Olivetti Argentina S.A.: Stories of business management, socio-cultural modernity and computer developments

Abstract

Olivetti belongs to the select group of companies that do not need presentation. Everyone knows them. However, when we approach the history of Olivetti in Argentina, several of its main stories are fragmented, they become diffuse or, directly, they are unknown to the general public. In the decades of ‘50 and ‘60, in a thriving Argentina and eager for development, the endearing typewriters of Olivetti were one of the archetypal images of the office. However, in comparison, it is much less known that the Italian corporation also had important computer developments that allowed it to compete, in products and services, with technological corporations such as the North American IBM and Burroughs Corporation or the French Bull. The presentation analyzes the history of this technological giant in the country, illuminating its less known dimensions, its plan of social and cultural modernity and its model of development and innovation in computer science. The presentation is part of a greater investigation that analyzes the stories of computer science in Argentina and Latin America and the relevance that some foreign technological corporations have had during the twentieth and twenty -first century.