Corning Incorporated

The world leader in specialty glass and ceramics engaged Winthrop to help educate employees about its enduring principles and processes.

Over 150 years, Corning had built a reputation for extraordinary capabilities in science and technology based on a string of fundamental innovations, from light bulbs and television glass to fiber optics and flat-panel displays. By the turn of the 21st century, though, through a combination of retirements and rapid growth, this accumulated knowledge was at risk. Senior executives recognized the need to educate employees about Corning’s enduring principles and processes.

Corning engaged Winthrop in a project that ultimately led to three books and a range of digital content. The Generations of Corning: The Life and Times of a Global Corporation explores themes such as family ownership, loyalty to employees and the community, and corporate social responsibility. Corning and the Craft of Innovation explains how Corning’s family owners, by promoting long-term investment over short-term cost cutting and profits, enabled the company to sustain innovation across generations and business cycles. A third book, Corning: A Story of Discovery and Innovation, distills the insights from these larger works into lavishly illustrated presentation suitable for the more casual reader. We used content from these books to populate websites focused on heritage and innovation.