The Engine That Could

the long version

The rise of Cummins Engine Company from a tiny Indiana machine shop to one of the world's leading producers of diesel engines is a story rich with lessons for today's managers. By responding to challenges familiar to all American manufacturers with a tough competitive stance and a uniquely people-centered philosophy, Cummins has carved out a distinctive profile in the international industrial landscape. A compelling and important contribution to the literature of business history, The Engine that Could showcases the strategic choices and the pivotal decisions that have shaped and influenced Cummins Engine. Drawing extensively on interviews as well as archival research, the authors provide an in-depth look at a way of doing business that is unconventional, flexible, and pragmatic. They explain how the firm's business model has evolved over time, and how it has survived the pressures of a dramatically changing competitive arena. Cummins' remarkable seventy-five year history captures much of what is interesting - and important - about the evolution of American business from the 1920s to the 1990s.