Chinese immigrant An Wang, a Harvard Ph.D. and computer pioneer, turned a Boston storefront operation into one of the legendary success stories in the computer industry. But by 1985 the glory years at Wang Laboratories had given way to a downward spiral of massive debt, layoffs and late product deliveries. To Boston Globe journalist Kenney, Wang's trajectory resembles a classic tragedy, rooted in a fatal flaw of its secretive, visionary leader--his obsessive desire for control and his placing of family interests ahead of those of shareholders. Wang's biggest mistake, asserts Kenney, was making his son Fred director of R&D, then president. An Wang fired his son in 1989, a year before his own death from cancer. This gripping, remarkably intimate saga discloses behind-the-scenes wrangling from the joyride years through the 1991 deal with IBM whereby Wang sells IBM products globally. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Wang Laboratories was a small firm, started by Dr. An Wang in 1951, that grew to play a significant role in the development of the U.S. computer industry of the 1980s. Kenney carefully traces the history of the company, revealing the tragic flaw in Wang's personality that caused this brilliant firm to lose momentum and fall away from the cutting edge of office automation technology. Based on interviews with former employees of the company, Kenney's account is an excellent case study of a company poised for a brilliant future but unable to overcome the stress of frantic growth. Business collections should add this title.
- Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib., West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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