Oral history interview with John Imlay
2004-05-07
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Oral history interview with John Imlay
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2004-05-07
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Charles Babbage Institute
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Oral History
Abstract
Imlay describes his parents and his childhood, his overcoming awkwardness as a child to become an outstanding public speaker, and his training in technology and management at Georgia Tech. Upon graduation, he worked at Royal McBee, where he sold their LP-30 computer and then sold computers for Honeywell for eight or nine years. One of his clients at Honeywell was a small Atlanta-based company named Management Science America (MSA). He took over MSA when it entered receivership. Considerable attention is given to his work in getting MSA out of bankruptcy and using bankruptcy as a strategic tool of business. He discusses the growth of MSA and how to manage that growth, and some of the business challenges that this presents, including hiring and retaining employees. Some of the other business issues discussed in the context of MSA was managing technology in a rapidly changing environment, doing business in an international marketplace, software piracy, relations to IBM, the role of the trade association ADAPSO, taking the company public, and competitors such as McCormack & Dodge. Other business issues include the acquisition by Dun and Bradstreet and staving off a hostile takeover by Computer Associates. The interview concludes with discussions of how to run the business and maintain a family life while traveling extensively, and what he has done in retirement.
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Transcript, 31pp.
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Previously Published Citation
John Imlay, OH 384. Oral history interview by William Aspray, 7 May 2004, Needham, Massachusetts. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. http://purl.umn.edu/107376
Suggested citation
Imlay, John. (2004). Oral history interview with John Imlay. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/107376.
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