Theodore Levitt

Theodore Levitt (March 1,1925, Vollmerz, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Germany – June 28, 2006, Belmont, Massachusetts) was an American economist and professor at Harvard Business School. He was also editor of the Harvard Business Review and an editor who was especially noted for increasing the Review's circulation and for 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.

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 at Antioch College and a Ph.D. in economics at Ohio State University. His first teaching job was at the University of North Dakota.

In 1959 he joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School. Later that year, he became world-renowned 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.

Role in developing the term "globalization"

He is widely credited with coining the term globalization through an article entitled "Globalization of Markets", which appeared in the May–June 1983 issue of Harvard Business Review. However, as a NYTimes article notes, the term 'globalization' was in use well before (at least as early as 1944) and had been used by economists as early as 1981. However, Levitt popularized the term and brought it into the mainstream business audience. Between 1985 and 1989, he headed the Harvard Business Review as an editor.

He was the author of The Marketing Imagination, and was a best-selling author whose 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 home after a long illness. His memorial was held at his favorite tennis club. He was 81 and was survived by his wife of 58 years, and by four children.

Books and articles

Articles:

• Marketing Myopia, Harvard Business Review, 1960.
• Creativity Is Not Enough, Harvard Business Review, 1963.
• Marketing Intangible Products and Product Intangibles, Harvard Business Review, May–June 1981, p. 94-102.
• After The Sale Is Over, Harvard Business Review, September–October 1983, p. 87-93.
• The Globalization of Markets, Harvard Business Review, May–June 1983.

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

See also

• Globalization
• Harvard Business Review

Additional

• Theodore Levitt Dead at 81 JUNE 29, 2006 Businessweek online
• Theodore Levitt, 81, Who Coined the Term 'Globalization', Is Dead New York Times July 6, 2006
• 'Globalisation' inventor dies at 81, Friday 7 July 2006, NDTV.com