This book describes the 60-year history of the AO Foundation and its impact on the treatment of bone trauma.

Originally founded by a group of Swiss surgeons, the AO has since established its osteosynthesis treatment approach to trauma, using surgery and implants, as the global standard. The AO successfully convinced the medical community that surgery of bone trauma was superior to the standard conservative treatment using plaster casts. This new technique meant that patients no longer had to spend long weeks at the hospital in traction, and prevented many disabilities.

This book describes the struggle with the medical community, explains how the AO surgeons enlisted the support of an entire industry for their advanced tools and their research and teaching efforts, and details the AO's evolution into a non-profit foundation that now trains more than 50,000 surgeons, on all continents, every year.

The efforts of the AO's affiliated surgeons, undertaken largely on a volunteer basis and with their own financial resources, serve as a stellar example of social entrepreneurship. Today the AO Foundation numbers over 20,000 surgeon members worldwide, and the industry that emerged to produce related implants and tools employs thousands of skilled staff. Professionals in consulting as well as in healthcare can use this book as a source of successful strategies, and as a blueprint for active social entrepreneurship.   

1. Prologue: Orchestrating A Cast of Thousands

Part I: Launching a Surgical Revolution
2. Osteosynthesis Explained
3. A Brief Overview of the AO Organization
4. Treatment of Bone Fractures Prior to 1960
5. Enter Maurice Müller (1918-2009)
6.Recruiting a Circle of Friends
7. The AO Kick-Off Meeting
8. AO Formulates Its Credo
9. Pillar One: Developing the AO Instrumentarium
10. Pillar Two: Teaching Osteosynthesis
11. Pillar Three: Maintaining Complete Documentation
12. Pillar Four: The Research Mission
13. Pitching the AO Philosophy to Hostile Audiences
14. In Search of a Business Model
15. Broadening the Supplier Base
16. A Commission to Steer the Enterprise
17. AO Vision, Mission, Values, and Strategy. Part II: Growing the Organization
18. Growing the Enterprise
19. Mathys: Building an Industrial Company from Scratch
20. Straumann Assumes Role of Manufacturer
21. Conquering International Markets
22. Cracking the US Market
23. Expanding the Instrumentarium. - 24. AOVET: Humans Helping Animals. - 25. Entering Other Trauma Segments. - 26. Carrying the Message: Apostles, Missionaries, Translators, and Baggage Carriers
27. Laying the Foundation for a 'Trauma University'
28. Publishing the AO Philosophy
29. Internationalizing the AO Organization. - 30. The Diverse Talents Shaping the AO
31. Summarizing Growth Phase
Part III: Navigating Turbulence
32. Changing of the Guard
33. From Association to Foundation
34. M&A Turbulence Among Producers: First There Were Three, Then There Was Only One. - 35 Changing Business Model: From Licensing Fees to Service Agreement
36. From Compression Plates to Anatomically Shaped Internal Fixators
37. From Eminence-Based to Evidence-Based Research. - 38. From Long Bones to All Bones
39. The Battle Over IP
40. One Final Merger?
41. Assessing How the AO Navigated Turbulences
Part IV: The AO Foundation Today and Its Impact.- 42.The AO's Many Achievements
43. The AO Organization in 2018
44. The AOTK System Today
45. AO Institutes: Research, CDID, 'Trauma University,' and a Publishing House
46. AO Innovating into New Fields
47. AO Alliance
48. Global Health-Economic Impact
49. AO Industrial and Business Impact
50. AO as Creator of Wealth
51. AO as a Philanthropic Force
52. The World Honors AO Foundation and Founders
Part V: Conclusion
53. Mission Accomplished?
54. Epilogue.