In 1973, they built the , the first personal computer with a GUI, mouse, and network. It was a machine decades ahead of its time.
Under CEO (1982-1990), Xerox launched a legendary turnaround. He introduced Leadership Through Quality – a company-wide total quality management (TQM) program. He also pioneered benchmarking – systematically comparing your products and processes against the best in the world (which was now Canon). This led to a massive reduction in defects, product redesign, and a new emphasis on manufacturing efficiency. The turnaround was so successful that it became a Harvard Business School case study. In 1989, Xerox won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award , the first company to do so in the manufacturing category. xerox wikipédia
What happened at PARC is legendary. Over a few years, a team of computer scientists (including Bob Taylor, Alan Kay, Butler Lampson, and others) invented or prototyped almost every element of modern personal computing: In 1973, they built the , the first
However, this pivot left the original hardware business weakened. The rise of the "paperless office" – ironically enabled by the scanning and digital workflow technologies Xerox had helped create – steadily eroded the demand for printing and copying. He introduced Leadership Through Quality – a company-wide
Xerox had invented the digital future and then failed to own it. It is the ultimate case study in – a market leader so wedded to its existing customers and profit model that it cannot see (or act on) the disruptive technology it has created.