I got this from an Indian consultant (Navendu Mahodaya) - Please post more such stories.
AC Nielsen is the world's leading marketing information company. Few would remember how it all began. Surprisingly for many, its foundations
are as old as late 1920s.
Before the great depression of early 1930s, Mr. A. C. Nielsen was a
successful Electrical Contractor. The construction activity came to a near halt
due to depression and he found the pie constantly shrinking. New work was not
coming his way. In stead of being basking in old glory, he devised a survey to
find the reasons and avenues. Observers say that this step was a result of his
systematic approach to business. That was an era when many businessmen and
industrialists were getting carried away by emotions of fear and suspicion.
The reports of his survey reached Electrical Manufacturers and they asked
him, what he had found. The dialogue led to a survey being commissioned by some
manufacturers to find `How best they could tackle the on going deep economic
depression?'
