Twenty that made history (key business decisions)

Strategic Direction

ISSN: 0258-0543

Article publication date: 1 January 2006

149

Keywords

Citation

(2006), "Twenty that made history (key business decisions)", Strategic Direction, Vol. 22 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2006.05622aaf.006

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Twenty that made history (key business decisions)

Twenty that made history (key business decisions)

Mehta SNFortune, (Switzerland), 2005 Vol 151 No 11, Start page: 28, No of pages: 14

Purpose – Reviews some decisions that had far-reaching business consequences in the twentieth century. Design/methodology/approach – Invites the reader to review twenty decisions without the benefit of hindsight. Discusses the consequences of Western Union’s decision not to buy the patents for the telephone in 1876. Suggests that Gillette’s invention of disposable razor blades laid the foundations for contemporary “throwaway culture”. Reviews banking after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; Ford’s decision to offer workers $5 a day conditional on “good moral standing”; Sears transition from catalogue selling to chain stores; Charles Merrill’s sale of stocks before the Wall Street crash in 1929; Pan Am’s decision to carry passengers on flights to Latin America; and the Japanese adoption of W Edwards Deming’s advocacy of quality. Comments on the decision to aim television advertising at children; the creation of Fairchild Semiconductor as the precursor for Silicon Valley; and IBM’s System/360 as the basis for computer compatibility. Considers Curt Flood’s challenge to baseball’s reserve clause restricting player mobility; Ford’s decision not to undertake a product safety recall on the Pinto; the introduction of automatic teller machines (ATMs); the selection of Jack Welch to run General Electric; Wal-Mart’s use of a private satellite network for information sharing; and the spin-off of local telephone networks from AT&T. Draws attention to Intel’s exit from the memory chip business; the use of “junk bonds” to fund the activities of corporate raiders; and the merger of Time Warner and America Online (AOL). Originality/value – Provides an interesting perspective on America’s business history.Classification(s): Top Management – StrategyStyle: ViewpointISSN: 0738-5587

Keywords: Decision making, Business history, Corporate strategy, Individual behaviour

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