Rating: 
Summary: IBM para IBMistas
Review: Para cualquier persona que trabaje en IBM, debería ser considerado Lectura Obligatoria. El cómo nace la empresa en la que uno trabaja, sus inicios y, sobre todo, el espíritu emprendedor del fundador de una empresa, deben ser también inspiradores para cualquier persona que quiera tener éxito en su empresa.
Rating: 
Summary: better than a novel
Review: This book tells one of the most fascinating, indeed rivetting, stories that I have ever read. It is about the building of one of the great American businesses of the 20C, but also much much more: it is about the conflict of an extraordinarily hard-driving father and his talented though psychologically burdened and rebellious son. From the beginning, they were at eachothers' throats and never relented in their conflict, even when it became evident that the son's genius surpassed that of his father to build an empire that can only be compared to the accomplishments of the first two Caesars, Julius and Augustus. The book also covers a good deal of American business history from the great depression to the beginning of the stagnation of the 1970s and early 1980s. Thus, it can be read on numerous levels. There are so many insights in it that it will bear re-reading for a long time to come. Watson Jr. was acutely aware of the cost of success and was brutally honest about his own failings as a manager and family man. I find myself remembering scenes in that book, running them in my mind as examples from which to learn. Warmly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: better than a novel
Review: This book tells one of the most fascinating, indeed rivetting, stories that I have ever read. It is about the building of one of the great American businesses of the 20C, but also much much more: it is about the conflict of an extraordinarily hard-driving father and his talented though psychologically burdened and rebellious son. From the beginning, they were at eachothers' throats and never relented in their conflict, even when it became evident that the son's genius surpassed that of his father to build an empire that can only be compared to the accomplishments of the first two Caesars, Julius and Augustus. The book also covers a good deal of American business history from the great depression to the beginning of the stagnation of the 1970s and early 1980s. Thus, it can be read on numerous levels. There are so many insights in it that it will bear re-reading for a long time to come. Watson Jr. was acutely aware of the cost of success and was brutally honest about his own failings as a manager and family man. I find myself remembering scenes in that book, running them in my mind as examples from which to learn. Warmly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Leadership difference
Review: What is the difference between a widely successful company and a mediocre one? What was the difference between IBM and, say, the makers of UNIVAC? The difference was not in the technology or in being at the right place at the right time. The difference was IBM's leadership and in particular Thomas J. Watson Jr's leadership. There are exceedingly few examples in the history of business when a very successful company risks everything to climb to an even higher level. That is what IBM did with project 360 and it is possible that no other person except Watson Jr. was in a position to implement such a daring undertaking. He had courage, vision, and, yes, credibility. IMHO, Tomas J. Watson Jr. is the manager of the century (20th)and through this book you can gain some insights into his leadership style.
Rating:
Summary: The Leadership difference
Review: What is the difference between a widely successful company and a mediocre one? What was the difference between IBM and, say, the makers of UNIVAC? The difference was not in the technology or in being at the right place at the right time. The difference was IBM's leadership and in particular Thomas J. Watson Jr's leadership. There are exceedingly few examples in the history of business when a very successful company risks everything to climb to an even higher level. That is what IBM did with project 360 and it is possible that no other person except Watson Jr. was in a position to implement such a daring undertaking. He had courage, vision, and, yes, credibility. IMHO, Tomas J. Watson Jr. is the manager of the century (20th)and through this book you can gain some insights into his leadership style.
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