Porsche, with over 12,000 employees in 2008, is the smallest German automobile builder, but the largest sports car specialist in the world. The company was founded in December 1930, when Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, with 12 close associates, established an office in Stuttgart for “design and consultation on engines and vehicles.” By 1932, Porsche’s design office had developed the torsion bar suspension element that is still in use in automobiles around the world. In 1934, the Porsche Company was commissioned by the manufacturers association to design “a utilitarian car of normal dimensions but relatively low weight, to be achieved by new basic measures.”… Read the rest
Business History
History and Background of Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffee house chain based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened as a single small store opened in 1971 and became a coffee giant at the end of the millennium. Starbucks has led a coffee revolution in the United States and beyond. The store was opened by 3 men: Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Browker. Starbucks for first nine months bought coffee from Peet’s Coffee. Within first decade Starbucks opened five stores.
In 1983, Starbucks bought Peet’s Coffee the same year, Howard Schultz who was hired in 1982 to manage the company’s retail sales and marketing, took a buying trip to Italy, where another coffee revelation took place.… Read the rest
History and Background of Oracle
Larry Ellison, Bob Miller, and Ed Oats founded Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. SDL was founded to implement a commercial version of Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). Inspiration to implement RDBMS system came from the 1970 paper on RDBMS authored by Edgor Codd named “A Relational Data for Large Shared Data Banks”. In 1977 SDL implemented first commercial version of RDBMS for CIA. The code name for the project was Oracle. The unique product that the company offered was increasingly recognized in the market and company changed its name to Oracle Systems Corporation to identify itself with its flagship product Oracle.… Read the rest
History and Background of United Parcel Service (UPS)
How UPS Started
In 1907 there was a great need in America for personal messenger and delivery services. To assist meet this need, an enterprising 19-year-old, James E. Casey, borrowed $100 from somebody and established the American messenger Company in Seattle, Washington. According to accounts given by Jim there have been quite a few messenger services already within the Seattle area, a number of that he had worked for within the past. That initial name was well-suited to the business pursuits of the new company. In response to telephone calls received at their basement headquarters, messengers ran errands, delivered packages, and carried notes, baggage, and trays of food from restaurants.… Read the rest