HONEST WORK 486 CASE 11.4 IBM\'s Business with Hitler: An Inconvenient Past judi

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HONEST WORK 486 CASE 11.4 IBM's Business with Hitler: An Inconvenient Past judith Schrempf-Stirling, and Guido Palaz H. Rottke Judith Schrempf-Stirling is an Assistant Professor of Management, Robins School of Business, University of Richmond; and Guido Watson stared at the letter and wondered what to Palazzo is Professor of Business Ethics, HEC, respond while recalling the economic, political, and University of Lausanne. social climate in Germany September 9, 1939: IBM Headquarter, New York With full attention Thomas J. Watson, president of PERSECUTION OF JEWS IN GERMANY International Business Machines (IBM) read the business letter from Herman Rottke, manager of When Adolf Hitler became Reich Chancellor in 1933, IBM's German subsidiary. Dehomag which arrived he announced his ambition to strengthen Germany's by mid-September 1939, only a few days after Adolf economic and territorial position and to create the Hitler had invaded Poland (Jew-free) Master Race. Many of his initiated reg- ulations and activities were aimed at bringing this vision into reality. He passed critical discriminating Dear Mr. Watson During your last visit in Berlin at the beginning regulations, and he initiated and supported boycotts of July, you made the kind offer to me that you might against the Jewish population. The extermination of be willing to furnish the German company machines Jews (genocide), however, was not planned from the from Endicott in order to shorten our long delivery beginning but gradually developed. Only in 1942 the terms. I. .. asked you to leave with us for study pur "Final solution to the Jewish question" was decided poses one alphabetic tabulating machine and a col- at the Wannsee Conference. In total, Hitler's fight lator out of the American machines at present in against Jews developed in six phases: identitication Germany. You have complied with this request, for exclusion, confiscation, ghettoization, deportation which I thank you very much, and have added that and extermination. The last two phases took place in cases of urgent need, I may make use of other after the Wannsee Conference (1942), American machines First, Hitler's Nazi regime identified those peo You will understand that under today's condi who-according to Nazi tions, a certain need has arisen for such machines, the minor race, i.e. Jews. Hitler ordered that a c which we do not build as yet in Germany. Therefore, sus be carried out to find out how many Jews lived I should like to make use of your kind offer and ask in Germany and where they lived. According to ou to leave with the German company for the time Nazism, it did not matter whether a Jew was a prac being the alphabetic tabulating machines which ticing Jew or not. Using complicated racial math- are at present still in the former Austria.. ..This ematics, the Nazis derived at different categories o offer, made orally by you, dear Mr. Watson. . will Jews undoubtedly be greatly appreciated in many and made a person Jewish. For the Nazis, all kinds of especially responsible circles... . We should thank Jews were a threat to the Aryan race and needed to you if you would ask your Geneva organization, at be identified and excluded from society the same time, to furnish us the necessary repair parts for the maintenance of the machines. Yours very truly philosophy were of (full Jew, half Jew).4 Having Jewish ancestor This second stage, exclusion, began with introduction of the Aryan Paragraph in The Aryan paragraph entitled only Aryans to the be

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Few lessons can be learned from IBM case which can be applied in current business operations :

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