Master Class: Structured to Fail: How the story of one typewriter company shows why change can be so diffic
Attend this master class led by IE faculty. A great opportunity to experience our teaching methodology and meet IE alumni.
In the early 1980s, one of the world’s leading typewriter manufacturers, US-based Smith Corona, realised they were facing a problem. The nascent rise, first of word processors, and then of personal computers, promised to make their key product – the electric typewriter – obsolete. While the company benefitted from a powerful internal corporate culture, and international brand recognition, it failed over three decades to find a way to exist in the new world of personal computing. In 2000, the company entered bankruptcy.
Given the long period of time that Smith Corona had to adjust to the changing market dynamics around it, why was it ultimately incapable of making the necessary adaptations to allow it to continue to exist? This is not just a story of disruptive innovation; instead the Smith Corona story reveals how structural factors can often doom our efforts to bring about change, even when we know both that it is necessary, and what those changes should be. As such, it is an instructive example, not just for business, but for the wider challenges that our society faces looking ahead.
Our speakers
Professor at IE Business School and Director of the IE Humanities Centre at IE University
Rolf Strom-Olsen earned his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, his MA from McGill University and his PhD from Northwestern University, all in History. A former Fulbright scholar and Social Science Research Council Fellow, Rolf is Professor of Humanities at IE Business School and the Director of the IE Humanities Centre at IE University, positions he has held since 2009. His MOOC “Critical Perspectives one Management” has been available on the popular Coursera platform.
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