
  • 20th Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • IBM's Greatest CEO >
        • Shareholder Returns
        • Revenue Growth
        • Revenue Per Employee
        • Profit Growth
        • Profit Per Employee
        • Market Value
        • Goodwill
        • Economic Contractions
        • Economic Expansions
        • Stock Market Headwinds
        • CEO Historic Footnotes >
          • IBM's Founding Team
          • Financial Engineering
          • The Greatest Gamble
    • Corporate Practices >
      • IBM Anniversaries
      • IBM Benefits
      • IBM Creativity >
        • IBM Cartoons
        • IBM Song Books
        • IBM UK Dictionary
        • IBM Computing Dictionary
      • IBM Wild Ducks >
        • The Wild Goose
        • Royal Dissenters
        • Corporate Constitution
        • Respect for the Individual
        • Service to the Customer
        • Pursuit of Excellence
    • Corporate Products >
      • 1890: U.S. Census
      • 1920: Dayton Scales
      • 1940: The Electromatic
    • Thomas J. Watson Sr. >
      • Articles by Watson >
        • On World Peace
        • On the Cost of War
        • On Public Education
        • On Thomas Jefferson
        • On Thoughtful Mistakes
        • On Stakeholder Relations
      • Articles about Watson >
        • The $1,000-A-Day Chief Executive Officer
        • Employees are Valued
        • Democracy's Man o' War
        • Human Relations in 1956
        • A CEO Who Earned His Pay
        • The Lengthening Shadow
      • Slice of Life Stories >
        • Dali, Salvador
        • Drucker, Peter F. >
          • Authority and Power
          • Short-Term Thinking
          • A Corporate Culture
          • Raising Business Issues
          • Focus on Principles
          • Character and Manners
          • Knowledge Workers
          • Recognizing Ability
          • Individual Respect
          • Employee Paternalism
        • Eastman, George
        • Penney, J. C. (James Cash) >
          • Watson Homestead
          • Golden Rule Businesses
        • Fighting Discrimination
      • Pre-World War II >
        • A Lost Dream of Peace
        • USO Camp Show Founder
      • World War II Effort >
        • Selling War Bonds
        • Production Awards
        • Controlling Profits
        • Machine Records Units
        • Wartime Contributions
        • Widows & Orphans Fund
        • Declaring Human Rights
        • Supporting Home Morale
        • Employee Military Service
        • War's End & Reconversion
      • Post-World War II >
        • Endicott Memorial
        • Poughkeepsie Memorial
        • Rehiring WWII Veterans
      • A Pajama Party
      • A 1943 Tax Problem
      • The Story of "THINK"
      • A Gift of Retirement
      • Learning from Crises
      • IBM Employee Housing >
        • Construction Timeline
      • Two Journalists "THINK"
      • A Buddy Davis Interview
      • Quotes of Watson
      • Quotes about Watson
      • Women in the Workplace
      • A Successful Rebranding
      • Tom Watson's Wild Ducks
  • Articles
    • Corporate Articles >
      • High-Performance Corporations
      • The Art of the Restart
      • Crises, Recoveries & Lessons Learned
      • Strategy Should Create Human Relationships
      • A Time-Tested Corporate Constitution
      • IBM, JC Penney and The Golden Rule
      • How IBM Created its 20th Century Brand
      • The Greatest Business Risk of the 20th Century
      • How to Grow a Business
      • The Importance of Sales Productivity
      • How Much Is a Great CEO Worth
      • Let Your Guard Down
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Witticism
      • The Golden Rule in Business
      • Who and What Built Early American Capitalism
      • Capitalism Needs Industrialist Minded CEOs
      • Producing Corporate True Steel
      • CEO Perspectives >
        • Rules of Success
        • Top Employee Qualities
        • Industrialist vs. Capitalist
      • An Open Letter to the World's CEOs
      • Henry Ford Takes Control
      • The Razor Blade Business Model
      • Two Successful 20th Century Businesswomen
      • Sears: A Dead Franchise Walking
      • A LinkedIn Incognito Mode
      • Value a College Education
    • Political Articles >
      • Political Witticisms
      • Memorial Day
      • Pursuing The "American Way"
      • America: Home of the Brave
      • Securing the Borders of the Americas
      • General Grant's Stand for Justice
      • America's Heartland Stands Strong
      • The New Freedom
      • Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism
    • Spiritual Articles >
      • Inauguration Day Prayer
      • Wilson's Last Words
      • Spiritual Songs
    • Fiction Articles >
      • A Father's Love
      • Introducing a Friend to God
      • Hyphenated Relationships
  • Contact
  • Blog

The Golden Rule of Business

Two 20th Century Corporations' Golden Rule

Published June 8, 2021
Image of IBM and Penney's: Two corporations that followed the Golden Rule in the 20th Century.
Two men—J. C. (James Cash) Penney and Thomas J. Watson Sr.—from uniquely different backgrounds founded two of the 20th Century’s greatest corporate brands. ​These two men seemed unlikely kindred spirits. Yet operating independent of, and unknown to each other until later in life, they built two unique business brands—one in retail and one in business machines—on the same belief system: treat customers, employees, shareholders and society the way you want to be treated.
How Two Corporations Built their 20th Century Brands
  • James Cash Penney and the J.C. Penney Company
  • Thomas J. Watson Sr. and IBM
  • Applying the Golden Rule to Business
  • Two Businesses Based on a Common Belief System
  • Similar Dreams of a Different Gold
  • A Story of Motivation

 James Cash Penney
In 1902, Penney started his economic life with borrowed money invested in a store in Kemmerer, Wyoming—a town of one thousand people. He lived with his family for more than a year in that store’s unfinished attic—where shipping crates were used as chairs and a table, and an adult could only stand tall in the center of the room.

​Over the following twenty-three years, the J. C. Penney Company grew from its single-store, first-year sales of $29,000 to 571 stores generating $75,000,000 annually.
Image of the J C Penney's Golden Rule Store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
See copyright restrictions below
 Thomas J. Watson Sr.
In 1914, Watson Sr restarted his economic life by traveling between the population hubs of the northeast. He had just been fired as NCR’s general manager, convicted of violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, become a father, and was now entrusted with leading a young, demoralized corporation that was deep in debt.

​From the outset he enforced his moral code of business conduct and finally, after a decade, changed the company’s name to match his aspirations—International Business Machines (IBM).
 Applying the Golden Rule to Business
During the Great Depression both Watson and Penney stabilized their democratic political system by creating jobs. They experienced two world wars fought with the hope of ending all wars; the first of which resulted in 23,000,000 dead and 23,000,000 wounded or missing—the equivalent of 174,000,000 men, women and children today. Only the seven countries of China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria and the United States have larger populations. If fought today, more than 1 out of every 2 men, women and children in the U.S. would be killed, maimed or missing; or whole nations obliterated in multiples of 5 or 10.

​Likely, because of these experiences they sought to run their organizations with a single unifying principle of do unto others as you would have them do unto you—applying the Golden Rule to their businesses.
Image of two orphans during the Great Depression.
National Archives and Records Administration
 Two Businesses Based on a Common Belief System
​As the J. C. Penney Company grew, pictures proliferated of Penney with his customers and employees. And in the background of many—emblazoned on posters like Watson Sr.’s THINK—was “The Golden Rule.” In a personal memo, today darkened with age, Penney counseled a pastor on the fundamentals of human relationships.
“We need to have firm faiths, which can inspire and effectively guide us. As I see it, these needed faiths, broadly speaking, are three in number: first and foremost, a trust in God—in the power of His goodness, which is bound to be victorious; second, a full confidence in the golden rule—the fundamental ethical principle for human relations enunciated in various ways by eleven of the world’s major religions; and third, a reliance on the soundness of our American way of life—as expressed in the United States Constitution.”
J. C. Penney, July 1954, to an unnamed pastor
​​One gets the impression that he sent similar letters to many of the religious leaders of his day.

The golden rule also underpinned many of Watson Sr.’s writings. It was the major unifying philosophy in four articles he penned within two short years of each other: The Essence of Civilization, The Heart of Peace, Moral Law and Human Relations. In the last of these articles on human relationships he summed up the personal philosophy that permeated his business:
​“The simple rule to follow in all human relations is the Golden Rule. This rule applies to all human relations, great as well as small… The Golden Rule is a rule of justice between men and between nations.”
Thomas J. Watson Sr., Human Relations, Think Magazine August 1943
To Watson Sr., a thinking human being would sooner or later believe in human relationships based on the golden rule.
 Similar Dreams of a Different Gold
Picture of James Cash Penney at his desk.
James Cash Penney working at his office in his own personal style
​The relationship between J. C. Penney and Watson Sr. started late in their lives. Watson was a manufacturer; Penney, a retailer. Watson sought out the international spotlight; Penney did not. Watson was comfortable in the presence of royalty, actors and presidents; Penney looked most comfortable in one of his stores chatting with an employee or elderly customer.
​Watson was always dressed impeccably; Penney was dressed reasonably. Watson was a staunch supporter of FDR; Penney wrote to congratulate their new president but he did not vote for him. Watson left the Republican party to join the Democrats; Penney reversed that direction.
​​In outward externals there wasn’t much common ground between the two men
​Yet, even with so many differences, there was one unifying terrain they both inhabited that was stronger than all others–they both lived by one philosophy that defined their lives and determined how they ran their businesses.
 A Story of Motivation
​On the occasion of the dedication of the Watson Memorial Homestead, Penney spoke of the late Watson Sr. to almost 2,000 people. He asked them, “Have you ever been able to resist becoming a ‘sidewalk superintendent’ when a group of men is at work in the street, particularly in a large hole?”
​He then told this story:
Picture of Tom Watson Sr. at his desk.
Tom Watson working at his desk in his own personal style
A young fellow taking a breather during his lunch hour joined a crowd by the barriers surrounding a deep excavation. He leaned over and watched with lazy interest the workers below who were digging frantically in one corner. The conversation around him soon made it clear that there had been a cave-in, and a worker was trapped.

Suddenly, one of the diggers looked up, recognized the young man, and shouted: “Bob! It’s your brother Bill we’re digging out!” As you can imagine, Bob was immediately transformed from a nonchalant watcher to an eager volunteer. It was his brother in mortal danger and that made all the difference!

​Do you see why my friend Tom Watson thought and acted as he did? He recognized in all men, his brothers. That simple, yet profound, thought governed his life and work. This was the foundation for his fair dealing with customers, employees and associates.” 
 [See Footnote #1]

America’s future depends on leaders following the golden rule. This was a unique 20th Century friendship between two men of dissimilar backgrounds but shared environments who, late in life, discovered their common ground. Here were two businessmen, in two different industries that built two of the most recognizable brands of their century. Theirs was a friendship, two businesses and thousands of human relationships based on a single rule—a golden rule.
​
Even though this century’s corporate leadership faces different externals from those of T. J. Watson and J. C. Penney, the great corporations to come will arise from leaders—followed by those—with similar dreams of a different gold.

[Footnote #1] The entire tribute of J.C. Penney to Tom Watson can be read on this website: [here]. The copyright for this letter and James Cash Penney images are with the DeGolyer Library. Tracing Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s history is quite difficult since IBM has never made his personal papers available to the general public. It is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack to find information of the time and document communications between his close associates. One of his peers was J. C. Penney. Mr. Penney's papers are stored at the DeGolyer Library, SMU. Usage of these materials in part or in whole requires their permission. Nothing on this page may be used to any degree without their permission.

Return to Corporate 101 Articles Home Page
© 2022 Peter E. Greulich. All Rights Reserved
​
Information posted on this site recognizes the legal right of copyrighted material. The following material is considered in the public domain effective January 1, 2022: (1) works published in the United States prior to 1927, (2) works published in the United States after 1926 but before 1964 with a proper © copyright notice that were not renewed in their 28th year, and (3) works published in the United States before 1978 that have no © copyright notice, and (4) all unpublished works created over 120 years ago. Other documents used here that do not fit these criteria are used in good faith and a belief that such usage would withstand a test of fair use. Any concerns with the public domain or fair usage of material on this site will be removed until a discussion can resolve the matter with its permanent removal or republication. Just use the "Contact" menu item above or the "Contact Us" hyperlink provided here: [Contact Us]
  • Home
  • About
  • Books / Bibliography
    • THINK Again! >
      • Preface
      • Foreword
      • Introduction
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • A View from Beneath >
      • Preface
      • Resource Actions >
        • Two R.A. Days Hit Home
        • R.A. Day Kills Productivity
      • Business Talk Interview
      • Book Trailers and Videos
    • The World's Greatest Salesman >
      • Preface
      • Introduction
      • Workplace Safety
      • Images and Quotes
      • Book Trailers / Videos
    • Essays on Leadership >
      • Democracy in Business
      • We Are All Assistants >
        • Frank Venner: We Are All Assistants
      • We Forgive Thoughtful Mistakes
    • Bibliography Overview >
      • IBM >
        • IBM Books >
          • IBM Classics
          • IBM Executives' Books
          • IBM Employees' Books
          • IBM Outsiders' Books
        • IBM Publications >
          • THINK Magazine
          • Business Machines
          • IBM Heart and Soul >
            • Endicott Memorial Day
            • Poughkeepsie Memorial Day
          • IBM Art Books
        • IBM Situational
      • Industrialists >
        • Anthologies >
          • The Book of Business
          • New Ideals in Business
          • Master Workers' Library
          • The Age of Big Business
          • Famous Leaders Series Home Page >
            • Leaders of Character
            • Leaders of Industry: 1st Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 2nd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 3rd Series
            • Leaders of Industry: 6th Series
          • Forbes' Anthologies
        • Armour, J. Ogden >
          • The Packers
          • The Packers: Second Look
        • Baldwin, William H.
        • Beatty, Edward
        • Bell, Alexander Graham
        • Carnegie, Andrew >
          • Carnegie Quotes
          • Carnegie Autobiography
          • Carnegie Biography by B. J. Hendrick
          • Round the World
          • The Empire of Business
          • An American Four-in-Hand
        • Eastman, George
        • Edison, Thomas A. >
          • Edison: His Life and Inventions
          • Edison: My Friend
        • Farquhar, A. B.
        • Filene, Edward A. >
          • The Way Out >
            • Captains of Industry vs. Captains of Finance
          • Successful Living >
            • Rules of Success
        • Firestone, Harvey S. >
          • Men and Rubber
          • Making an Organization
        • Flint, Charles R.
        • Ford, Henry >
          • Books by Henry Ford
          • The Last Billionaire
        • Gary, Elbert H.
        • Guggenheim, William
        • Hill, James J.
        • Hollerith, Herman
        • Johnson, George F.
        • Patterson, John H.
        • Penney, James C. >
          • Fifty Years With the Golden Rule
        • Procter, William C.
        • Rockefeller Sr., John D.
        • Rosenwald, Julius
        • Sloan Jr., Alfred P.
        • Swope, Gerard >
          • Swope of G.E.
          • The Swope Plan
          • Selected Addresses
        • Verity, George M. >
          • True Steel
          • Character & Success
        • Wanamaker, John >
          • A Business Biography
          • Retail Firsts
        • Watson Jr., Thomas J. >
          • A Business and Its Beliefs
          • Management Briefings
          • Father, Son & Company
        • Watson Sr., Thomas J. >
          • Human Relations
          • Men-Minutes-Money
          • The Lengthening Shadow
        • Young, Owen D. >
          • Selected Addresses
          • New Industrial Leader
      • Capitalists >
        • Baruch, Bernard M. >
          • My Own Story
          • The Public Years >
            • A Review
            • Second Thoughts
        • Schiff, Jacob H.
      • Journalists >
        • Baker, Ray Stannard >
          • Autobiography
          • The Color Line
          • Woodrow Wilson
        • Crowther, Samuel >
          • Articles >
            • Bantam Ball Bearing
          • Biographies
          • Industrialist Anthology
        • Gunther, John >
          • Eisenhower
        • Steffens, Lincoln
        • Sullivan, Mark >
          • Overview
          • Our Times
        • Tarbell, Ida M. >
          • Overview
          • Lincoln Centennial
          • Lincoln Publications
          • Corporate Publications
          • Fiction Publications
          • Other Publications
      • Publishers >
        • Forbes, B. C. >
          • Men Who Are Making America
          • Men Who Are Making the West
          • Automotive Giants of America
          • Little Bits about Big Men
          • America's 50 Foremost Business Leaders
          • Scrapbook of Thoughts on Business of Life
          • America's Twelve Master Salesmen
          • 101 Unusual Experiences
        • Shaw, A. W. >
          • Handling Men >
            • Why We Are Hiring Women
          • The Companion Series
      • Politicians >
        • Eisenhower, Dwight D.
        • Hoover, Herbert >
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • The Problems of Lasting Peace
        • Lincoln, Abraham
        • Mesta, Perle
        • Roosevelt, Teddy
        • Wilson, Woodrow >
          • The New Freedom
          • The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson
          • Life and Letters >
            • Volume IV: President
            • Volume V: Neutrality
            • Volume VI: Facing War
          • Woodrow Wilson's Last Words
      • Educators >
        • Booker T. Washington >
          • Up From Slavery
          • Character Building
    • Research Sites
    • Acknowledgements
  • 21st Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • Comparing KPIs
      • Brand Performance >
        • Forbes' Best Employer
      • Patent Performance >
        • 2021 Patent Performance
        • 2020 Patent Performance
        • 2019 Patent Performance
        • 2018 Patent Performance
      • Revenue Performance
    • Corporate Practices >
      • Acquisitions >
        • Acquisition: Red Hat >
          • A $35 Billion Gamble
          • IBM + Red Hat 2019 Results
        • Acquisitions: Goodwill
        • Acquisitions: Since 2001
      • Centralization >
        • A Lost Federation
        • The Need to Decentralize
      • Divestitures >
        • Kyndryl Analysis
        • Kyndryl Top Questions
        • Martin Schroeter
      • Employees >
        • Resource Actions
        • Age Discrimination >
          • Cutting Old Heads
        • Employee Engagement
        • Aren't Buying Into IBM
        • Massive Work Slowdown
        • Failure of Work at Home
      • Financial Engineering >
        • Workforce Rebalancing
        • Aggressive Bookkeeping
      • Shareholders >
        • Share Buybacks
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Employee Engagement
        • Warren Buffett's Mistake
        • Do Share Buybacks Work?
    • CEO Performance >
      • Arvind Krishna Overview >
        • Overall Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Employment Security
        • First Year Performance >
          • Revenue & Profit
          • Revenue & Profit Growth
          • Revenue & Profit Productivity
          • IBM Market Value
          • Shareholder Returns & Risk
          • Share Buybacks
        • The First 100 Days
      • Ginni Rometty Overview >
        • Shareholder Value
        • Shareholder Risk
        • Share Buybacks
        • Dividend Strategy
        • Acquisition Strategy
        • Revenue & Profit Productivity
        • Revenue & Profit Growth
        • Revenue & Profit
  • 20th Century IBM
    • Corporate Performance >
      • IBM's Greatest CEO >
        • Shareholder Returns
        • Revenue Growth
        • Revenue Per Employee
        • Profit Growth
        • Profit Per Employee
        • Market Value
        • Goodwill
        • Economic Contractions
        • Economic Expansions
        • Stock Market Headwinds
        • CEO Historic Footnotes >
          • IBM's Founding Team
          • Financial Engineering
          • The Greatest Gamble
    • Corporate Practices >
      • IBM Anniversaries
      • IBM Benefits
      • IBM Creativity >
        • IBM Cartoons
        • IBM Song Books
        • IBM UK Dictionary
        • IBM Computing Dictionary
      • IBM Wild Ducks >
        • The Wild Goose
        • Royal Dissenters
        • Corporate Constitution
        • Respect for the Individual
        • Service to the Customer
        • Pursuit of Excellence
    • Corporate Products >
      • 1890: U.S. Census
      • 1920: Dayton Scales
      • 1940: The Electromatic
    • Thomas J. Watson Sr. >
      • Articles by Watson >
        • On World Peace
        • On the Cost of War
        • On Public Education
        • On Thomas Jefferson
        • On Thoughtful Mistakes
        • On Stakeholder Relations
      • Articles about Watson >
        • The $1,000-A-Day Chief Executive Officer
        • Employees are Valued
        • Democracy's Man o' War
        • Human Relations in 1956
        • A CEO Who Earned His Pay
        • The Lengthening Shadow
      • Slice of Life Stories >
        • Dali, Salvador
        • Drucker, Peter F. >
          • Authority and Power
          • Short-Term Thinking
          • A Corporate Culture
          • Raising Business Issues
          • Focus on Principles
          • Character and Manners
          • Knowledge Workers
          • Recognizing Ability
          • Individual Respect
          • Employee Paternalism
        • Eastman, George
        • Penney, J. C. (James Cash) >
          • Watson Homestead
          • Golden Rule Businesses
        • Fighting Discrimination
      • Pre-World War II >
        • A Lost Dream of Peace
        • USO Camp Show Founder
      • World War II Effort >
        • Selling War Bonds
        • Production Awards
        • Controlling Profits
        • Machine Records Units
        • Wartime Contributions
        • Widows & Orphans Fund
        • Declaring Human Rights
        • Supporting Home Morale
        • Employee Military Service
        • War's End & Reconversion
      • Post-World War II >
        • Endicott Memorial
        • Poughkeepsie Memorial
        • Rehiring WWII Veterans
      • A Pajama Party
      • A 1943 Tax Problem
      • The Story of "THINK"
      • A Gift of Retirement
      • Learning from Crises
      • IBM Employee Housing >
        • Construction Timeline
      • Two Journalists "THINK"
      • A Buddy Davis Interview
      • Quotes of Watson
      • Quotes about Watson
      • Women in the Workplace
      • A Successful Rebranding
      • Tom Watson's Wild Ducks
  • Articles
    • Corporate Articles >
      • High-Performance Corporations
      • The Art of the Restart
      • Crises, Recoveries & Lessons Learned
      • Strategy Should Create Human Relationships
      • A Time-Tested Corporate Constitution
      • IBM, JC Penney and The Golden Rule
      • How IBM Created its 20th Century Brand
      • The Greatest Business Risk of the 20th Century
      • How to Grow a Business
      • The Importance of Sales Productivity
      • How Much Is a Great CEO Worth
      • Let Your Guard Down
    • Business Articles >
      • Business Witticism
      • The Golden Rule in Business
      • Who and What Built Early American Capitalism
      • Capitalism Needs Industrialist Minded CEOs
      • Producing Corporate True Steel
      • CEO Perspectives >
        • Rules of Success
        • Top Employee Qualities
        • Industrialist vs. Capitalist
      • An Open Letter to the World's CEOs
      • Henry Ford Takes Control
      • The Razor Blade Business Model
      • Two Successful 20th Century Businesswomen
      • Sears: A Dead Franchise Walking
      • A LinkedIn Incognito Mode
      • Value a College Education
    • Political Articles >
      • Political Witticisms
      • Memorial Day
      • Pursuing The "American Way"
      • America: Home of the Brave
      • Securing the Borders of the Americas
      • General Grant's Stand for Justice
      • America's Heartland Stands Strong
      • The New Freedom
      • Teddy Roosevelt on Socialism
    • Spiritual Articles >
      • Inauguration Day Prayer
      • Wilson's Last Words
      • Spiritual Songs
    • Fiction Articles >
      • A Father's Love
      • Introducing a Friend to God
      • Hyphenated Relationships
  • Contact
  • Blog