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Learn about the history of IBM

[Edit this paragraph] IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, or International Business Machines Corporation, referred to as IBM (International Business Machines Corporation), company website: /. Headquartered in Armonk, New York, the company was founded in the United States in 1911. It is the world's largest information technology and business solutions company. It currently has more than 300,000 employees worldwide and operates in more than 160 countries and regions. In 2006, IBM's global operating revenue reached US$91.4 billion. The company's main business when it was founded was commercial typewriters, which later switched to word processors, and then to computers and related services.

Over the past ninety years, the world economy has continued to develop and modern science has changed with each passing day. IBM has always led the development of the global information industry with advanced technology, excellent management and unique products, ensuring that the world Almost all industry users within the scope have comprehensive needs for information processing. As we all know, as early as 1969, the Apollo spacecraft carried three astronauts, shouldering the mission of mankind, to the moon for the first time; in 1981, the Columbia space shuttle successfully flew into space. Both historic space flights embody IBM's unparalleled ingenuity.

[Edit this paragraph] Introduction

IBM was founded by Thomas Watson Sr., and later the company ushered in the computer age under the leadership of his son Thomas Watson Jr.

IBM’s current CEO is Samuel Palmisano, transliterated as Samuel Palmisano, and his Chinese name is Peng Mingsheng.

IBM China, that is, the current chairman of IBM (International Business Machines Co., Ltd.) Greater China is Henry Chow. In early 2007, Qian Daqun served as CEO.

In addition, IBM also leads the industry in mainframes, supercomputers (mainly represented by dark blue and blue genes), UNIX, and servers.

In terms of software, IBM Software Group integrates five major software brands, including Lotus, WebSphere, DB2, Rational, and Tivoli. They are leaders or strong competitors in the software industry in their respective aspects. . Only after 1999 did Microsoft's overall size surpass that of the IBM Software Department. As of now, the IBM Software Department is also the second largest software entity in the world.

IBM also has great achievements in the fields of materials, chemistry, physics and other sciences. Hard drive technology was invented by IBM, and scanning tunneling microscope (STM), copper wiring technology, and atomic etching technology were also invented by IBM Research Institute.

IBM still maintains its position as the owner of the most patents in the world. Since 1993, IBM has topped the list of patent registrations in the United States for thirteen consecutive years. By 2002, IBM's R&D personnel had been awarded a total of 22,358 patents. This record was unprecedented and far exceeded the total number of patents obtained by the top 11 US companies in the IT industry. These 11 IT giants include: HP, Intel , Sun, Microsoft, Dell, etc. IBM filed 2,941 patent applications in 2005. Although it was less than the 3,248 patent applications in 2004, it still left the second place far behind.

In 2003, IBM's total revenue was US$89.1 billion and it had 230,000 employees worldwide.

In 2004, IBM's total revenue was US$96.5 billion and it had 310,000 employees worldwide.

In 2005, IBM's total revenue was US$91.1 billion (after the sale of the PC division to Lenovo).

2006 full-year operating results

- - Total revenue was US$91.4 billion, excluding the divested PC business, an increase of 4;

-- Income from continuing operating activities was US$9.4 billion, an increase of 18 year-on-year, excluding extraordinary items in 2005, an increase of 9;

-- Diluted earnings per share from continuing operating activities was $6.06, a year-on-year increase of 23%, excluding the increase of 14% from non-recurring items in 2005;

-- Net cash from operating activities was US$15.3 billion, excluding the Global Financing Division's receivables, which increased by US$2.2 billion

IBM China includes:

IBM China Development Center and IBM China Software Development Center CSDL /cdl/

IBM China Research Institute (formerly IBM China Research Center) CRL: /ibm/crl

IBM China website

In 2004, we cooperated with Hong Kong Cultural Communications Group to promote Chinese CPU cash register

IBM software part is divided into five parts

DB2, Webshpere, Tivoli, Rational, Lotus

[Edit this paragraph] Dynamic

On May 1, 2005, Lenovo Group Co., Ltd. and IBM announced that Lenovo completed the acquisition of IBM's global personal computer business, marking the birth of the world's third largest personal computer company. Lenovo Group owns ThinkPad and ThinkCenter trademark, and can use the IBM brand within 5 years.

IBM is also a company highly respected by the world. One of the reasons why we are respected is that we have been able to lead industrial revolutions many times over the course of nearly a hundred years, especially in the IT industry, where we have set many standards and worked hard to help our customers succeed. In addition, the company has consistently ranked among the top 500 companies in the world. More importantly, the reason why it is respected is that IBM has always adhered to the "Watson Philosophy" in its nearly century-old history:

When IBM was founded in 1914, Thomas Watson Sr. Watson has formulated a "Code of Conduct" for the company. These principles have always been kept in the minds of everyone in the company. Every action and policy is directly affected by these three principles. The contribution of the "Watson Philosophy" to the company's success is It is greater than the contribution of technological innovation, marketing skills, or huge financial resources. Mainly include:

1. Individuals must be respected.

2. We must provide customers with the best service possible.

3. We must pursue excellent work performance.

For example: The following text can be found from the IBM China website: "IBM China is adhering to the core values ??of "accomplishing customers, innovation first, integrity and responsibility" to lead Chinese customers to the same direction. The road to transformation requires adaptability.” The content in quotation marks is exactly the expression of the “Watson Philosophy” on customer attitude.

[Edit this paragraph] History

Early years

The history of IBM can be traced back to decades before the development of electronic computers. Punch card data processing equipment. IBM was registered as CTR Corporation on June 15, 1911, in Endicott, New York, a few miles west of Binghamton.

Three independent companies merged to form CTR: the Listing Machine Company (founded in Washington, D.C., 1896), the Calculation Table Company (founded in Dayton, Ohio, 1901), and the International Era Recording Company ( Founded in Endicott, New York in 1900). At that time, the president and founder of the computer company was Herman Hollerith.

The key figure behind the merger was financier Charles Flint, who brought together the founders of the three companies to propose the merger and served at CRT until his retirement in 1930.

Thomas. J. Watson was the founder of IBM. He served as general manager of CTR in 1914 and president in 1915. In 1917, CTR entered the Canadian market as International Business Machines Co., Ltd. and changed its name to International Business Machines Co., Ltd. on February 14, 1924. Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

The companies merged into CTR to manufacture a variety of products, including employee timekeeping systems, scales, automatic meat slicers, and, most importantly, computers, punched card equipment. For a time CTR Concentrate on punch cards and no longer participate in other activities.

World War II, the Era of the Holocaust

In 2001, writer Edwin Black published "IBM and the Holocaust" (ISBN0609808990), this book claims to explain how IBM's New York headquarters and CEO Thomas J. Watson provided punch card machines to the Third Reich through overseas subsidiaries, and they knew that the machines could help the Nazis implement the "Final Solution." The book says that with the cooperation of New York, IBM's Geneva office and Dehomag, its German subsidiary, actively participated in supporting Nazi atrocities. Black also said the machines allowed the Nazis to work more efficiently. A 2003 documentary on the company also explored the issue.

IBM has since dismissed these accusations, and lawsuits based on them have been dismissed.

During World War II, IBM produced the M1 carbine and Browning automatic rifle. Allied forces widely used IBM equipment for military computing, logistics and other military purposes. IBM punched card machines were used extensively at Los Alamos to do calculations during the development of the atomic warhead during the Manhattan Project; this was documented by Richard Feynman in his best-selling book, "You're Kidding Me, Mr. Feynman!" 》Specially discussed. IBM also built the Harvard Mark I for the Navy during the war, which was the first large-scale automatic digital computer in the United States.

Air Force and Aeronautical Engineering

In the 1950s, IBM became the primary contractor for the development of computers for the U.S. Air Force's automated defense systems. Setting out to recreate the anti-aircraft gun system, IBM was exposed to key research conducted at MIT; work on the first generation of real-time, digital computers (which included many other advances such as a comprehensive video demonstration, magnetic core experience, lightweight guns , the first effective algebraic computer language, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion technology, digital data transmission telephone lines, duplexing, multiprocessors, networking). IBM built 56 smart computers priced at 10,000 each, At its peak, more than 7,000 employees (20% of the total employees) were invested in the project. However, what is more important than profits in the long run is the military investment in research using cutting-edge electronic computers. IBM neglected to fight for more dominance in the emerging industry, leaving the Rand Corporation to take over the design of the new computer because, according to one project participant (Robert PCrago): "We couldn't imagine that the work in this area would disappear in the future and where would we absorb the 2,000 Programmers come to work on this at IBM." IBM will use its vast design experience to integrate real-time network design with the launch of Smart Airlines' reservation system and achieve great success.

From the 1960s to the 1980s

In the 1960s, IBM was one of the eight largest computer companies (Univac, Urban Life, Scientific Data Systems, Control Data Corporation, General Electric Company, and RCA , Honeywell). People talk about it and say "IBM and Seven Stars" because the other companies or their computer divisions are smaller. Only Metrolife, UNIVAC, NCR, Honeywell produce mainframes, others Then someone said "IBM and B.U.N.C.H." Now most of IBM's competitors are long gone, except for Unisys, which is due to numerous mergers including Univac and Urban Life. NCR, Honeywell gave up their general mainframe and small divisions and Focusing on profitable product markets, NCR made cash registers (hence the name National Cash Register), and Honeywell became the market leader in thermostats. General Electric was still the largest company in the world, but not in the computer market. Re-operation. At that time the IBM line of computers earned a position in the market that is still growing today. Originally known as the IBM System/360, in its more modern 64-bit form, it is now known as the resident IBM system (commonly known as the "IBM Mainframe" ).

IBM's success in the mid-1960s led the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate IBM for antitrust violations, and on January 17, 1969, the case was filed against IBM in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit claimed that IBM violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing or attempting to monopolize the market for general-purpose digital electronic computer systems, particularly computers of commercial design. The litigation lasted until 1983 and had a significant impact on the company's practices.

Modern History

On January 19, 1993, IBM announced a loss of US$4.97 billion for the 1992 fiscal year, which was the largest annual loss for a company in the history of the United States at that time. Because of this loss, IBM has undergone significant changes in its business activities, and its focus will shift from hardware to software and services.

In 2002, IBM strengthened its consulting capabilities through the acquisition of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a professional consulting services company. The company is increasingly focusing on promoting business solutions in consulting, services and software, with an emphasis on hardware and high-value chip technology; as of 2005, it employs approximately 195 professional and technical personnel. There are approximately 350 outstanding engineers and 60 IBM researchers, with a large number of senior engineers. In 2002, IBM announced the beginning of a $10 billion research plan and put in place the necessary technology infrastructure to provide the super resource "requirements" that all enterprises use to effectively scale. Since then The plan has been implemented since.

IBM has continued to increase its patent portfolio in recent years, which is a valuable cross-license with other companies. From 1993 to 2005, IBM has obtained significantly more U.S. patents than other companies each year. . There have been more than 31,000 patents issued during this 13-year period, and IBM was the first.

Protecting the company's intellectual property has gradually become a business enterprise, and the company has created $10 billion during this period dollar bottom line. In 2003, Fortune magazine quoted IBM's research director Paul as saying that IBM had brought in $1 billion in profits from intellectual property licenses.

In 2004, IBM announced a proposal to sell its personal computer business to the Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo Group, which is partly controlled by the Chinese government, and the transaction was completed for US$650 million in cash and US$600 million in Lenovo stock. The transaction The Commission approved the foreign investment in March 2005, which was completed in May 2005. IBM has a 19-year equity stake in Lenovo, which will be headquartered in New York State and IBM appoints a chief executive. The company will retain certain rights to use the IBM brand for an initial period of Five years.

Due to the purchase and inheritance of Lenovo's product line, including Thinkpad laptops, laptops have become IBM's most successful products.

Recently, IBM has focused most of its energy on providing consulting from the perspective of hardware science and technology and acquisition of corporate restructuring services. The new IBM is strengthening its global distribution capabilities in the process of consulting, software and technology services. This change is reflected very strongly.

IBM is currently involved in the development of the Cell project (together with Sony ), multimedia design next-generation processor architecture, high-tech games.

On June 20, 2006, Georgia and IBM announced a new technology to record the speed of silicon-based chips up to 500ghz. This is done by freezing the chip to F-451°C (-268.0C), which is not comparable to CPU speeds. The chip 350ghz operates at approximately room temperature.

IBM is a long-term leader in the computer industry, with its most notable achievements in mainframe/minicomputers and portable computers (ThinkPad). The personal computer (PC) standard he created is still used and developed today. On December 8, 2004, its PC division was sold to Lenovo for US$1.75 billion and it held shares in Lenovo.

In 2003, IBM's revenue was US$89.1 billion and it had 230,000 full-time employees.

IBM China includes: IBM China Software Development Center CSDL, China Research Center CRL

In 2004, it cooperated with Hong Kong Cultural Communications Group to promote Chinese CPU cash registers.

On December 8 of the same year, Lenovo Group, which accounts for nearly one-third of China's personal computer market, announced that it would acquire IBM's global desktop and notebook computer production and sales business for US$1.25 billion in cash and stock.

In 2005, the desktop and notebook computer business was sold to the Chinese IT company Lenovo Group. Lenovo will continue to support the IBM brand within five years. The ThinkPad and ThinkCentre brands are owned by Lenovo Group.

IBM in China

IBM has a long-standing business relationship with China. As early as 1934, IBM installed the first commercial processor for Peking Union Medical College Hospital. In 1979, after breaking off contact for nearly 30 years, IBM came to China again along with China's reform and opening up. In the same year, the first IBM medium-sized computer after the founding of the People's Republic of China was installed in Shenyang Blower Factory.

As China's reform and opening up continue to deepen, IBM's business in China is expanding day by day. In the mid-to-late 1980s, IBM successively set up offices in Beijing and Shanghai. In 1992, IBM officially announced the establishment of International Business Machines China Co., Ltd. in Beijing, which is IBM's wholly-owned enterprise in China. This move makes IBM take a substantial step in implementing its strategy in China and opens a new chapter for its business in China. Subsequently in 1993, IBM China Co., Ltd. established branches in Guangzhou and Shanghai. So far, IBM's offices in China have further expanded to Harbin, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Chongqing, Changsha, Kunming, Urumqi, Jinan, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Nanchang, Nanning , Ningbo, Shijiazhuang and other 24 cities, thus further expanding its business coverage in China. Along with IBM's development in China, IBM China's employee team continues to grow, currently exceeding 8,500 people. In addition, IBM has also established nine joint ventures and wholly-owned companies, responsible for manufacturing, software development, services and leasing businesses.

IBM attaches great importance to investment in technology research and development.

In 1995, IBM established the China Research Center in China, which is one of IBM's eight global research centers and currently has more than 200 Chinese computer experts. Then in 1999, it took the lead in establishing a software development center in China. There are now more than 2,000 Chinese software engineers specializing in product development in areas such as integrated middleware, databases, and Linux.

For more than 20 years, IBM's various information systems have become the most reliable information technology means in many important business fields such as China's finance, telecommunications, metallurgy, petrochemicals, transportation, commodity circulation, government and education. . IBM's customers span all fronts of the Chinese economy.

At the same time, IBM occupies leading market shares in many important areas, including: servers, storage, services, software, etc.

Taking from the society, giving back to the society, and benefiting mankind are the principles that IBM has always adhered to. IBM actively supports education in China and has outstanding performance in community activities.

The beginning of IBM's cooperative relationship with Chinese universities can be traced back to 1984, when IBM donated a series of computer equipment hardware and software to Chinese universities. In March 1995, marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between IBM and the State Education Commission of China (now the Ministry of Education), the "IBM China University Cooperation Project" was officially launched. The basic purpose of this long-term comprehensive cooperative relationship is to strengthen the information technology of Chinese universities. Discipline construction and talent cultivation in the field of science and technology. Over the past 12 years, the IBM China University Cooperation Project has continued to develop towards higher levels, deeper levels and wider fields, and has played a positive role in promoting the discipline construction and talent cultivation of information technology-related majors in Chinese universities. Since 1995, IBM has donated computer equipment, software and services worth more than RMB 1.5 billion to Chinese universities. In terms of university cooperation projects, it has established cooperative relationships with more than 50 well-known universities in China. 570,000 students participated in the study and training of IBM technology-related courses, 58,000 students obtained IBM global professional technical certification certificates, and more than 4,000 teachers participated in different forms of teacher training organized by IBM.

In addition to cooperating with the Chinese education sector in the field of higher education, IBM has also actively expanded the scope of cooperation to the field of basic education. Since the IBM KidSmart "Little Explorer" early childhood intellectual development project was introduced to China in 2001, IBM has carried out this project in China for six consecutive years. At present, IBM has cooperated with nearly 430 early childhood education institutions in 68 cities in various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, and donated 2,350 sets of KidSmart children's computer learning centers.

Since 2003, IBM has further cooperated with the Ministry of Education to carry out the Reinventing Education "Basic Education Innovation Teaching Project" in 20 primary schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, adopting more and more valuable methods. The support method introduces mature foreign experience and resources into China, and fully integrates China's current situation and needs to better help schools improve teaching effects with the help of IT means.

Through the above two projects, more than 10,000 key teachers in the field of basic education have received free training from IBM, and 100,000 children have benefited.

In 2003, the IBM TryScience Around the World youth science popularization project was officially launched in China. Through this project, IBM donated computer terminals to science and technology museums in China. The terminals were connected to off-site servers through high-speed networks and presented rich content on the servers to visitors to the science and technology museums. The content of "Looking at Science" covers ecological archeology, space exploration, extreme sports, marine life and other aspects, opening a new door for young people to gain access to popular science knowledge and understand scientific concepts.

Currently, IBM has donated 40 sets of IBM TryScience Kiosk multimedia terminals to science and technology museums in 11 cities. The media has given IBM great recognition for its outstanding performance and outstanding contributions in China. IBM has been rated as "China's Most Respected Enterprise", "China's Most Respected Foreign-Invested Enterprise", "China's Most Valuable Brand", "China's Best Employer", etc. In 2004, IBM China was selected as "China's Most Admired Company" by the Chinese version of Fortune magazine and topped the list. In 2005 and 2006, IBM was awarded the honorary title of "China's Outstanding Corporate Citizen" by the Corporate Citizenship Committee of the China Association of Social Work for two consecutive times.

When Mr. Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, talked about IBM China, he once said affectionately: "IBM is committed to China and will build a world-leading information technology company for China. It is located in China, serves the Chinese people, and will one day serve the whole world. IBM China will definitely become the 'IBM company of China' and become a part of the Chinese economy." Looking back at IBM's growth history in China, from the initial strategy. From the trial stage to the mid-term strategic investment stage to the full integration stage, IBM has always had a deep commitment to China.

After giving innovation a new definition in 2004, in 2006, IBM further extended the connotation of innovation to six levels, namely "product innovation", "service innovation", "business process innovation", " Business model innovation," "Management and cultural innovation," and "Policy and social innovation."

In the same year, IBM also introduced the concept of "service innovation" into China, and successively signed contracts with the Ministry of Commerce to support the "Thousands and Hundreds Project" to promote the development of China's modern service industry and the upgrading of the export-oriented industrial structure; and the Ministry of Education Signed a memorandum of understanding on the "Modern Service Science Direction" research cooperation project to introduce service science courses into Chinese higher education institutions; cooperated with the Ministry of Health to promote the construction of China's most shared platform for medical information services and improve the quality of regional medical services. In order to better cooperate with the implementation of service strategy, IBM has successively moved its global procurement headquarters to Shenzhen, China, jointly launched a US$180 million "China Investment Fund" with Lehman Brothers, and established one of the two SOA solution centers in the world. One is located in Beijing. IBM hopes that through these initiatives, it will bring IBM's leading skills in global information technology services to China, help Chinese enterprises and governments achieve innovation, and thus more effectively support China's growing development needs in the service industry.

In 2007, IBM China will adhere to the core values ??of "customer success, innovation first, integrity and responsibility", and strive to become an innovative partner for Chinese customers under the global vision and layout, and contribute to China's construction "Innovative countries" do their part.

The corporate brand ranked 11th in the 2006 "World's Top 500 Brands" compiled by World Brand Lab, and ranked among the 2006 Global 100 published by "Barron's" Ranked 49th in the respect ranking of major companies.

[Edit this paragraph] Culture

IBM is often described as having a sales center or sales-oriented corporate culture. Traditionally, many specific administrative staff and general managers will come from their sales force. In addition, middle and senior management usually provide direct support to sales staff in the sales process to important customers. For most of the 20th century, a blue suit, white shirt, and black tie was the official uniform of IBM employees. But since the 1990s, IBM has relaxed these requirements; the clothing and employees have not performed as well as their counterparts in big technology companies. Not significantly different.

In 2003, IBM began an ambitious plan to use "Jam" technology to rewrite the company's values ??- companies discuss key issues online based on the intranet within a certain period of time, involving More than 50,000 employees, three days. Jam technology includes text analysis software (eclassifier) ??My online review topic, Jam has been used six times within IBM. Since Jam in 2003, the company's values ??have been updated to reflect three modern Opinions of Business, Market and Employees: "Devotion to the success of every customer", "Innovation issues in our company and the world," "Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships."

A 2004 During the Jam, more than 52,000 employees spent 72 hours exchanging best practices. The focus of this event was to identify the values ??of complaint to support the implementation of previously identified values. The development of such a new Jam event allowed IBM members to select important ideas to support values. (For further information, see Harvard Business Review, 2004, interview with IBM Chairman Sam Palmisano).

Recently IBM's culture has been influenced by the open source movement. The company uses IBM Linux technology based on Linux The center invests billions of dollars in software and services, including more than 300 core Linux developers. IBM's open source has not been without trouble.

[edit]Diversity and workforce issues

IBM's efforts to promote equal opportunity and diversity in the workforce date back to at least World War I, when the company hired disabled veterans. IBM is the only technology company ranked in the top ten of Working Mother magazine in 2004, and it is also one of the two technology companies in 2005 (the other company is Hewlett-Packard).

The company has traditional labor unions, although some American IBM employees have raised objections. In the 1990s, two major pension program changes, including cash balance plans, ultimately resulted in employee class actions claiming age discrimination. IBM employees won the case and reached a partial settlement, but are still appealing.

IBM has a history of keeping in touch with some major layoffs. There have been some major layoffs in recent years as IBM attempts to adapt to changing market conditions and Decline in underlying profits. Subsequent results were not as good as expected. In the first quarter of 2005, IBM eliminated 14,500 jobs, mainly in Europe. 2005. On June 8, IBM Co., Ltd. in Canada laid off 700 people. Now IBM in India and other IBM offices in China, Philippines, and Costa Rica have seen steady growth in recruitment.

October 2005 On September 10, IBM became the first major company in the world to formally commit not to use genetic information in employment decisions. This is another announcement from IBM just a few months after announcing its support for National Geographic's genomic project.

IBM has about 500 employees in China, and the number of interns it has maintained for many years is also 500. Reliable internal sources say that the chance of an intern becoming a regular employee is about 20%