Corporate Histories

Successful organizations chronicle their histories for a number of reasons.

A corporate history is a singular opportunity to share your mission, vision, and your “why.” It captures your organization’s spirit and unique culture for current and future employees. It helps familiarize current customers and prospects of the scope, quality, and innovation of your products and services. Your audience will enjoy reading your stories of struggle through times of great challenge and the joy of periods of exceptional growth. These tales, well told, remind your readers that you are here to stay.

It is, of course, to your advantage if your internal and external audiences, including analysts, institutional shareholders, joint venture partners, and media have a thorough understanding of your company. There is a direct correlation between positive public perception and shareholder value. Through the voices of your leadership, key employees, and key customers, your positive evolution and current initiatives are together pulled into focus to tell the whole story with a well-illustrated and comprehensive corporate history book. Additionally, it’s important that corporate acquisition candidates understand the positive company cultures, virtues, philosophy, and acquisition history of a prospective corporate parent.

Here is my 12-step process for creating a compelling, comprehensive and well-illustrated corporate history.

1) Discovery Session

Our initial discussion is to identify, in detail, your goals, audiences and the scope of the project. Every corporate history is unique and special. We’ll explore what resources are available at your end to facilitate access to materials and to identify potential interview candidates, budget, timetable and your internal project manager(s) who will facilitate interviews and approvals.

2) Letter of Agreement

We will summarize our understanding of the project scope, budget and timetable and submit a letter of agreement for your review. Upon consensus, we will co-sign the agreement. Most books require at least 10 months to complete.

3) The Research Begins

I will immediately begin the research process in great depth, poring through your records and the literature at large. For starters, I will review your company’s past annual reports, news releases and articles, and other sources. All the while, I will be searching for images that will bring your corporate history to life. The research process allows me to construct an initial framework that will advise the structural organization of the piece and the selection of interview candidates. My research process is professional and discreet – I keep a low profile.

4) Interviews

I will create a master interview list that includes company management, veteran employees, loyal company customers and vendors, retirees, and others. Oral history interviewing is at the heart of my work. Most projects require from 10 to 60 interviews, all professionally transcribed. I’ll help you select interviewees and get them talking. As a former journalist, this is one of my specialties.

7) Outline and Design Concept

Next, we’ll create and submit a written outline with initial design concepts. Our layouts are designed to complement your company’s story with images and graphics that express your company’s unique personality.

8) Manuscript

Within six months, I will submit chapter drafts for your review and approval. It’s a best practice for you to create a review team to provide feedback on tone and style, offer suggestions and make edits and corrections. Please submit this feedback via one master document. Chapter edits must be returned to me within specified deadlines to prevent delays in the project.

9) Table of Contents, Index, Bibliography, etc.

When the manuscript is complete, we will prepare the index, bibliography, table of contents, acknowledgments, and foreword, which will be submitted to the leader of your review team.

10) Professional Editor

We retain the services of a professional editor who will proofread the work, correct spelling errors, wrong words, typos, and grammatical errors. Additionally, the editor will verify the table of contents, index and bibliography are accurate.

11) Design & Final Proof

The designer will create the layout and cover design. All images are scanned at high resolution to attain the best quality possible. A press-ready proof will be created and submitted to you for one final review.

12) Printing

We will arrange for the printing, binding and shipping of your corporate history books. If you prefer, you may wish to have your own in-house or external agency manage the printing process.