IBM's Twentieth Century Corporate Practices

Published August 11, 2021

 IBM's Twentieth Century Corporate Practices

 The Golden Rule Guided the 20th Century IBM in its Employee Relationships

"​The first responsibility of business is to its customers, and it has learned through long experience that it pays to observe the Golden Rule in that relationship. This is true also of its relations with its stockholders, the community in which it exists, and to its workmen."

​Walter F. Titus, Vice President of IBM, Kiwanis Club, 1938

Some of the greatest industrialists of the early twentieth century espoused the same philosophy using simple concepts as touchstones for their businesses. IBM and Tom Watson Sr. did not stand alone in this respect. ​George F. Johnson espoused a Square Deal; James Cash Penney and William H. Nichols conducted business under the guidelines of the Golden Rule; and in his shops, John Patterson hung two-word signs about investing in people: “It Pays.”

​Rockefeller Jr. wrote that “This standing aloof one from the other must end. … [A personal  relationship] is the recognition of the brotherhood of man, of the principle of trying to put yourself in the other man’s place, of endeavoring to see things from his point of view."

"Walking in the shoes of your employees" or the Golden Rule was the fundamental foundation for all of IBM's early 20th Century practices highlighted here. Some negative human relations practices expose that IBM"s twenty-first leadership has lost their way.

Have they been seeking a "Crown of Gold, instead of Laurel?"

 A History of Anniversaries, Benefits, Creativity and, of course, Wild Ducks

IBM Anniversaries

​IBM celebrated its centennial in 2011. Almost all IBMers that had been around since 1989 scratched their heads because it had only been twenty-two years since the corporation had celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. I mean, we were there . . . and so was Sam.

​Many of us dug into our memorabilia to determine if our memories had failed us, but, alas, our memories were right. IBM had traditionally marked 1914 as the date of its founding—the year Thomas J. Watson Sr. joined the company.

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IBM Employee Benefits

The 20th Century IBM was known for providing high pay, great benefits and maintained a tradition of full employment that meant the executive team was dedicated to retraining, relocating and readjusting as needed to keep people on the job. The 21st Century team hasn't been so "on the ball" it seems.

Here are a list of firsts: both up and down.

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IBM Employee Creativity

​​These pages reflect an individuality of thought that used to be representative of the IBM brand—THINK. Rarely did these "works of creativity" have the blessing of the IBM Corporation, but they were the products of great genius meant to bring a laugh.

IBMers have always prided themselves on their independence of thought and action, and sense of humor.

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IBM's Wild Ducks ... Geese

Watson Sr. was probably the epitome of a "The Wild Duck." Fired from "The Cash" in 1913, he had to find a new job. He turned down many opportunities with several corporations and finally decided on C-T-R Company because it gave him the opportunity to run a business in his unique way. Maybe, he is one of the first stories of a successful Wild Duck.

As he turned forty, Tom Watson Sr. flew over a corporation composed of three dissimilar companies full of tame geese and called them to fly. And fly they did to become "The IBM."

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