Dear colleagues, Columbia University Press just published my next book about IBM,
Inside IBM: Lessons of a Corporate Culture in Action. Unlike my earlier history of the firm published by MIT in 2019 (IBM: The Rise and Fall and Reinvention of a Global Icon) this one is an experiment to see if a history of
a high tech firm can be written from the perspective of cultural studies and sociology. I discuss the company’s strong culture, role of humor, image building, effects on products (e.g., computers), material culture ephemera (e.g., coffee mugs and postcards),
and relations with employees and their families. Columbia University Press has made this book available to us at a 20% discount off its $45 list price if ordered directly from the publisher. Use promo code CUP20 at its website. If you read the book, please
let me know what you think of my experiment. Jim Cortada
--
James W. Cortada
Senior Research Fellow
Charles Babbage Institute
University of Minnesota
608-274-6382