Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company

“IBM doesn’t just THINK, it thinks big. The story of these big ideas illustrates how 100 years of innovation have shaped the way we live and work today.”

–Kenneth Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express

“Making the World Work Better convincingly documents IBM’s enormous impact on business and the world. Its history provides vital lessons for organizations of all sizes, and IBM’s future promises to continue to innovate the way we work, and even think.”

–Henry Chesbrough, Executive Director, Center for Open Innovation, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

“The history of every great, enduring company includes a triumphant struggle to remain relevant in the marketplace without abandoning a core purpose and values. At 100, IBM is one of a handful of organizations with so much to teach us about this unique journey.”

–Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO, Starbucks

“Innovation, resilience, and great leadership are the key ingredients of the IBM story. Making the World Work Better tells that story exceptionally well. Ultimately, it reveals that IBM is not simply a technology company; it is a company of ideas and the future those ideas have created.”

–John Hollar, President and CEO, Computer History Museum

One hundred years ago, the company that would become IBM took its first steps into an unknown future. In Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company, journalists Kevin Maney, Steve Hamm and Jeffrey M. O&;Brien tell a story of progress that illuminates, and transcends, the rich history of a single enterprise.

Through extensive research, they explore IBM&;s impact on technology, on the evolving role of the modern corporation and on the way our world literally works. Most intriguingly, they uncover a set of compelling ideas whose greatest impact may lie not in the previous century, but in the next one&;ideas with the power to shape a surprising future, and to change the way we think.