IBM & Iron-Willed Watson

IBM & Iron-Willed Watson

"Tonight we’re completing a four-month worldwide tribute to the most admired man in our company. In truth I believe he’s the most admired businessman in the world. But more importantly I am presenting a man who has done more for preserving and building the dignity of the individual in American industry than any other man in history —Mr. Thomas Watson."

This glowing tribute by his son at IBM’s 40th anniversary in 1954 celebrated¹ Thomas Watson’s status as international business legend. How he reached that great summit is an extraordinary 1)rags-to-riches story.

2)Thomas Watson senior was born in 1874. He grew up in terrible poverty. The young Watson was determined² to be more successful than his 3)overbearing, violently-tempered father. When he was 18 he took to the road seeing some hope of escape in the life of a traveling salesman. The reality failed to match his expectations.

In 1895 after three years of hardship, Watson was saved. Aged³ 21 he was offered a job at 4)National Cash Registers—at the time one of the most aggressive and 5)expansionist businesses in America. It was run by John Patterson, Watson’s first great mentor⁴. He would exert a lasting⁵ influence on both Watson the man and businessman. At NCR Watson was reborn: he was intelligent, 6)subservient⁶ and nakedly ambitious. Watson became a rising star. A decade later, Watson, Patterson and others were found guilty of underpricing, payoffs, bribery⁷ and 7)sabotage⁸. Watson refused to accept his crimes; he wrote, “I have not done anything that I am in the least ashamed of.” Then out of the blue, his great mentor and friend fired him. These two 8)traumatic events would mark Watson for life.

By now there was another great influence in Watson’s life — at the height of the trial, he married Janette Kettridge. Her stern 9)Presbyterian values would help temper the ruthless commercialism he’d absorbed at NCR.

The opportunity he was waiting for came in 1914, Watson was made general manager of 10)CTR, the Computing⁹, 11)Tabulating and Recording¹⁰ Company. Watson re-branded the company with a name that embodied¹¹ his vision of the future, International Business Machines—and so in 1924 IBM was born.

Legendary¹² salesman, visionary entrepreneur and colossus of capitalism¹³, Watson helped lay the foundations of the information age. He was driven by one consuming ambition: to build a new model of corporation, one that would conquer the world and create an immortal¹⁴ IBM. Within IBM, Watson created a corporate¹⁵ ethos that reflected his own values and beliefs.

注释：
1) rags-to-riches: rags是“破烂的衣裳”的意思，代指穷人。riches意思是“富人”。rags-to-riches形容由穷至富的一种类转变。
2) 之所以称他为“老沃森”（Thomas Watson senior, 1874~1956），是为了有别于与他同名的长子小沃森（Thomas Watson Jr.,1914~1993）。小沃森领导IBM进行了跨越传统的根本性改革，把IBM推进计算机行业。1956年取代父亲成为首席执行官后，他引领公司迈向一个前所未有的长期的、惊人的迅猛增长时期。
3) overbearing [7EuvE5bZEriN] a. 傲慢的，专横的
4) NCR意译为“全国收款机公司”，创立于1884年，现发展为致力于客户关系管理解决方案、提供信息技术服务的全球性公司。总部设在美国俄亥俄州。
5) expansionist [ik5spAnFEnist] n. 扩张主义者
6) subservient [sQb5sE:viEnt] a. 卑躬屈膝的，巴结奉承的
7) sabotage [5sAbEtB:V] n. 破坏，损害              
8) traumatic [trE5mAtik] a. 损伤的；治疗外伤的
9) Presbyterian [7prezbi5tiEriEn] a. （宗）长老制的
10) CTR 意译为“计算机制表公司”，创立于1911年。
11) tabulate¹⁶ [5tAbjuleit] v. 把……列成表

IBM之父:壮志雄心闯天下

    “今晚，我们将结束为期四个月的对我们公司最备受尊崇的人所作出的全球敬礼。我认为他的确是全世界最备受尊崇的企业家。不过更为重要的是，我即将介绍的这位人士在树立和维护美国工业中的个体尊严方面，比历史上的任何其他人都做得更多。他就是托马斯·沃森先生。”
    这段热情洋溢的颂词是托马斯·沃森的儿子在1954年IBM公司成立四十周年庆祝会上说的，托马斯·沃森被视为全球商界的传奇。他取得如此杰出成就的经历，是一个非凡的白手起家奋斗成功的故事。
    老托马斯•沃森出生于1874年，他是在极度的贫困中长大的。年轻的沃森下决心要比他专横、暴躁的父亲更有成就。在他18岁时，他把巡回推销员的工作看成是他逃离苦海的希望，于是就独自上路了。然而现实却并没有如他所愿。
    三年的艰难时期过后，1895年，沃森脱离了苦海。21岁的他在NCR公司(全国收款机公司）获得一份工作。当时NCR是美国最有生气、富于进取的公司之一，它的创办人约翰·帕特森是沃森的第一个优秀导师; 无论在做人还是做生意方面，他都给予沃森持久的影响。在NCR公司沃森获得了新生：他头脑灵活，任劳任怨，志向远大。沃森成为后起之秀。十年后，沃森、帕特森以及其他人被判犯有定价过低、贿赂、蓄意破坏的罪行。沃森拒绝承认对他的指控，他写道，“我没有做过任何让自己感到丝毫羞愧的事。”完全出乎意外的是，他的伟大导师兼朋友解雇了他。这两起创伤性事件让沃森终生铭记。
    这时发生了另一件对沃森的生活影响重大的事情。在他的官司最激烈的时候，他和珍妮特·凯特里奇结婚了。她坚定的长老会价值观有助于调和沃森在NCR公司养成的在商言商、不讲人情的性格。
    1914年，他一直等待的机会到来了。沃森被任命为CTR公司（计算制表记录公司）的总经理。沃森更换了公司名字，他采用了一个展现他对未来梦想的名字：国际商用机器公司——就这样IBM公司在1924年诞生了。
    作为一名富有传奇色彩的推销员、富有远见的企业家和资本主义的巨头，沃森为奠定信息时代的基础做出了贡献。他被一个强烈的抱负所驱使：去创建一种新的企业典范，一种能征服世界、让IBM成为不朽传奇的典范。在IBM公司内部，沃森开创了一种反映了他自身信仰和价值信念的企业精神。

 

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

5 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

6 subservient   

adj.卑屈的，阿谀的

参考例句：

• He was subservient and servile.他低声下气、卑躬屈膝。
• It was horrible to have to be affable and subservient.不得不强作欢颜卖弄风骚，真是太可怕了。

7 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

8 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

9 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

10 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

11 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

13 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

14 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

15 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

16 tabulate   

v.列表，排成表格式

参考例句：

• It took me ten hours to tabulate the results.我花了十个小时把结果制成表格。
• Let me tabulate the results as follows.让我将结果列表如下。