Kindred Spirits: Harvard Business School′s Extraordinary Class of 1949 and How They Transformed American Business - Hardcover

Forbes Inc.; Callahan, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471418196 ISBN 13: 9780471418191

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2002

Synopsis

Raised in the Great Depression and shaped by World War II, they changed the business world and helped build modern America . . .
Kindred Spirits tells the story of Harvard Business School′s remarkable class of 1949, which included some of the most innovative business visionaries of the postwar era. Among the members of this exceptional class, 28 percent retired as presidents, chairmen, or CEOs. Kindred Spirits shows how these businessmen shaped the business trends that transformed America: from the advent of modern marketing techniques, fueled by television and a growing middle class, to the rise of high technology as key driver of the American economy and the importance of using Wall Street to leverage wealth and build companies. Among the legendary figures intimately profiled are Marvin Traub, who built Bloomingdale′s; Jim Burke, who guided Johnson & Johnson′s tremendous rise and saw the company through the trauma of the Tylenol poisonings; and Peter McCullough, who transformed a little–known company into the powerhouse Xerox. Kindred Spirits is more than a story of an extraordinary group of business leaders; it is a story of how today′s America came to be.

About this title

Review

"...Mr. Callahan makes a convincing case that the values of the class of 1949 shaped its members′ conduct in a profoundly positive way." (New York Times, October 27, 2002)

From the Back Cover

It Was a Time When Values Had Meaning, with Lessons We Can Learn from Kindred Spirits

"David Callahan has written a compelling and timely history of a special cast of characters from business past. Their stories are a valuable reminder that success and sound personal values don′t have to be mutually exclusive in the world of business."
–Mitchell Pacelle, author of Empire

"If you′re interested in the personal stories of what makes great managers and how they got that way, this book, so readable, so fascinating, is for you."
–Jack Valenti, Chairman and CEO, Motion Picture Association

"We didn′t care about money in the same way."
–Marvin Traub, former Chairman and CEO, Bloomingdale′s

"After the war, we all believed that good can prevail. We went to school with a set of values forged by the war, and life has reaffirmed those values."
–James Burke, former Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson

"Many of the great new industries are not developed by the big companies. Rather, they come from unexpected places and from people who don′t know any better than that they can′t succeed."
–Peter McColough, former Chairman and CEO, Xerox

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0471418196
• ISBN 13: 9780471418191
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304