Editing Thomas J. Watson (section)

==NCR==
Watson had a newly acquired [[NCR Corporation|NCR]] cash register in his butcher shop, for which he had to arrange transfer of its installment payments to the shop's new owner. On visiting NCR he met its Buffalo branch manager, John J. Range, and asked him for a job. Determined to join the company, he repeatedly called on Range until, after a number of abortive attempts, he finally was hired in November 1896, as sales apprentice to Range.<ref name="Maney 2003"/>

Led by [[John Henry Patterson (NCR owner)|John Patterson]], NCR was then one of the leading selling organizations, and Range became almost a father figure for Watson and was a model for his sales and management style. Under Range's guidance Watson became the most successful salesman in the East, earning $100 per week. In a 1952 interview Watson claimed he learned more from Range than anyone else.  Four years later, NCR assigned Watson to run the struggling NCR agency in [[Rochester, New York]]. As an agent, he got 35% commission and reported directly to Hugh Chalmers, the second-in-command at NCR. In four years Watson made Rochester effectively an NCR monopoly by using the technique of knocking the main competitor, Hallwood, out of business, sometimes resorting to sabotage of the competitor's machines.<ref name="Maney 2003"/> As a reward, he was called to the NCR head office in [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref name="observatory" />

In 1912, the company was found guilty of violating the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]]. Patterson, Watson, and 26 other NCR executives and managers were convicted for illegal anti-competitive sales practices and were sentenced to one year of imprisonment. Their convictions were unpopular with the public because of the efforts of Patterson and Watson to help those affected by the [[Great Dayton Flood]] of 1913, but efforts to have them pardoned by President [[Woodrow Wilson]] were unsuccessful. However, their convictions were overturned on appeal in 1915 on the grounds that important defense evidence should have been admitted.{{Cn|date=April 2025}}