| Title: |
James McCormack
|
| Local code: |
OH 68
|
| Document type: |
Oral history
|
| Accessibility: |
Free Only
|
| Repository: |
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Charles Babbage Institute
|
| Collection: |
Charles Babbage Institute Oral History Program
|
| Description: |
McCormack, co-founder of the Boston software company McCormack and Dodge, describes his career and the growth of his company. He begins with his work at General Motors in the early 1960s on the automation of a cost accounting system. He explains how he gained knowledge of computer systems while working as an IBM marketing representative, and describes his discussions with Frank Dodge, a systems engineering group leader at IBM, that led to the 1969 founding of McCormack and Dodge. He describes their first product (for fixed assets), their early financial problems, the establishment of a base of customers in the Boston area, and the successes of a mass-market pricing strategy. He then turns to the company's rapid growth over the next decade to over 750 employees and a range of products, including accounts payable, ledger, purchasing, capital project accounting, human resource, and accounts receivable systems. McCormack discusses at length the problems associated with managing a fast-growing company. He remarks on his company's strong reputation, and on the strategy and structure of the competition. He concludes with an appraisal of the acquisition of his company by Dunn and Bradstreet in 1983.
|
| Extent: |
30 pages
|
| URL: |
http://www.cbi.umn.edu/oh/pdf.phtml?id=193
|
| Original Language: |
English
|
| Time span: |
Not indicated ... to 1984 (Year of interview)
|
| Speaker: |
McCormack, James
|
| Speaker gender: |
Male
|
| Speaker occupation: |
Entrepreneur
|
| Document location: |
Waltham, MA
|
| Document date: |
23-Feb-1984
|
| Interviewer: |
Aspray, William
|
| Organizations discussed: |
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI; IBM Corporation, White Plains, NY
|
| Locations discussed: |
North America; United States
|
| Topics discussed - ASP terms: |
Computer software; Electric engineering; Engineering; Entrepreneurship--United States; General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI; IBM Corporation, White Plains, NY; Information technology; Marketing; North America; Oral history; Software engineering; United States
|
| Topics discussed - Other terms: |
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
|
| ASP release: |
2005-06
|
| Document code: |
OHI0024004-25548
|
