The Generations of Corning The Life and Times of a Global Corporation

by Dyer, Davis; Gross, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780195140958
• ISBN10: 0195140958
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This engrossing history of an extraordinary company, Corning Incorporated, chronicles how one of the oldest business enterprises in the world maintained its place as a global leader in technology for over 150 years. In the nineteenth century, Corning developed colored signal lights for railroads. In the twentieth century, it created Pyrex and color television tubes; today, it is a Fortune 500 company leading the international marketplace in areas such as fiber optics and photonics. If you use the Internet, drive a car, or simply turn on a light, then Corning is a part of your life. The Generations of Corning tells the fascinating stories of its founding family--the Houghtons, the inventors, and the adventures, behind Corning's remarkable achievements--from unexpected discoveries, like the laboratory mishap that led to Corning Ware, to the years of painstaking, often frustrating, research that led to its breakthrough in fiber optics. From 1851 to 1996, five generations of Houghtons made Corning a company that combined a culture of continuous innovation with a sense of loyalty to its employees and their community. Davis Dyer and Daniel Gross show how the critical changes in organization and leadership that accompanied each new generation helped Corning not just survive, but to prosper, and push itself to the cutting edge of materials technology in decade after decade. The Generations of Corning is a classic success story and a triumph of the inventive spirit.

Author Biography

Davis Dyer is Founding Director of The Winthrop Group.

Table of Contents

Houghton Family Tree
List of Chairman and Presidents
Foreword
Preface
Corning and Glass	p. 1
Founding and Foundering, 1851-1875	p. 19
The Rise of Corning Glass Works, 1875-1908	p. 51
Pyrex, the Ribbon Machine, and a Wider World, 1908-1928	p. 93
Surviving and Thriving in the Depression Decade, 1928-1939	p. 131
Corning Goes to War, 1939-1945	p. 173
A Decade of Unbounded Opportunities, 1945-1954	p. 209
Ambitious Expansion: TV Glass, Pyroceram, and Corning Ware, 1954-1960	p. 233
Encountering Limits and Diversifying, 1960-1966	p. 259
International Growth and the Roots of Fiber Optics, 1966-1971	p. 283
Digging Out and Tough Economic Times, 1972-1975	p. 311
Cutting Costs and Changing Direction, 1975-1983	p. 337
Emphasizing Performance, Quality, and Diversity, 1983-1989	p. 369
Refocusing and Reengineering, 1990-1996	p. 413
Growing in the New Economy, 1996-	p. 435
Notes	p. 455
Index	p. 491
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