50 Companies

That Changed the World

Incisive Profiles of the 50 Organizations, Large and Small,
That Have Shaped the Course of Modern Business
by Howard Rothman
Career Press 2001
253 pages

Focus
Leadership

Take-Aways
A small number of companies have dramatically and permanently changed society.

Strategy
Sales & Marketing
Corporate Finance
Human Resources

While many of these companies were founded in the nineteenth or early twentieth
centuries, virtually all of them still have a big impact on the way we live today.
As a group, these top 50 companies have done well on the stock market.

Technology
Production & Logistics
Small Business
Economics & Politics

The top five companies are Microsoft, AT&T, Ford, Apple and McDonalds.
The next five companies are America Online, FedEx, CBS, Philip Morris and
Wal-Mart.

Industries & Regions

Career Development
Personal Finance
Self Improvement
Ideas & Trends

The next five most influential companies are General Electric, IBM, Sears, General
Motors and J.P. Morgan.
The fifteenth to twentieth ranked companies are the Union Pacific Corporation,
RCA, Nike, Intel and Cable News Network.
Microsoft is the most powerful company in the world today.
AT&T has been the leader in advanced communications, beginning with Alexander
Graham Bells first telephone in the nineteenth century.

Rating
Overall

(10 is best)

Applicability

Innovation

Style

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Review
50 Companies That Changed the World
Howard Rothman, a writer who specializes in technology and management, profiles the
50 companies that had the strongest impact on the development of modern business.
He sought input from high-tech executives, teachers, public relations professionals, engineers, business writers, shopkeepers, salespeople and managers in selecting the top 50,
which he ranks in the order of their influence. While many of the stories in these fourpage portraits are familiar, the book presents helpful historical profiles of how each company developed and influenced the business world and society. While some readers may
like tackling all these capsule bios as a collection, many may prefer to regard the book
more as an encyclopedia or directory and draw on the corporate information as needed.
getAbstract.com appreciates the solid work here, although the result may be more interesting as a reference book than as a cover-to-cover page-turner.

Abstract

You may love

them or hate them,
but theres no
denying them:
Microsoft is currently the worlds
most powerful company.

Advanced
communication
techniques are
widely considered
a hallmark of an
advanced society.
And no corporation is more
responsible for the
state of that art in
todays world than
AT&T.

Living in a Corporate World

Fifty pivotal companies dramatically and permanently affected the evolving structure
of business and society. Virtually all of them continue to have a big impact on how you
live.
Just as an example, the author wrote this book on an Apple computer with a Netscape
browser, using Microsoft word-processing software and a Hewlett-Packard printer. He
bought a card table and chairs from Wal-Mart. He received FedEx deliveries about three
times a week, and regularly watched CNN on his cable connection from AT&T.
As a group, these top 50 companies have done well on the stock market. Even with the
market instability of the latter half of 2000, these companies are long established and
generally profitable, with a good chance of rebounding with the economy and doing even
better than other companies in their fields.

The Top Five

Microsoft Corp. Founded 25 years ago by boyhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen,
this is the most powerful company in the world today. Its software runs 90% of all PCs.
The 1990 release of Windows 3.0, the most refined update of its operating system, was
Microsofts biggest breakthrough. Believing that this would change the personal computing world, the firm launched a $100 million ad campaign and sold 100,000 units in
two weeks.
AT&T Corp. AT&T has been the leader in advanced communication techniques since
Alexander Graham Bells development of the first telephone in the 19th century. AT&T
was once the parent company of the legally sanctioned monopoly commonly called Ma
Bell before being split up by a U.S. government antitrust action. In 1995, it split again
into three separate companies AT&T offering long-distance and other telecommunications services, the NCR computer company and Lucent Technologies, which makes
and markets phones, network switching equipment, computer chips and other hardware.

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The Ford Motor

Companys primary claim to the
corporate hall of
fame has always
been its invention
of the assembly
line, a remarkably
simple yet
stunningly effective innovation that
completely
changed the
course of manufacturing.

AOL prospered by
providing consumers with unusually
safe and incredibly
easy access to the
brave new world
of cyberspace, as
well as original
content chat
rooms, e-mail,
news, stock
quotes, shopping
and the like.

The golden age

of television continued through the
1950s, and CBS
was among the
biggest beneficiaries as millions of
Americans added
sets to their
homes.

Ford Motor Co. Fords early fame derived from its invention of the assembly line.
Today, it is the worlds number-one truck manufacturer and second largest carmaker.
Besides Ford, its brands include the Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda,
Land Rover and Volvo. The Ford Motor Credit division is the U.S.s top auto finance
company. On the cutting edge, Fords current operations computer programs are as innovative as its development of the assembly line. It has recently taken efforts to merge
industrialism with environmentalism.
Apple Computer Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak first developed the Apple I, but retired
Intel electrical engineer Mike Markkula helped them take their company to the next
level. He garnered the necessary cash and loan commitments to launch the corporation,
which introduced the Apple II some 15 months later at the 1978 West Coast Computer
Fair. Apple captured more than 15% of the newly emerging computer market by 1980,
when IBM belatedly jumped into the desktop marketplace. In 1984, with the launch of
the Macintosh (driven by the famous 1984 commercial), Apple helped divide the computer world into the Apple and IBM camps. After a serious market decline, Steve Jobs
returned to the company in 1997. Since then, the iMac has helped restart Apples sales.
McDonalds Corp. Founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald and Ray Kroc the
multimixer salesman who saw the genius in the McDonalds fast, efficient system
McDonalds initiated and still leads the global fast-food revolution. The McDonald brothers started in the 1940s with a limited menu and a drive-up window where customers
could order instead of waiting for a carhop to serve them. Kroc became the companys
franchising agent and emphasized being customer-centered. By 1963, McDonalds had
sold more than one billion hamburgers, a milestone trumpeted on each restaurants neon
sign. As tastes have changed, McDonalds has invested in pizza and Mexican chains, and
has become active in various philanthropies through its Charitable Foundation and Kids
Charities.

Movers and Shakers: Six to 10

America Online Inc. AOL is known for opening cyberspace to the masses. In 1985,
after Steven M. Case worked at Procter & Gamble and Pizza Hut, he started AOL as
Quantum Computer Services. He focused on making computer networks easily accessible for the average individual, despite derision from the high-tech digerati. He insisted
from the beginning on simplicity and consistency. His use of computer chat rooms
helped attract the general public. AOL also provides original content, such as e-mail,
news, stock quotes and shopping. AOL had 4.5 million subscribers by 1995, and today
it has more than 23 million. AOLs $172 billion merger with Time Warner made it the
worlds leading media company.
FedEx Corp. Founded in 1971 by Frederick Wallace Smith, FedEx created the nextday delivery industry. It was an early adopter of bar coding as a way to track packages.
Today it delivers about five million packages a day, although it has fallen behind in delivering online purchases, holding only 10% of that delivery market, compared to 55% for
UPS.
CBS Corp. In 1927, CBS founder William S. Paley purchased a small group of radio
stations he called Columbia Broadcasting and relocated their headquarters to New York.
He focused on controlling content, rather than the radio boxes. CBS, one of the first TV
broadcasters, boomed during the golden age of TV as millions of Americans became
viewers. Though the quiz-show scandals in the late 1950s were a setback, CBS became
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the top network by the mid-1960s and dominated the 1970s, until it was overtaken by
NBC. In mid-1980s, Loews Corp. absorbed CBS. In 1995, Loews was bought by Westinghouse, and now is part of Viacom Inc., the worlds second-largest media firm.
Everyone thought
Waltons dream of
bringing the discount concept to
small rural towns
was crazy. But the
idea caught on.
Within five years
he had 19 such
stores.

The monolithic
Big Blue was the
first big dog in
technology, dominating the industry.

One of several
major Japanese
firms that moved
aggressively into
the U.S. television
market when
domestic companies diversified
into other fields,
Sony had long targeted the country
for expansion.

Philip Morris Companies Founded in 1919, the company made cigarettes popular,
although it is now struggling through legal battles because of the association of cigarettes
with lung disease. Even so, it is the worlds leading tobacco company and does business
in more than 180 countries. It produces one out of every six cigarettes smoked around the
globe. It also expanded into other product lines, and is now the second-largest brewer in
North America, selling more than 60 different varieties of beer in more than 100 countries. Philip Morris North Americas biggest food company and one of the three largest in the world has developed interests in financial services and real estate.
Wal-Mart Stores Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has more than $165 billion in sales annually. Initially, when Sam Walton wanted to bring the discount concept
to small rural towns, local bankers were skeptical. But his idea caught on and in five
years, he had 19 stores. Though K-Mart had 250 stores by this time, it ignored small
towns, so Wal-Mart was free to expand in its chosen niche. Each stores ability to cater to
local tastes and feature locally made goods contributed to the companys growth. WalMart shoppers are greeted personally and employees are well treated and receive generous profit sharing. Additionally, Wal-Marts high-tech ordering and distribution system
and its computerized sales and inventory system helped it become efficient and profitable.

Corporate All Stars: 11 through 15

General Electric Co. Thomas Edison founded GE in 1878 as the Edison Electric Light
Company. It became GE in 1892, with the merger of several electric companies. In the
1920s, GE focused on creating TVs and radios, and in the 1950s, it began building early
computers, as well as introducing various housewares, including the first automated
clothes dryer. In the 1960s, GE introduced more technologically advanced products, such
as the weather satellite. Today, under Jack Welch, GE is known for its Six Sigma quality
initiative, which requires near perfection in production.
IBM Corp. In 1911, Thomas Watson, Sr. started IBM, the first major high-technology
company. In the 1920s, it made tabulators, time clocks and typewriters. By the 1970s, it
dominated the mainframe computer market and it led the PC market in the 1980s, though
its growth peaked in 1986, as it became complacent. Since 1993, CEO Lou Gerstner
has reorganized and streamlined IBM, including building its strength in the e-business
market.
Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Founded in 1886 by Richard Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck,
Sears is the worlds first mass-retailer. Sears mail-order catalog enabled buyers all over
the country to purchase through the mail. It opened its first store in Chicago in 1925
and had 319 stores by 1929. It the 1930s, it started offering products under its own brand
names, such as Craftsman, Kenmore and DieHard. Now, Sears is trying to remake itself
with a higher quality image, which is touted in its softer side of Sears advertising campaign.
General Motors Corp. Founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, GM is known as the
worlds number-one automaker and as the auto company with the largest sales. It took
off in the 1920s when the automobile became a part of U.S. society. However, its market
share declined to 28% in 1998, due to foreign competition. Today, under G. Richard
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General Motors
flourished as the
automobile
became ingrained
in society.

Intel Inside. This

little phrase transformed the once
obscure corporation into a hot
brand well-known
in the world.

Wagoner, Jr., the company is cutting costs and upgrading vehicle designs to expand its
market share.J. P. Morgan & Co. The House of Morgan, launched in 1854 by J. Pierpont Morgan, provided capital that helped form major corporations, including U.S. Steel
and General Electric. It once controlled a major part of Americas railroads and helped
preserve the American monetary system at times when it was threatened with collapse.
Even so, it was partly blamed for the 1929 stock market crash, which led to a new cycle
of government regulation. The Chase Manhattan Corp. acquired the original House of
Morgan in 2000, and calls it J.P. Morgan Chase, as a reminder of its long heritage.

Corporate Leaders: 16 through 25

Union Pacific Corp. Created the first transcontinental railroad (founded 1862).
RCA Corp. Brought radio, and then TV, into U.S. homes (1969).
Nike Inc. Made the sports shoe a cultural icon (1962).
Intel Corp. Invented the microprocessor, opening the way for the computer revolution (1968).
Cable News Network Ted Turners live, round-the-clock, all-news TV station
(1980).
The Boeing Co. Developed with the aviation industry, from biplanes to moon
orbiters (1916).
Hewlett-Packard Leading tech firm, with computers and imaging machines
(1939).
Standard Oil Co. The worlds largest oil refiner before the Supreme Court dismantled it (1870-1911).
Sony Corp. Transformed global consumer electronics (1946).
USX-U.S. Steel Group The largest business enterprise of all time at its launch, it
produces sheet, tubular, plate and semifinished steel (1901).
World Changers: 25 to 50
Agence France-Press, Levitt & Sons, The Walt Disney Company, Netscape, CocaCola, Thyssen Krupp, Proctor & Gamble, Yahoo!, Toyota, People Express, Manpower,
Toys R Us, National Football League, Kellogg, Johnson Publishing, Firestone Tire
& Rubber, Avon Products, Hilton Hotels, Ben & Jerrys Homemade, Re/Max, Singer
Sewing, Shorebank Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, L.L. Bean and H.J. Heinz.

About The Author

Howard Rothman has been a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, book author, newspaper publisher, Internet content provider, small business owner and consultant to major
corporations, among other occupations. He has written seven books, including the bestselling and critically acclaimed: Companies with a Conscience: Intimate Portraits of
Twelve Firms That Make a Difference, which he co-authored with Mary Scott.

Buzz-Words
Rebounding

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