Theodore Levitt

Theodore Levitt (March 1, 1925, – June 28, 2006) was an American economist and a professor at the Harvard Business School. He was editor of the Harvard Business Review, noted for increasing the Review's circulation and popularizing the term globalization. In 1983, he proposed a definition for corporate purpose: "Rather than merely making money, it is to create and keep a customer".[1]

Theodore Levitt
BornMarch 1, 1925
Vollmerz, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Germany
DiedJune 28, 2006
Belmont, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materAntioch College
Ohio State University
OccupationEconomist
EmployerHarvard Business School

Early life

Levitt was born in 1925 in Vollmerz to a Jewish family. A decade later his family moved to Dayton, Ohio. He served in World War II, received his high school diploma through correspondence school and then earned a bachelor's degree at Antioch College and a PhD in economics at Ohio State University. His first teaching job was at the University of North Dakota.[2]

In 1959 he joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School. Later that year, he became well known after publishing Marketing Myopia in Harvard Business Review where he asks "What business are you in?", a phrase that demands one account for the significance of the job one does.[3]

Role in developing the term "globalization"

Though widely credited with coining the term globalization in an article entitled "Globalization of Markets", which appeared in the May–June 1983 issue of Harvard Business Review, he was not the originator of the term. As a New York Times article notes, the term 'globalization' was in use well before this publication (at least as early as 1944) and had been used by economists as early as 1981. Nonetheless, Levitt can be credited with popularizing the term and bringing to a mainstream business audience.

Further work

Between 1985 and 1989, he headed the Harvard Business Review as editor.[3]

He was the author of The Marketing Imagination, and his works have been translated into eleven languages. He was also the author of numerous articles on economic, political, management, and marketing subjects.

Honors and accolades

He was a four-time winner of the McKinsey Awards competitions for best annual article in the Harvard Business Review; winner of Academy of Management Award for the outstanding business books of 1962 for Innovation in Marketing; winner of John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business Journalism in 1969; recipient of the Charles Coolidge Parlin Award as "Marketing Man of the Year," 1970; recipient of the George Gallup Award for Marketing Excellence, 1976; recipient of the 1978 Paul D. Converse Award of the American Marketing Association for major contributions to marketing and recipient of the 1989 William M. McFeely Award of the International Management Council for major contributions to management.

Death

Levitt died at the age of 81 in his home on June 28, 2006 after a long illness. His memorial was held at his favorite tennis club. He was survived by his wife of 58 years and by four children.

Books and articles

Articles:

Books:

  • The Third Sector: New Tactics for a Responsive Society. 1973
  • Marketing for business growth, 1974, New York : McGraw-Hill, First ed. published in 1969 under the title: The marketing mode.
  • The marketing imagination, 1983, New York : The Free Press
  • The marketing imagination, 1986, New York : Free Press (New, expanded ed.)
  • Thinking about management, 1991, New York : Free Press
  • Levitt on marketing, 1991, Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business School Press
gollark: > nah it's gotta be one week if this is science???
gollark: It's not good science if you don't come up with the test you want to run BEFORE DOING IT.
gollark: That would be affected by *tons* of other stuff.
gollark: Interesting idea, but it seems problematic.
gollark: I said quantitative.

See also

References
  1. Levitt, T (1983) The Marketing Imagination, New York: Free Press.
  2. "Press Releases - News - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. Mullman, Jeremy (July 10, 2006). "An 'original mind' of marketing dies". Advertising Age. 77: 8.
  4. Levitt, Theodore (1 August 2002). "Creativity Is Not Enough". Retrieved 9 May 2019 – via hbr.org.
  5. Levitt, Theodore (1 May 1981). "Marketing Intangible Products and Product Intangibles". Retrieved 9 May 2019 – via hbr.org.
  6. Levitt, Theodore (1 September 1983). "After the Sale Is Over…". Retrieved 9 May 2019 – via hbr.org.
  7. Levitt, Theodore (1 May 1983). "The Globalization of Markets". Retrieved 9 May 2019 – via hbr.org.

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